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37 False Facts People Believe Today Because Propaganda Shaped Their Thinking
There are established, undisputed truths we all believe in. One plus one equals two. Humans are mortal beings. Change is constant and inevitable.
However, there are also “facts” that many have long subscribed to that are actually a result of propaganda. Here are some of them, as shared in a Reddit thread from a while back. And chances are, reading through this may shock your belief system, for better or worse.
If you feel like joining the conversation, you can do so in the comment boxes below.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
I think one of the scariest ones is the fear of vaccines, and the idea that vaccines cause Autism.
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#2
That god has always been a part of the US government. It was only introduced in the 50s to combat the threat of communism. It always makes me twitch when someone on my Facebook posts something about keeping god in the pledge (which was also started in the 50s) and that people trying to take god out is the reason why bad things are happening.
Victor Botha 1 week ago
I think it was the introduction of religion into what was previously a well working secular state that has created the problems the US is facing now.
#3
Some Americans seem to think that socialized health care is bad, as a Brit i find this very silly.
Edit: I love the replies saying "yeah but we don't have to wait 6 months to see a doctor" - Thats propaganda for you.
Also, i wasn't attacking America. There's no need to start getting defensive and picking things out that might be wrong with the UK. No country is perfect, we all have our problems and our bad politicians.
That’s all I yam 1 week ago (edited)
From US: The OP's opinions happen to make sense to me. Just saying.
#4
Pretty much everything about the Pilgrims of early America. The real reason they left is because they were kicked out of England first for being overly religious and really pushy to everyone. Then they went to Holland where they got kicked out again for being jerks. Finally they never intended to land on Plymouth Rock, they ran out of beer and stopped there.
#5
Jesus was white and had long hair.
Victor Botha 1 week ago
Jesus probably looked like the majority of people from the middle east, swarthy skinned with dark hair which was probably long, but he did not have Caucasian features as so commonly thought.
#6
Most modern Japanese people know absolutely nothing about the atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers in the pacific during WWII.
I was travelling in Thailand and stopped by to see Hellfire Pass and the famous bridge over the river Kwai. A japanese guy was on the tour with us (mostly because there wasn't a lot else to do in Kanchanaburi) and was absolutely SHOCKED at the stories of POW treatment. Back in Japan, people still commemorate the officers who were able to accomplish building a railroad so quickly for the Japanese war effort. The darker side of this event is simply not mentioned in any history text or school.
#9
That Christmas marks the birth of Jesus. The real reason for the season has more to do with the winter solstice and less to do with an immaculately conceived birthday boy.
#10
That adopting any kind of socialism will directly lead the US into becoming Soviet Russia.
#11
I think most Americans don't understand the real definition of socialism, and are changing the definition to fit their propaganda.
Ask most Americans to explain the difference between socialism and communism and you'll get a bunch of blank looks.
Plenty of things our government does are socialistic: from building infrastructure to bailing out banks and auto companies to funding research programs at universities. All of these are examples of our economic resources being allocated based on central planning instead of by free market forces, thus socialism.
It does not mean we aren't a democracy, it doesn't mean people can't own private property, it doesn't mean the government controls everything in our lives.
We've been taught so strongly that socialism is evil when we encounter actual socialism we think: "well, this isn't so evil, so it must not be socialism".
NightOwlPanda 1 week ago
I'm curious as to what possible connection there could be between the photo and the post.
#12
That the Mayans said the world was going to end.
They never claimed that at all.
#13
I'm Korean and until recently my parents had me believing that leaving the fan on within a closed room overnight would end me via suffocation or something. This was just propaganda developed by the South Korean government to stop people from wasting electricity(if I remember correctly.)
Moral of the story: don't believe your parents blindly.
#15
That America is a democracy. It's not - there's only two parties with near identical political views. What's more, the engine that powers those politicians are the corporations which invest in both sides. Why do you think Obama couldn't deliver on so many things? Being POTUS is mainly being PR head of 'Muuurica.
In the meanwhile, the propaganda machine is running 24/7 to make poor Americans stupid enough to vote on people giving the rich ridiculous tax cuts, fondled by phrases as "wealth trickling down" and "health care is socialism, get out you evil commie!". It's coming to an end soon though, the system near imploded in 2008 and the cliff now is closer than ever.
#16
That video games turn people into psychopaths.
#17
That gay marriage causes a destruction of marriage in general.
#18
That eating carrots can help you see in the dark better.
