Recently there have been comments here about brainwashing. I agree. In fact, my view is that most people are walking around in a trance the majority of the time.
Specific areas we have discussed here recently have included healthcare, capitalism and government. As most of you know, I appreciate Noam Chomsky’s clear and fresh view on such things. I learn each time I read him. Here he has presented observations about some things I have had an intuition about but never could have put into such a cogent presentation. This is a small excerpt from a longer interview…you can find the link to the source at the bottom. “…NC: The U.S. is different from Europe and other industrial countries in this respect. [labor movement] The U.S. is, to a very unusual extent, a business-run society. There are all kinds of reasons for that —it has no feudal background, so institutions that remained in place in Europe did not remain in place here. There are a lot of reasons. But the fact of the matter is that the U.S. is run by an unusually class-conscious, dedicated business class that has a very violent labor history, much worse than in Europe. The attack on unions has been far more extreme here, and it has been much more successful. Also, the business propaganda has been far more successful. Anti-union propaganda has been considerably more successful here than in Europe, even among working people who would benefit [from] unions. In fact, a rather striking aspect of business propaganda in the United States is the demonization of government, starting after the Second World War. The Second World War ended with a radicalization of the population in the United States and everywhere else, and called for all kinds of things like popular takeovers, government intervention, and worker takeovers of factories. Business propagated a tremendous propaganda offensive. The scale surprised me when I read the scholarship—it's enormous, and it's been very effective. There were two major targets: one is unions, the other is democracy. Well, [to them] democracy means getting people to regard government as an alien force that's robbing them and oppressing them, not as their government. In a democracy it would be your government. For example, in a democracy the day when you pay your taxes, April 15, would be a day of celebration, because you're getting together to provide resources for the programs you decided on. In the United States, it's a day of mourning because this alien force—the government—is coming to rob you of your hard-earned money. That's the general attitude, and it's a tremendous victory for the opponents of democracy, and, of course, any privileged sector is going to hate democracy. You can see it in the healthcare debate. The majority of the population thinks that if the government runs healthcare, they're going to take away your freedom. At the same time, the public favors a national healthcare program. The contradiction is somehow unresolved. In the case of the business propaganda, it's particularly ironic because while business wants the population to hate the government, they want the population to love the government. Namely, they're in favor of a very powerful state which works in their interest. So you have to love that government, but hate the government that might work in your interest and that you could control. That's an interesting propaganda task, but it's been carried out very well. You can see it in the worship of Reagan, which portrays him as somebody who saved us from government. Actually he was an apostle of big government. Government grew under Reagan. He was the strongest opponent of free markets in the post-war history among presidents. But it doesn't matter what the reality is; they concocted an image that you worship. It's hard to achieve that, especially in a free society, but it's been done, and that's the kind of thing that activists in the IWW have to work against, right on the shop floor. It's not so simple, but it's been done before…” – Noam Chomsky As far as I know, the history is unassailable. The attitude is subjective and one that I share. On Nov 30, 6:08 am, rigsy03 <[email protected]> wrote: > We have been educated and brainwashed to believe we "need" politicians > (royal families, shady executives and financial thieves, etc.) to get > "things" done just as immigrants were strong-armed that they needed > "protection" from the mafia and hoodlums in order to safeguard their > businesses and families. For that matter, many educators are little > more than baby/young adult sitters and knowledge can be aquired > without their dubious assistance- they issue a degree that proves > nothing.//On the other hand, I hate to tweak your already fragile > mood- so cheer up, mate, and have a good week! > > On Nov 30, 4:12 am, Lee <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > I was pondering, nope sorry wrong word let me start again. > > > This morning I was watching the news on breakfast TV before I left for > > work, one story that had me steaming was the on about a school dinner > > lady who got the sack after telling a parent of her daugther being > > bullyed at aschool. This girl had been tied up against a fence and > > whiped with a skipping rope by four boys. The school sent home a > > letter to the parents of the girl informing them that she had been > > involved in an incedent with a skipping rope. No further detials than > > that. This happend a while ago and the story was really about the > > dinner lady losing her cuort fight to be reinstated. > > > So in this case when the truth is told, the teller gets punished, the > > school it seems to me was more interested in the schools good standing > > in the commuity than the poor bullied girl. > > > There was also an inteview with a higher up in the NHS poo pooing the > > report by the Dr Foster body which suggests that at least 11 HNS Trust > > hospitals offer substandard care. Such lack of care causeing the > > needless and aviodable deaths of many patients, manly due to lack of > > cleanlyness. 9 of these hospitals had apperantly passed checks and > > where named in an NHS report as safe and good hospitals. The thing > > with this one is that the NHS checkd were carried out by the > > management of each hospital trust, in house and as the interviewer put > > it. ticking their own boxes. The higher up blustered on about how the > > Dr Foster body merely took existing statistics and made of them what > > they will. So again it seems that the higer up you are the less you > > want the truth to be known. > > > Now lets not talk about those biggest untruth tellers of the lot, the > > politicians, coz well coz I guess we do need them, and I'm not ready > > to get that angry on a Monday with a full working week ahead of me. > > > On 29 Nov, 15:58, archytas <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > We can bleat forever about the nature of truth. I generally prefer a > > > limited notion of truth and honesty against lies and deception. This > > > is not the whole story, but broadly speaking, if I'm on a jury I want > > > to know 'the truth' to make my decision. I don't much fancy sending > > > someone to the gallows on the basis of whether Jupiter is in > > > conjunction with a horse's ass. What has happened to this level of > > > truth and in whose interests is it to make it so difficult to know > > > about global warming, wealth, what our basic ways of living should be > > > and so on? An exploration of human and vested interests is likely to > > > tell us more about this than trying to find personal integrity. The > > > general academic consensus is that we shy away from even looking at > > > what goes on in the world because we are dire cowards who need to live > > > in relativistic cloud-cuckoo lands and that reality is too tough for > > > us.- Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en.
