Take a Look Into the Mirror of Propaganda

     Is propaganda the oldest form of rhetoric? Watts makes a strong claim that story, list, sanction is a rhetorical device used in some fashion sporadically throughout the history of texts. In fact, we can recall that Enheduanna uses story and a form of sanction (I would argue) in her text though her sanction is different from others presented by Watts. Enheduanna sanctions herself by "infusing" her heart with a god's.
     Watts claims that "Persuasion motivated the creation of many ancient Near Eastern texts. This is especially true of royal inscriptions, whose concerns range from preservation of the inscription itself to dynastic propaganda" (197). I would argue that the preservation of text is propaganda, so that propaganda is in fact a main aim in public texts using the story, list, sanction method. We can only speculate as to how this came to be, but as Watts points out, religion/myth is a main driver of this rhetorical device.
     Myth is humankind's attempt to understand that which it cannot, and usually finding ways to rationalize powerful forces that humankind experienced from day-to-day. Naturally, these forces would be attributed great power (the sun brought light and warmth, but also death without water). The moment that humans began to tell stories of myth, they created propaganda, or maybe it was the invention of sanctions that created the first propaganda. We will never know, but our obsession with wielding unfathomable power is released in the form of sanctions. No doubt the first person to utter that they will invoke the power of  the sun to smite their enemy gained an unheard of psychological edge in battle. But really this/these persons were simply using the first form of propaganda.
     Today, we use sanctions in various forms (as Watts points out), but he fails to note the shift that has occurred in modern society. Where he points to political and religious examples, he glosses over the great new sanction—the individual.
     We have created a narrative in Western society that the individual is their own God (of sorts), and in doing so, we call up sanctions regularly to praise or curse those that challenge this ultimate sanction. The individual has a dual plurality in that it is a visible (through our bodies), and yet is still so unknown to all of us. The individual is the ultimate propaganda. You are the ultimate propaganda.