In WW2 the British were using radar to find enemy airplanes, but to keep radar a secret they told the whole of Britain they were feeding their men carrots. Germany then started feeding their army carrots as well. No, they do not help you see in the dark. The Carotene in them is good for your eyesight though.
Ace 1 week ago
This has been debunked, reverse bunked, if you like, many times. The British public were being encouraged by the government to eat more carrots, very good for them and in plentiful supply during wartime rationing. To encourage this they put about the idea that they heled eyesight, which is more of an exaggeration than an outright untruth, and the RAF just kinda jumped on the bandwagon.
#19
That Napoleon was a midgete.
Napoleon was of average height for the time.
Anony Mouse 1 week ago
Of all the stupid words BP censors.. but they let this misspelled slur stay up?
#21
That all government is bad. I think people these days are starting to think that "freedom" and "anarchy" are synonyms, or close to it.
Also, people thinking that America is "the most free country in the world." I believe this to be highly debatable considering how much of our population per capita is in jail, and that the few things which are legal in this country that are illegal in other developed nations might not necessarily be things that ought to be legal.
Elladine DesIsles 1 week ago
At this point only Americans - certain Americans - believe that the US is particularly free, let alone freer than many other nations.
#22
Reagan was a leading cause of the end of the cold war. Reagan was the model fiscal conservative. Reagan was widely popular. Reagan wasn't engulfed in an enormous scandal where iirc close to 200 felony convictions were made including oliver north which he probably later pardoned.
Victor Botha 1 week ago
Reagan was not good for the US in so many ways, and only mediocre in others. Reaganomics still affects the US to this day and his handling of the AIDS pandemic was downright criminal imo
#23
That the Germans were the first to use the concentration camp.
Pretty sure that it was used in a large way by the British during the Second Boer War.
And there were probably many before that as well.
#24
That the democratic party is the left end of the political spectrum and anything beyond is crazy.
Roman Arendt 1 week ago (edited)
The Democratic Party of the US would be considered right wing in many European countries.
#25
That GMO foods cause cancer.
WindySwede 1 week ago
I don't even know if everybody realises everything living have genes?! Something like "I don't wanna eat something where you have put in genes!!" is my thought among other things..?
#26
That the colonist and Native Americans were bestest of friends.
Bonesko 1 week ago
I went to this museum that showed an extensive history of Native Americans starting from around 10,000 BC to the 1600's. It was a really beautiful museum and interesting. Unfortunately the part that stands out most to me is the last exhibit which was this tiny framed drawings of a few Native Americans and English colonizers. Underneath it mentioned how unfortunately their alliance began to deteriorate because of a 'misunderstanding over land.' Come on! 🙄
#27
That Iran, if left to its own devices and not sanctioned and intimidated by Western nations, will "wipe Israel off the map.".
#28
That the Kim's created everything, not that "imperialist scum".
Best Korea, indeed.
TotallyNOTAFox 1 week ago
Wait, Kim Jong-il didn't invent the Hamburger in 2000? My believes are shattered! /s
#29
That you'll automatically be mugged/attacked if you're white and you walk through a low-income neighbourhood.
Roman Arendt 1 week ago
Less likely than getting shot by law enforcement or "concerned citizens™" while being a male POC going for a stroll (loitering 🙄) in a white suburb in some areas
#30
That the president (USA) has some sort of special powers to control the economy.
[Edit for some clarity] I mean something like a big lever in the Oval Office, that Obama uses to shift the economy up and down.
#31
The Quarians have the largest fleet in the Galaxy. Not after the Geth wiped them out.
The Protheans built the Mass Relays and The Citadel.
That’s all I yam 1 week ago (edited)
OP, you might want to look into a change in your meds : - )
#32
The belief that the guillotine was invented in France, it was intact invented in the Yorkshire town of halifax.
2WheelTravlr 1 week ago
I guess a stamping mill could be used as a very messy guillotine.
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Ban-One 1 week ago
France was the last one to use one though....at least officially. Not too long ago....when Star Wars came out!
Victor Botha 1 week ago
Apparently was considered more humane than the executioner with an axe because those guys weren't really accurate and the blades weren't really sharp and sometimes it took a good few chops to get the job done properly. Blade could land anywhere from actual skull to upper back and not always the neck.
Jeanbore Dilford 1 week ago
It was not invented in Halifax. We do not know where it was invented. The earliest recorded use of this was in Halifax.
Wonky Donkey 1 week ago
Kind of. The Halifax Gibbett was a beheading machine used in the town of Halifax, hundreds of years before the guillotine. Scotland also had their own beheading machine called The Maiden, which also predates the guillotine.
