The Triumph Of Bullshit

Propaganda is the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist.

– Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O'Donnell, Propaganda and Persuasion


You wake up, yawn & stretch and drag yourself out of bed to the kitchen to turn the kettle on for your coffee. Coffee in hand, you return to your room & switch on the T.V to get "up to date" with what's happening in the world. Unbeknownst to you is the vast, intricate thredding that goes on behind the scenes to bring the "real world" to your favorite news channel or daily newspaper/weekly news magazine.

For the most part, you are being lied to. You are quietly being persuaded to view the world (and arguably, yourself) through the lens of others. Of course, being social creatures we are necessarily influenced by events, environments and people around us, but when our reality is being systematically manipulated to achieve certain ends by powerful organizations/cliques, then what we are dealing with is something of a deeply disturbing magnitude.

Our media landscape is controlled by the BIG 6. This cabal of very powerful and connected interests are the Grand Wizards of spinning our collective reality. Do you really think that General Electric (owner of MSNBC/NBC) will have commentators speaking openly and honestly about the War in Iraq when it is one of the most powerful defense contractors in the world? And that growing octopus, NewsCorp--Do you think the Wall Street Journal, Barron's and SmartMoney will print anything questioning tax or trade policies (e.g NAFTA) that benefit the powerful so much?

Some of the ways we're being manipulated, disconnected and rendered powerless through our media are via stereotyping, oversimplification, appeals to fear, appeals to authority, slogans, disinformation, generalities, intentional vagueness, bandwagon ("you're either with us or against us") and repetitive, unstated assumptions. Besides TV, newspapers, movies, books and magazines, another source of massive propaganda is through public relations firms. Major PR firms are enlisted by governments, corporations, entertainers to twist&bend public perception in order to deflect attention/criticisms from their shadier practices. For example China has enlisted Edelman and Ogilvy to "manage" its' image internationally. Another powerhouse PR firm, Hill& Knowlton, which has used its vast propaganda machinery to clean up the images of big tobacco companies, Papa Doc Duvalier & Union Carbide (amongst other detestable miscreants).

As Socrates noted, one should always question, question, question. Never for a minute allow your critical faculties to go dull and unchallenged (I have to remind myself of this daily). As Viktor Frankl noted years ago, "..finding meaning involves perceiving a possibility embedded in reality and searching for challenging tasks whose completion might add meaning to one's existence...".

Keep on questioning and get involved in dismantling The Lords Of Deception (the Media). Here is one way: http://www.stopbigmedia.com/

Peace

::MixMasterE::