Slade3200
Diamond Member
- Jan 13, 2016
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I cite him because he has a huge following and spews baseless propaganda which many of his followers believe to be real. Same goes for Rush who has one of the largest radio programs in the world. If you’re going to discuss misinformation by the media you have to include people like thisHe is mostly a conspiracy theorist, as far as I know. Never listened to him and he has nothing to do with our debate. Why would you cite him?Is his indoctrination and propaganda any different than the “ruling class” as you call them?No.Would you consider Alex Jones as part of the ruling class?It’s difficult for most. They can’t overcome a lifetime of indoctrination and propaganda by the ruling class.Americans have the choice to follow or think for themselves. When Americans act like sheep isolating their political news and social bubbles, they are absolutely responsibleI think you are missing a bigger point related to the corporate media. It’s clear to me much of the corporate media are controlled by a hidden cabal, that consists of deep state government forces colluding with the billionaires who own the media and numerous media personnel, to control the narrative for the benefit of the State and the ultra wealthy.I say the only difference is due to technology which made possible the expansion of media and speed that information can be delivered. I believe the psychology of campaigning, dirty tricks, fear mongering, etc is much the same and people have always had a desire for information and drama. I also think there has been little difference in quality of people elected. You just know about thousand times as much about them and hear far more commentary both true and false. People really don't change that much. Media has always been biased and dishonest.Why you ask? Because we live in the digital age where entities have perfected the art and psychology of marketing and campaigning. Play off fear, demonize the enemy, use peoples insecurities to draw their support. Couple that with the 24/7 cable news cycle, editorial “news” shows like Rush and Hannity, social media bubbles, and a thirst for drama from our tabloid envying society... well it’s the perfect storm. And the result is the shittiest president in our history. An egomaniac who represents all of the above.That is due to the fact that so many Americans have gone crazy over national politics but why? Why, has America become fundamentally unglued? Why have otherwise rational people began to act irrationally? Why have Facebook and Twitter feeds turned into political battlegrounds? Why have so many people ended relationships or friendships over political disagreements? How did everything turn so upside down in a time of relative peace and prosperity in America?Look how much money and attention are spent in national elections vs localTrump supporters waving signs at a BLM march have been attacked. Fights have been breaking out in Portland between far right and far left groups. When people allow national politics to become a central part of their lives, the nation is in trouble.There are people on Facebook saying they will unfriend people for disagreeing with them about Trump and BLM.
If your community is anything like mine, the decisions made by the mayor and the city council have far more direct impact on daily life than those made by the president. Yet only 1/3 of the people in my city know the name of the mayor or the name of more than one city counsel member. Only about 20% will vote in an all local election yet over 70% will vote in a national election.
In the grand scheme of things, the country has faced far more significant issues. Democrats are no more concerned over social issues than in the past Republicans ideology hasn't significantly changed in last 40 years and we’ve come a long way as a country when our national debate over equality has boiled down to which bathroom people who are changing their genders use.
For most of American media history there was no concept of unbiased, neutral journalism. Newspapers endorsed political candidates and savaged their opponents in print. If you think politics is rough now, go read what was written about Andrew Jackson’s wife when he ran for president or what was said about Abraham Lincoln during his 1860 and 1864 presidential campaigns. Newspapers, which in their most basic business models are aggregations of advertisements surrounded by articles of interest designed to get people to buy the paper, were the first mass distributed method of political discourse in this country. Leaving aside pamphlets like Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense,” newspapers were our first mass distributed pop culture. And newspapers began as ribald, rollicking, bitterly partisan broadsides for or against particular candidates and policies.
Today, the media with it's huge foot print in America, foments conflict and angst and anger and fear because that’s what makes the media money. But the reason why our political media is broken isn’t because the political media is broken, it’s because we’re broken. Every time that Donald Trump gets attacked, his base likes him more and every time the left wing base attacks Donald Trump, the left wing’s base likes it more. The problem with this is self-evident, we’ve got two different media universes that don’t overlap. Both of these media bases are incredibly lucrative businesses. Why would the left wing and the right wing change its media direction when both sides are making so much money and the audiences keep consuming what’s being created so well? Abraham Lincoln famously said a house divided against itself cannot stand. But what if this media house divided against itself can stand up perfectly, even as the country falls apart around it?
The CIA and NSA likely play a major role in this effort. CIA Director Casey let it be known in the 1980s, when he said paraphrasing, “when everything Americans know is wrong we will know we have succeeded.”
Second point; blaming the American people for the divisive nature of our political discourse, I find unacceptable. When you realize there is a covert effort by powerful forces to propagandize and divide Americans, which has existed for decades, you can’t expect the average Joe to realize he’s being duped.
We see these dupes on this forum every day.
It’s the corporate media, that’s the culprit.