Smokey Bear- enemy agent
When I was a kid I loved Smokey Bear. I had a Smokey Bear pillowcase (which my parents donated to the Smokey Bear museum a few years ago). I had a Smokey Bear bendy rubber toy with a mediocre paint job, probably bought in a tourist trap in Colorado.
I also fell for the propaganda Smokey Bear was created to spread. I love animals and nature and wanted them to be protected. I didn't yet know the forests were being "protected" to death by preventing a natural, essential process. A process that when interfered with makes the problem worse and more destructive. It was quite a shock when I learned the truth.
Smokey Bear and his propaganda campaign illustrate the danger of government perfectly.
Use a memorable way to promote bad policy. The bad policy then causes damage which makes the original problem worse, which causes people to believe government (and its bad policy) is necessary to protect from the consequences of government policy. It's a snake swallowing itself. But it remains effective.
.
Thank you for helping support KentforLiberty.com.
Donations and subscriptions are always appreciated!
Only you can prevent forest fires.
Smacks of personal responsibility. They'd market him entirely differently nowadays.
Only the government can prevent forest fires, so stay in cities and pay your taxes!
People aren't understanding my objection to Ol' Smokey... so look for a follow-up in a day or two.
Somewhere I have an old comic book about Smokey's origins and some fire safety tips. On the one hand, I do appreciate the promotion of fire safety. On the other hand, governmental forest management has indeed been detrimental to forest health. Good forest management benefits people and the forests alike, but governments are about controlling people first and foremost rather than taking steps to protect property or create market profit.
You get it!
Good articles and very informative. Thanks, @dullhawk
I too Love this bear sir.
Hahaha do you serously love smokey bear.
Great example.in case of liberty ..... It is so hard to understand your content.. @dullhawk..
Love the comparision of government policies with smookey bear.