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Most parents won't have kids get H1N1 flu shots, study finds

A Short Propaganda Analysis

Below is a screen shot of an article from the LA Times.




My Comments

Although this LA Times article contains some truth, it is a classic propaganda piece. It contains blatant examples of NLP -- neuro-linguistic programming.

Let's take a look.


Subheading

First, you will notice that the subheading (which appears immediately below the title) claims:

"A national survey suggests parents are confused about the risks of the virus and its vaccine."

The first thing you encounter after the title of the article is the suggestion that "parents are confused". This line attempts to set up a mental association between "parents" and "confused" in order to break down the inner-confidence that parents have about their decisions. Breaking down existing beliefs is a fundamental technique of NLP.

Of course, in actuality parents have finally woken up to the absurdity associated with the practice of injecting potent toxins directly into your bloodstream, much less the bloodstream of your child. To make matters worse, these toxins are known immune suppressants. So just when you need your immune system the most, they want you to inject a vaccine that breaks it down.

This line also creates a mental association between "risks" and "virus". This is why the word "virus" (not vaccine) appears directly after the word "risks". This mental association creates fear of the virus by associating it with "risks".

The truth is, parents have learned about the considerable risks of the vaccine, which is why they are choosing not to vaccinate. The irony (intent actually) here is that the LA Times is focusing on the risk of the virus when parents have concluded that the risk of the vaccine is greater.


First Sentence

Next, the very first sentence of the article continues the fear mongering:

"Germ-spreading schoolchildren are expected to be the focus of a massive U.S. vaccination campaign against the novel H1N1 flu."

This obvious example of NLP establishes a connection between "schoolchildren" and "germs". Since your mind knows that your child is in contact with these "Germ-spreading schoolchildren" all day, this phrase induces a fear of the virus, which in this sentence, is represented by the "germs".

The second NLP in this sentence creates the subconscious belief that vaccines are "against" the flu. Let's break it down.

First, the word "massive" plays to the human tendency to follow. This is something massive, so everyone is doing it, so "I" -- the reader -- should too.

Next, the phrase, "U.S. vaccination campaign" is simply the subject. When the mind encounters something (noun), it begins looking for something to associate it with.

This is why the next word is a powerful word that sets up the relationship between the "vaccination campaign" and the flu. Because the mind reads that the vaccination campaign is "against" the flu, the mind automatically concludes that the vaccination campaign works "against" the flu. It is a suggestion of fact attempting to claim the vaccination program as effective.

Of course, this suggestion is important to the propagandists because the very reason parents are deciding not to vaccinate is because of studies showing the vaccine to be ineffective.


Second Sentence

The next line sets up yet another NLP association.

"But if their parents are hearing the rallying cry to have their kids vaccinated, they're not buying it, says a new national survey."

It is an NLP injection of fact. The supposed fact is "parents are hearing" which sets up social pressure which plays upon the human tendency to follow. It says, "hey, this is what parents are doing, and since you are a parent, you should be doing this too."

The next statement is an NLP command. It tells you what do to. It says, "have their kids vaccinated". Since the word "their" is already established as being "parents", then (if you're a parent) this statement is mentally interpreted as, "have your kids vaccinated".

The next statement is another NLP statement of fact that creates social pressure. It says, "they're not buying it, says a new national survey".

The word "they" is again associated with parents.

You would think that the word "it" is associated with the "rallying cry" but subconsciously, "it" becomes associated with the logical rhythmical grouping of words, which is "a new national survey".

For example, when your mind hears, "they're not buying it", your mind naturally asks the subconscious question, "What are they not buying?"

So the NLP-injected fact becomes, "They're not buying the new national survey." Since we're talking about parents, the word "they're" refers to parents. So this sentence tells you that parents aren't buying the national survey, so neither should you. Since the survey actually indicates that parents are not vaccinating, this NLP-injected fact negates the true fact by telling you that this study has no credibility because parents "aren't buying it."


Title

The careful reader will also discover the NLP-command embedded right in the title itself: "kids get H1N1 flu shots". Pretty blatant.


More Info

For in-depth information about NLP being used by politicians, see this fascinating article:

An Examination of Obama’s Use of Hidden Hypnosis Techniques in His Speeches


There is more, but we'll save that for another time. Here is a link to the article:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-parents-flu25-2009sep25,0,579663.story