Tim Fawcett 1 week ago
Invented in Halifax, but only became widely used whn the French used a single angled blade rather than a pair of hammers
#33
That every Jew carries around a little sack of "jew" gold around their necks.
#34
The whole midnight ride of Paul Revere. Revere shouted "the Regulars are coming out" while riding with two others, one a doctor he met on the road who was returning from a 'lady friend's house' at the scandalous hour of 1 am. Revere was captured by the British while his two friends escaped. It was the sleezy doctor, Samuel Prescott, who completed the ride, but Revere's name rhymes with more things, so it's him we heard about in the poem.
#35
Recall hearing there were a number of made up stories in Soviet Russia about war heroes, social heroes and general sacrifice. Despite people coming forward stating they made up the people, some old generations in Russia find it difficult to believe their childhood heroes never existed and not sure but i think still celebrate public holidays in their honour.
#36
I lived with a French family for a bit this summer, and they were CONVINCED that chocolate + coffee was very bad for you. I had heard of the French fear of eggs + milk, which was created as a way of rationing food (During WWII?), so I assumed this was a similar thing. I didn't have the heart to argue, just shrugged and moved on...
#37
The idea of that most communist countries represented Marxist ideologies. The closest that I can think of was Cuba.
That America "won" the Cold War. They did not, or at least, not in the traditional sense.
And also, with the benefit of hindsight Nuclear Weapons were essential in stopping the Cold War from becoming "Hot". I'm not denying that we were on the brink of Nuclear inhalation, but there very presence stopped both super-powers from starting WW3.
And finally, I hate to say this because I'm English, but the US did more to kick start the Northern Ireland peace-process that we ever did. To be honest, we were terrible with N. Ireland.
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What do you think ?
meeeeeeeeeeee 1 week ago
Too many US things for me. I was hoping for global misconceptions. Would be a bit more interesting. I've grown weary of hearing about the US as if they're all that matters.
Bored Jellyfish 1 week ago
I don’t understand why the focus of articles is mainly about the US since BP is Lithuanian website. I would like to see more about the histories and cultures of other countries pls.
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Pferdchen 1 week ago
A glaring omission: Manmade climate change is a hoax. Total propaganda. You'd think that something that threatens civilization as we know it, if not a mass extinction event, might make the list.
Jo Smythe 1 week ago
those in power WANT the change, and will deny it for forever because they know the un-educated will just believe them whatever they say. Who do you think benefits when millions of people are uprooted by a global flood and forced to find new accommodation? They are already making it impossible for normal people to own property, leading to a rent based economy. All the coastal dwellers who own their own property currently will lose it, and be forced into renting in the new slums.
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Gavin Johnson 1 week ago
So we can draw a conclusion from this small selection of ‘facts’. At times of military action or oppression the powers that be will tell the little people many, many lies. Some will get worked out and debunked, others will pass into folklore and become the basis for many more lies and half truths. If your government or illustrious leader is telling you something as fact then a healthy thing to do is assume it’s being said to either promote their position or to drag down the opposition. Be careful out there folks, it’s a jungle!
meeeeeeeeeeee 1 week ago
Too many US things for me. I was hoping for global misconceptions. Would be a bit more interesting. I've grown weary of hearing about the US as if they're all that matters.
Bored Jellyfish 1 week ago
I don’t understand why the focus of articles is mainly about the US since BP is Lithuanian website. I would like to see more about the histories and cultures of other countries pls.
Load More Replies... Pferdchen 1 week ago
A glaring omission: Manmade climate change is a hoax. Total propaganda. You'd think that something that threatens civilization as we know it, if not a mass extinction event, might make the list.
Jo Smythe 1 week ago
those in power WANT the change, and will deny it for forever because they know the un-educated will just believe them whatever they say. Who do you think benefits when millions of people are uprooted by a global flood and forced to find new accommodation? They are already making it impossible for normal people to own property, leading to a rent based economy. All the coastal dwellers who own their own property currently will lose it, and be forced into renting in the new slums.
Load More Replies... Gavin Johnson 1 week ago
So we can draw a conclusion from this small selection of ‘facts’. At times of military action or oppression the powers that be will tell the little people many, many lies. Some will get worked out and debunked, others will pass into folklore and become the basis for many more lies and half truths. If your government or illustrious leader is telling you something as fact then a healthy thing to do is assume it’s being said to either promote their position or to drag down the opposition. Be careful out there folks, it’s a jungle!
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