Propaganda In Ayn Rand's The Cold War

The Cold War was an era that is a one-time occurrence. A war in which no weapons were fired and no innocent people were killed. However, it was a war that kept everyone on their toes, in fear of a nuclear destruction that will ripple through the world. There were deep-rooted ideological, economic and political differences between the United States and the Soviet Union. These differences were intensified as a result of many underlying causes. The United States and the Soviet Union represent two opposing systems of government. Throughout this period, the conflict was expressed through military coalitions, espionage, weapons development, invasions, competitive technological development, and propaganda. Propaganda was a key component of the war …show more content…
The soviet government was very strict about was made public to its citizens. Everything that was to be made public must undergo governmental review. If the content contains any political or religious ideologies that go against communist ideals then the work will be banned and the author will face punishment. The government wanted to brainwash its society, similarly found in modern day North Korea. The government was to control what its citizens were able to listen to, what they are allowed to watch, and what they can read in order to maintain civil obedience and loyalty to the government’s superiority. Printed work such as the daily newspaper, advertisements, product labels, and books were censored by the Glavlit, an agency established to protect information from foreign agencies. One of the major reasons why the government did so was to veer the direction of media to become anti-western, boosting …show more content…
Both nations attempted to discredit each other through propaganda because that was the easiest way to spread messages to the people. Given that the Soviet Union had strict censorship laws, the U.S took that in the favor as they published the renounced book of Boris Pasternak known as “Doctor Zhivago”. In doing so, the U.S was able to expose the unreasonable ways of communism, creating a hate with in communist Russia at the time. The Soviet government based its constitution off the ideals of communism. For a book to be published going against those ideals would cause an uproar and a potential revolt within the USSR. This is the primary reason as to “Dr Zhivago” was banned in the Soviet Union. The novel defined more than just fear for the Soviets, rather it showed the world the power that lies behind words. Since then governments have been toppled for something as small as a post on the Internet. That is exactly why the Soviets were so uptight with their