Anti-flag - Anatomy Of Your Enemy ... a song I got into trouble for once ;)

[brainless 0]

10 easy steps to create an enemy and start a war,listen closely because we will all see this weapon used in our lives.
It can be used on a society of the most ignorant to the most highly educated.
We need to see their tactics as a weapon against humanity and not as truth.

First step: create the enemy.  Sometimes this will be done for you.

Second step: be sure the enemy you have chosen is nothing like you.
Find obvious differences like race, language, religion, dietary habits, fashion. Emphasize that their soldiers are not doing a job, they are heatless murderers who enjoy killing!

Third step: Once these differences are established continue to reinforce them with all disseminated information.

Fourth step: Have the media broadcast only the ruling party's information.
This can be done through state run media. Remember, in times of conflict all for-profit media repeats the ruling party's information. Therefore all for-profit media becomes state-run.

Fifth step: show this enemy in actions that seem strange, militant, or different.
Always portray the enemy as non-human, evil, a killing machine.

THIS IS HOW TO CREATE AN ENEMY,
THIS IS HOW TO START A WAR.
THIS IS HOW TO CREATE AN ENEMY!

Sixth step: Eliminate opposition to the ruling party. Create an "Us versus Them"  mentality. Leave no room for opinions in between. One that does not support all actions of the ruling party should be considered a traitor.

Seventh step: Use nationalistic and/or religious symbols and rhetoric to define all actions. This can be achieved by slogans such as "freedom loving people versus those who hate freedom", this can also be achieved by the use of flags.

Eighth step: Align all actions with the dominant deity. It is very effective to use terms like, "It is god's will" or "god bless our nation".

Ninth step: Design propaganda to show that your soldiers have feelings, hopes, families, and loved ones. Make it cleat that your soldiers are doing a duty; they do not want to or like to kill.

Tenth step: Create an atmosphere of fear and instability, then offer the ruling party as the only solutions to comfort the public's fears.
Remember, the fear of the unknown is always the strongest fear.

THIS IS HOW TO CREATE AN ENEMY,
THIS IS HOW TO START A WAR.
THIS IS HOW TO CREATE AN ENEMY!

We are not countries, we are not nations.
We are not religions, we are not gods.
We are not weapons, we are not ammunition.
We are not killers, we will NOT be tools.

motherf***er,
I will not die!
I will not kill!
I will not be your slave!
I will not fight your battle!
I will not die on your battlefield!
I will not fight for your world!
I am not a fighter!
I'm a human being!

when I first heard this song, I noticed that I agree to most of the points I understood right from the start and the guys from Anti-Flag simplified the way these kind of things work quite well - I adapted these rethorical figures for the english lessons in which we were going to talk about wars and why/how they work (well ... we did all of that in other classes as well but in those times we did that in german...).
My english teacher thought himself to be quite educated (ok, he is) but when he said something like "hey, the muslims are all bad for these and these reasons", I couldn't accept this generalization and asked him why he thinks that all muslims are bad just because some of them do bad things and whether he truly believed that he had the right to put the label "educated" on himself in this case. He didn't like me anymore after I said that... ;D