Good Government Does Not Need Propaganda

 

Propaganda has always depended on one simple assumption: that people can be convinced to believe something they cannot see for themselves.

But there is a problem with that strategy when it comes to government. You can tell people that the economy is improving, but eventually they go shopping. You can tell them that healthcare is working, but eventually someone in their family needs treatment. You can tell them that the police are their friends, but eventually they find themselves on the wrong side of a police encounter. You can tell them that justice is independent, but eventually someone they know walks into a courtroom seeking it.

Reality has a way of interrupting propaganda. This is why I find the constant effort to sell governments to citizens so exhausting. A government should not need to convince me that it is doing a good job. I should be able to experience it in my everyday life.

If the economy is genuinely improving, I should feel some difference in my household. Perhaps I can afford more. Perhaps businesses are hiring. Perhaps my salary stretches a little further. Perhaps young people around me are finding opportunities instead of spending their days sending applications that nobody answers.

If the police are truly serving and protecting citizens, I should not need a government campaign telling me that they are my friends. I should encounter officers who treat people with dignity, enforce the law fairly and understand that their authority exists to protect citizens rather than intimidate them.

If the judiciary is independent and respected, it should be visible in the decisions it makes. Justice should not require a public relations campaign. The strength of a judicial system is demonstrated by what happens when powerful people appear before it.

And if our leaders are genuinely good, eventually we will know. Everyone will know.

That is what makes propaganda such a poor substitute for governance. You can control a television broadcast. You can flood social media with praise. You can organise rallies filled with enthusiastic supporters. You can produce beautifully edited videos showing roads, hospitals, projects and smiling citizens.

But you cannot permanently edit people's lived experiences.

The person struggling to pay rent does not need an economist to explain their reality. The unemployed graduate does not need a political analyst to tell them whether opportunities exist. The parent standing in a hospital queue does not need a government spokesperson to explain the state of healthcare.

They already know.

This does not mean everything a government does is bad, nor does criticism automatically make someone an enemy of the country. In fact, I would argue that honest criticism is one of the most useful forms of patriotism because it forces those in power to confront reality rather than surround themselves with people who tell them what they want to hear.

Sycophancy is not patriotism. Blind praise is not patriotism. Silence is not patriotism. A citizen does not owe a government applause. A government owes its citizens results. Because ultimately, good governance speaks for itself.