Many people have a naive view of what the government actually is. Instead of seeing it as a group of people with the legal authority to use force, they view it as a kind of benevolent father figure, generally looking out for their best interests and protecting them from danger. 

The fact that most people take this view should be a worry for conservatives everywhere. People who want to limit the size of the state will always struggle to win the battle for hearts and minds if people continue to believe false things about what the state actually is. 

Of course, the current warm views of the public sector are mostly themselves the results of propaganda. A little bit like God uses the angel of death to carry out vengeance; the sitting government relies on the tax machinery of HMRC to do its dirty work, getting the money it needs to sustain itself. 

But propaganda is nothing new. It first began in ancient times when leaders realised that they could use rhetoric and outright lies to manipulate people. In the 20th century, two world wars enabled propaganda to come of age, becoming a powerful force that mobilised the entire economy for war. 

If you’re interested in how governments use propaganda to manipulate the population, take a look at the following infographic. What it shows is that even Western governments who are supposed to represent the will of the people are prone to carrying the worst acts of informational warfare against the very citizens they are supposed to serve. 

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