Oh that's lovely, Orn! Chomsky does have that knack of pointing the searchlight into the dark, unspoken areas and then turning up the power, doesn't he? :-)
Francis On 30 Nov., 17:15, ornamentalmind <[email protected]> wrote: > 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.
