[CC] Political Fallacies vs. Propaganda - Where is the Line Drawn?

Reading President Obama's speech on the topic of Syria has unearthed some questions that I have been keeping private for a while.
It all started back in 9th grade when we were studying communist ideals through the book "Animal Farm" by George Orwell.  There were many vocabulary terms that accompanied this unit on communism, including "euphemism" and "begging the question." Such concepts were combined with the ideas of promoters of communism to create, what we call today, "communist propaganda."  Chances are that certain images come to mind when you hear these words; posters denouncing aristocracy, a pathological appeal to poverty, images of valiant leaders like Stalin or wise philosophers like Marx.  While some people witnessing this propaganda may have been skeptic of its validity, the general population was seeing and hearing what they wanted from the government.
Now that we are studying fallacies in class, I am starting to realize the connection between the terms used in relation to communism (euphemism, begging the question, etc.) and the terms we use to describe various fallacies. Over a dozen fallacies were found by our class in the transcript for President Obama's speech on the topic of Syria.  This makes me wonder whether the speech, or even just parts of it, qualify as propaganda.  Needless to say, this one specific example is not the only existing political piece involving fallacies.  Televised political debates, political commercials, telephone calls from political candidates; they all use fallacies in attempting to gain recognition, affection and, ultimately, votes.  Are Americans subconsciously absorbing propaganda by merely taking part in basic communication between politicians and themselves? If fallacies found in communist ideals create propaganda, don't the fallacies found in American politics put the American government on the same level as a communist government?  The previous sentence was a fallacy in and of itself, yet it is hard to admit that the mere idea presented through the fallacy did not have an effect on you.  This is the power of fallacies in politics.  I have a firm belief that propaganda is an amazing art; a flawless combination of striking images, carefully-chosen words, and creatively-spun fallacies. 

[RD] Analogies are as Difficult as Writing a Title for a Blog Post About Analogies

I have come to recognize an analogy as a rhetorical device that can either be very simple or very complex.  In either case, it is fragile.  Tamper with an analogy too much and the initial meaning is lost.  Leave an analogy to completely speak for itself and it will fall flatter than Dolly Parton's wig on a humid day. I think of analogies as slightly drawn-out metaphors or similes. Luckily, I wasn't completely off when it came to my own definition of an analogy; Dictionary.com similarly describes an analogy as: "a comparison between two things, typically on the basis of their structure and for the purpose of explanation or clarification."  If you want to dig down into the roots of analogies, you will discover that the word "analogy" descends from the Greek word "analogos," meaning "proportionate." They are used to explain a concept or situation in a way that has more of a connection to the general understandings of the listeners or readers; using words to create socially equal portions between the speaker and the audience.  

My family and friends occasionally tell me that I am a master of using analogies when I try to explain concepts.  For example, I was discussing with my mother the personality traits that I have inherited from my father versus the personality traits of my mother.  My father and I are very much the type of people to focus on a few things we are passionate about and have a difficult time changing the feelings we have for our select few hobbies.  My mother, on the other hand, prefers to engage in various important parts of her life in a way that makes none of her hobbies in particular massively important to her.  I explain this concept with the following analogy: I am like a parent with two or three children of my own that I love unconditionally and nurture beyond compare.  Each of these children have somehow changed me in a very significant way, and to lose one would be absolutely heartbreaking.  My mother is in a different situation; it is as if she is running a daycare of dozens of other people's children that she nurtures, at times, as if they were her own.  However, she would not necessarily give up her life for one of these children if the circumstances led to such an event.  According to my friends and family, this analogy of my own creation is both accurate and comprehensible.
I couldn't help but use the almighty Google to find some famous analogies.  Rather than famous analogies, I found a collection of funny analogies written by teenagers that definitely deserve awards, in my opinion.  For example, "She grew in him like she was a colony of E.Coli, and he was room-temperature Canadian beef," is an example of a blunt yet creative analogy that almost indefinitely puts a smile on the reader's face.  My favorite of these humorous analogies is as follows: "The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't."  I found this example to be particularly funny because the way you can track the confusion of the reader.  All seems to be solemn and well in the sentence until "bowling ball" is reached.  The humor really hits with one key word: "wouldn't."  The mental image is established, the humor is noted, and the connection between speaker and audience is made.  
While it may be difficult to differentiate between analogies and metaphors or similes, analogies should be recognized as important rhetorical devices.  Without analogies, connections between a speaker with a complex topic/image to explain and an audience with various social perceptions/experiences would be drawn with much more difficulty. 

(25 Funniest Analogies Collected by High School Teachers: http://writingenglish.wordpress.com/2006/09/12/the-25-funniest-analogies-collected-by-high-school-english-teachers/)

Today a Storybook, Tomorrow a Peace Treaty [IR]

There are many social topics in this world that make me very happy, two of them being (1) East Asia and (2) the sharing of international cultures.  Call me crazy, but I am automatically attracted to any article, news reel, television show, etc. that is somehow related to Eastern Asia or cultural exchange.  I keep up with two online newspapers based in South Korea, one being conservative (동아일보) and one being liberal (한교레).  One article that particularly caught my attention was published in the Donga Ilbo (동아일보) last week and was titled "한중일 어린이 눈짓발짓 소통 동화책 만들다," which translates roughly to "Exchange Program for Children from Korea, China, and Japan."  I was so pleased to read about this unique program that brings together 100 young students from the three countries previously mentioned, all for the sake of writing children's books together.  
There are many unique components that come into play in this program.  The fact that the children are left to their own devices to pass creativity amongst students their own age that speak different languages than them is almost jaw-dropping.  To an adult, this concept is probably rather terrifying.  However, the students showed that with minimal help from translators, they could communicate in a way that efficiently and effectively allowed them to interact with each other.  The concept of interaction between people whose relationships are threatened by language barriers is becoming a major concern in governments all over the world.  The United States Government has devoted a large amount of time and money to sending potential translators and ambassadors to foreign countries for intense language immersion classes and camps, hoping to open doors to better communication with countries that require knowledge of the "13 Critical Languages" designated by the US Government.  I have looked into taking part in one of these overseas experiences (since Korean is one of the critical languages), especially after watching an interview with a young woman who moved from America to Korea and was able to read the Harry Potter series entirely in Korean after a semester or two of being enrolled in a language immersion class.
The collective and creative learning experience discussed in the article goes to show that the United States is not the only country concerned with building bridges with other countries.  Japan, Korea and China are all beginning to acknowledge the potential that the young citizens of their country have to make strong connections with foreign countries.  There are two main reasons that elementary, middle school and high school students have the best chance of proving useful in such a difficult quest for communication.  The first is because the younger the person, the less they are exposed to prejudices that might be a turnoff to foreign cultures.  This is especially true in East Asia, where countries have long been connected only by necessary trade and brutal disputes that often involved war.  The second reason is more psychological; younger students learn languages much faster than adults.  Early exposure and interest in foreign languages makes for a student that quickly picks up these languages that are seen as critical to many governments around the world.
I hope to see more countries and programs that will use the China - Japan - Korea Children's Story Exchange Program as an inspiration for the exposure of foreign cultures and languages to children.  I strongly believe that each student that takes an interest in creating communication between foreign countries and their own country is directly contributing to the creation of world peace.

(Here is the article in English: http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=060000&biid=2013082618978 )