It would have been a different war in 1914 without propaganda; the history of political parties would have been different if the principles they announced were measured by their application to total and not to partial experience.
Harold J. Laski: “It would have been a different war in 1914 without propaganda; the history of political parties would have been…”
Editor's note · Context
Laski reflects on the impact of propaganda on historical events, suggesting it could have changed the course of political history.
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Ultimately, that denial is always made upon the same ground: it is insisted that the doctrines or practices attacked are subversive of the civil order.
He is able, accordingly, to indulge in the twofold luxury not only of preserving his own authority, but also of assisting the persons attacked to enter, if they so choose, the way of truth.
The essence of the persecuting position is always that the persecutor has hold of truth and that he would betray its service by allowing it to be questioned.
We grant it in religion to deny it in politics; we grant it in politics, to deny it in economic matters.





