Language has tremendous power, but with any great power comes the ability to misuse it. Language can harm and deceive people just as well as it can help them in the right hands. This is very useful in modern politics. People can manipulate others into believing certain things, verbally assault them, and degrade others to the point where their opinions no longer seem valid.

All of the aforementioned topics are forms of propaganda, which is extremely present in all forms of politics. With the presidential election coming very soon, we can see the candidates vying for position. The techniques used by the politicians are slanderous and sneaky, for the sole purpose of getting the viewer to believe what they have to say. They even attack other candidates personally. The families of Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush have been mentioned multiple times in order to make themselves seem better in comparison. Their use of ad hominem is malicious and manipulative towards all American voters.

The idea of propaganda is not a new notion in politics. In the World War Two era, it was just as prevalent. Using all different kinds of media, both the Allied and Axis forces utilized propaganda in order to boost the morale for their respective militaries and gain support from the general populace.

The essay titled, “How to Detect Propaganda,” helps illustrate all of the ways to manipulate language in order to influence people. Techniques include name-calling, card-stacking, testimonials, the band wagon, and glittering generalities. Because there are so many different ways to manipulate the ideas of others, it’s clear that propaganda has existed for a long time. The use of language to create effective propaganda is a skill that certain individuals have utilized to shape the face of our world today.

People can be manipulated by language inadvertently without direct propaganda being used. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie explains this in the TED talk, “The Danger of a Single Story.” Chimamanda was born in Nigeria but moved to the United States for college. Her roommate was very surprised with how Chimamanda presented herself because she had only heard stories of poverty and chaos in Africa. By only hearing about this one aspect of Africa, Chimamanda’s roommate subconsciously generalized all Africans to fit this idea that she once held. The power of language manipulated her perception of all Africans to fit the model based on what she heard in stories.
Language is without a doubt a very influential medium, but the way in which people use it is up to the individual. It can be used to manipulate an entire population to believe in a certain ideology. It can also be used to change the perception of other people or ideas. The power of language is limitless but it can always be used for propaganda and manipulation