Time to message people between the eyes

Aug 1, 2024
Girl hiding behind hand with war inscription, hoping for peace and safety.

If we are serious about changing the world, it is time for shock tactics. When facts do not do the job we need to shock people out of their apathy.

Jack Waterford has a good point that Trumpists will not listen to words or factchecks but will only be affected by feelings, emotions, moods and anger, so Kamala will have a hard job to cut through.

This reminds me of my many years working in health promotion where the focus was on working through opinion leaders using community development techniques, but this had to be adapted as social media became important, so different messages were used at the community level and at the population level. Most people will remember the Grim Reaper AIDS mass media campaign which hit people between the eyes, and the pictures of the Quit Smoking ads showing the last stages of the lives of people with diseases resulting from smoking nicotine cigarettes. These campaigns got attention and worked.

I believe it is time for scare tactics. We have been pussyfooting around for too long, asking people to believe the facts. Neither Governments, nor individuals, nor organisations who should know better, are taking the required action. Visual depictions of atrocities is what is now needed to shake people out of their apathy.

Regarding the Zionist Israeli War we could show photos of:

  • The 9 year old girl in Gaza operated on by surgeons Sidhwa and Perimutter who was missing part of her femur, most of the flesh on one thigh, with her pelvic bones exposed due to severe cuts on her buttocks and, as they proceeded, maggots fell in chunks from her body.
  • The nurse shot in the leg by the IDF when refusing to leave an anaesthetized patient, who after being operated on was dragged away by soldiers and held for 45 days strapped to a table. When dumped naked at the side of road he had metal sticking out of his infected leg and his right eye was hanging off his skull where he had been beaten.

Regarding Climate Change, we could show pictures of people having to leave their homes permanently due to droughts, floods, extreme heat etc. We would then need to show where and how they died when the enormity of the exodus overwhelmed the aid organisations, who could neither provide adequate food, clean water, shelter and healthcare or get them accepted by a safer country. There are many options for example Sudan, Yemen and Bangladesh – some in acute distress, others a time bomb waiting to happen.

Many of us try to be activists. We write articles in alternative media, sign submissions to people in power, demonstrate and peacefully protest, cry, but feel we are not making a difference. Shocks can be more effective than reason.

Governments do not have the courage to produce such advertisements nowadays, and some even have laws to prohibit showing pictures of atrocities which protects them from criticism. Australia will not publicly release the security report on climate change so as to avoid criticism. So we the people need to use social media directly, as there are ways around this government avoidance.

There are some billionaires and philanthropists who I believe can be persuaded to produce such messages. What is needed is people who have influence with these would-be funders/producers. Those with influence need to persuade them to shock people into action. If this does not work then crowdfunding to produce the ads will be the next option. One way or another we need to ensure people will not vote for populists but for would-be politicians who put people and the environment first and can drive real change in the world.

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