word of the week: agitprop

From Merriam-Webster's:

Main Entry: ag·it·prop

Pronunciation: \ˈa-jət-ˌpräp\

Function: noun

Etymology: Russian, ultimately from agitatsiya agitation + propaganda

Date: 1935

   

: propaganda; especially : political propaganda promulgated chiefly in literature, drama, music, or art— agitprop  adjective

 
From Andy Whitman for Paste Magazine:
 

Maybe it was the brutal Winnipeg winters.  Maybe it was the crushing boredom.  Whatever it was, John K. Samson’s old agitprop punk outfit, Propagandhi, came out of the gate spewing more vitriol and bile than any band since The Sex Pistols, and its discography may contain the highest FBD (F-Bomb Density) of any band in history. You certainly don’t write songs with titles like “Stick the Fucking flag Up Your Goddamn Ass, You Sonofabitch” and expect to win any sensitive singer/songwriter laurels.

From David Brooks at the NY Times in a Times Select (sorry no link) piece in which Brooks gives advice to Paul Wolfowitz:

There are Democrats, and then there are Democrats. A quarter of the Democrats you'll work with are partisans. They believe the rantings of the agitprop pundits, and they'll never be open-minded toward you. But the other three-quarters are honorable, intelligent people. If you treat these people with respect, and find places where you can work together, they will teach you things and make you more effective. If you treat them the way you treat the partisans, they'll turn into partisans and destroy you.

From Mcsweeney's:

Jason Capell kept going, without any prompt from me. If, on the street, some of the protesters were talking in agitprop and lefty code, and they were, I wasn't getting any of that from him. He just really needed to talk.

FIN

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[Dan Morehead]

Holy redesign, Batman. Looks good.