Norman Solomon begins his fine book, War Made Invisible, with a discussion of propaganda — which requires repetition, repetition, repetition. Think, for example, of the everywhere-present term “defense spending.” The United States maintains 750 military bases throughout the world — three times the number of bases of all other countries combined. The United States spends more on its military than the next 10 countries combined. And yet the very term “defense spending” emphasizes its necessity and discourages doubt. But propaganda is also silence, as Solomon writes, “What’s omitted pushes thoughts away, providing tacit cues as to what isn’t worth knowing or seriously considering.” The media numbs us to the on-the-ground meaning of invasion and war:
[T]he routine exclusion of people harmed by U.S. warfare conveys that they don’t really matter much. Because we rarely see images of their suffering or hear their voices or encounter empathetic words about them, the implicit messaging comes through loud and clear. The silence ends up speaking at high volume: Those people hardly exist. They are others. They are not our concern. They don’t particularly matter, while our country is causing their misery.
In his book, Solomon targets the media and the political establishment, but educators also should take his critique to heart. Too often, our curriculum “makes war invisible.” Too often, the ravages of U.S. militarism go unexamined in our classes. This excellent, fact-filled book insists: Teach about this; people’s lives depend on it. [Review by Rethinking Schools.]
A Rethinking Schools editorial notes,
War Made Invisible opens with an epigraph from Aldous Huxley, written in 1936: “The propagandist’s purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human.” In contrast, our job as educators is to equip students with the skills to recognize, critique, and actively oppose the propaganda of militarism, colonialism, and white supremacy. This kind of education will look different in kindergarten from how it does in middle school humanities or high school chemistry, but this work belongs to all of us. Continue reading.
ISBN: 9781620977910 | New Press
Available as an audiobook.
More from Norman Solomon
Interview with author Norman Solomon and Amy Goodman from March 21, 2023, on Democracy Now!.
Free Book for Your Teaching Story
The New Press offers a free copy of the book to teachers who share stories about teaching any of the lessons at the Zinn Education Project on war and anti-war campaigns and/or your experiences teaching about the current crisis in the Palestine and Israel.
As an individual who grew up with war and has a passion for peace and human dignity, I have spent my career advocating for those who experience oppression and marginalization. When my mother had our home built, the street was named for my father, so the destructive nature of war has never been a distant experience for me.
My teaching focus has been mostly national issues versus international concerns based on the narrower focus and awareness of global perspectives in American classrooms. I have spent my life valuing peace and justice but am alarmed by the level of slaughter of humans that is taking place on global display, with no end to the unabated massacre of children, women, and men with impunity.
What is heartbreaking is the lack of (or feigned) concern about the annihilation of everything in Palestine with shipments of American armaments to Israel. But getting food, water, and basic necessities of life are impossible for the American administration to accomplish. As war crimes are perpetrated the strategically bankrupt of complicity in genocide is most heart breaking. It is not only what is taking place but all the environmental damage that will destroy all forms of life for generations to come.
I want to have the courage to make a difference and give voice to the humanitarian disaster perpetrated with American blessings and tax dollars, when none of this will lead to safer outcomes for the global community and least of all for Palestinian children, women, and men.