In primitive societies, where men are just beginning to read and [have] nothing to read but propaganda, we can say that they are its innocent victims. But in an evolved society there are no innocent victims of propaganda. Propaganda succeeds because men want it to succeed. It works on minds because those minds want to be worked on. Its conclusions bring apparent light and satisfaction because that is the kind of satisfaction that people are longing for. It leads them to actions for which they are already half prepared: all they ask is that these actions be justified. If war propaganda succeeds it is because people want war, and only need a few good reasons to justify their own desire.
Thomas Merton, OCSO
Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, p. 218
