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Comment by Havoc

13 days ago

Of all the organisations you’d think the CIA would understand the value of soft power and having some level of control of facts being published

22 comments

Havoc

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dmschulman  13 days ago

It's part of a multi-pronged approach to intentionally cede US soft power.

To what ends I'm still fuzzy on, but this discontinuation follows a pattern we've seen with this administration knee-capping or outright dismantling many of the ways this country spreads soft power such as through humanitarian services via USAID, broadcasts from Voice of America, ending international research opportunities and divesting us from the WHO, and doing everything possible to turn the US into a pariah in the eyes of NATO, just to name a few big changes.

  • MaxfordAndSons  13 days ago

    The ends are to create vacuums for big businesses to come in and provide the same services, for private profit rather than public benefit

  • 4fterd4rk  13 days ago

    I'm not saying the Trump regime is filled with people beholden to or influenced by Russia... but if they were I don't see what they'd be doing differently.

  • swed420  13 days ago

    > this discontinuation follows a pattern we've seen with this administration knee-capping or outright dismantling many of the ways this country spreads soft power such as through humanitarian services via USAID, broadcasts from Voice of America, ending international research opportunities and divesting us from the WHO, and doing everything possible to turn the US into a pariah in the eyes of NATO, just to name a few big changes.

    Seems like it's to manufacture consent for a narrow overton window of capital interests, which is nothing new to this administration in particular. It keeps up the illusion of democracy by looking like changes are happening all the time as a result of voting, but really it's a race to the bottom except for the uber wealthy.

    Since most voters of both corporate parties have pretty much universally internalized and accepted they're voting for the "lesser of two evils," it's safe to conclude our political system is captured and has been for decades. Furthermore, 1/3 of people refusing to vote is not solely out of laziness. Many of them have concluded the system is FUBAR.

    We're given two shit options which come about through a broken primary process and is reported on by monopolistic media. The news media and social media is siloed in such a way that people filter into one of two corporation-approved spheres of groupthink. These two spheres manufacture consent for each other in numerous ways, one of which is exemplified above. The good cop/bad cop setup makes it look like things are constantly getting broken only to have the illusion of being re-fixed by the other group, as measured by a pre-approved narratives that are disseminated.

    The COVID pandemic is another great example. Sadly the CDC has been a disgrace under all recent administrations of both parties and has lots of blood on its hands:

    https://www.thegauntlet.news/p/how-the-press-manufactured-co...

    Unfortunately the WHO has similar issues:

    https://old.reddit.com/r/ZeroCovidCommunity/comments/1q87aki...

    Almost as if capital interests are running the show. But what are we fighting about in 2026? That's right, whether we should or should not be affiliated with the WHO, and to what extent our CDC should be funded. Two broken institutions and a performative fight about them. Meanwhile millions have/will see their grave earlier than they otherwise would have, thanks to long COVID (many of whom will never even make that connection, including their doctors who were spoonfed the "vax and relax" / "back to normal" messaging in service to an archaic consumption-based economy.

  • drstewart  13 days ago

    Soft power is just a buzzword to give value to things that have zero demonstrable value.

    The CIA Factbook has played zero role in giving the US any measurable power.

    • bjourne  13 days ago

      In the early days of Wikipedia many articles were taken directly from the CIA Factbook since it was public domain. Numerous Wikipedians have fond memories of it and remembers it as something the US did that was actually good and not evil shit. That and America's Army. Cheap ways to gain goodwill. Maybe in the grand scheme of things it didn't matter.

      1 reply →

    • graeme  13 days ago

      Millions of people around the world looked at the CIA world factbook. It was useful. It gives you a warm feeling about the USA and the CIA. Warm feelings are useful.

      If you deny this argument do you claim:

      1. No one used it or it wasn't useful, or

      2. They used it robotically and formed no feelings, or

      3. It is of absolutely no use to have people like your organization or country.

    • superxpro12  13 days ago

      right. because there's zero demonstrative value in USAID giving aid to foreign countries which is why we just left.

      ...and then china moved in.

      The real problem is that the problem isnt binary or immediately causal. "This happened, and then that happened".

      These problems are slowly developing with more than 1 term in the equation.

      China doesnt build silk road 2.0 because of one little decision. It's an accumulation, and by then it's too late.

      2 replies →

    • jd24  13 days ago

      I agree. People use "soft power" as the reason the US should do so many things for free, but the benefits aren't coming back to the US.

      1 reply →

bobbylarrybobby  13 days ago

They do understand, that's why they're doing this. This is a fundamentally anti-fact administration — when facts aren't known, you can fabricate reality for the masses, which is what they want.

  • mangodrunk  12 days ago

    You’re replying to someone who is suggesting that the CIA can manipulate the facts and fabricating reality.