Media Lens.jpg Why are media de-campaigning Jeremy Corbyn? Media have examined every last detail of Corbyn's personal and political past (what he has said, how he has voted, who he has met) in an effort to smear him, but not those of the other three candidates, Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall. CU Note: Media Lens writes long pieces criticising the UK media in detail and recording their interactions with pompous British journalists. Much of their output would be difficult for South Africans to follow. This excerpt is valuable to us because it describes the ruling-class tactics in openly ruling-class terms - those of Samuel Huntington's 1975 "Crisis of Democracy" report - while relating those tactics to present-day practice, namely the media's attempt to de-campaign Jeremy Corbyn, the grassroots candidate for the leadership of the British Labour Party. The South African media work to the same agenda, in our circumstances, by de-campaigning the mass democratic movement, including COSATU unions and the ANC, while simultaneously promoting unelected NGOs and demagogue popstars as authority. VC Media Lens, London, 4 September 2015 The establishment press has attacked an obviously authentic representative of Labour values - Jeremy Corbyn - as the ultimate threat to Labour values. On and on, the alleged concern has been to save the Labour party from itself, to protect its electability, to defend democracy. Much of this 'concern' has been expressed by sworn enemies of the Labour party. A glance back at US history helps clarify what is really going on. In 1975, The Trilateral Commission, a think tank closely linked to the US government, issued an influential report titled "The Crisis of Democracy". The report's author Samuel Huntington noted: "The effective operation of a democratic political system usually requires some measure of apathy and non-involvement on the part of some individuals and groups." (Quoted, Noam Chomsky, Radical Priorities, Black Rose Books, 1981, pp.160-164) Thus had Truman 'been able to govern the country with the cooperation of a relatively small number of Wall Street lawyers and bankers.' Unfortunately, by the mid-1960s, 'the sources of power in society had diversified tremendously'. This was a result of the fact that 'previously passive or unorganized groups in the population,' such as 'blacks, Indians, Chicanos, white ethnic groups, students and women... became organized and mobilized in new ways to achieve what they considered to be their appropriate share of the action and of the rewards'. This public mobilisation comprised a 'crisis in democracy'; or, more accurately, an 'excess of democracy'. The solution lay in 'a greater degree of moderation in democracy' and determined efforts 'to restore the prestige and authority of central government institutions'. Demands on government had to be reduced in a way that restored 'a more equitable relationship between government authority and popular control'. Noam Chomsky commented on the report: "Its vision of "democracy" is reminiscent of the feudal system. On the one hand, we have the King and Princes (the government). On the other, the commoners. The commoners may petition and the nobility must respond to maintain order... Real participation of "society" in government is nowhere discussed, nor can there be any question of democratic control of the basic economic institutions that determine the character of social life while dominating the state as well, by virtue of their overwhelming power." Chomsky concluded: "This is the ideology of the liberal wing of the state capitalist ruling elite, and, it is reasonable to assume, its members who now staff the national executive in the United States." In 2015, 'mainstream' UK politics and media are responding in much the same way for much the same reasons. From: http://medialens.org/index.php?option=com_acymailing <http://medialens.org/index.php?option=com_acymailing&ctrl=archive&task=view &mailid=354&key=41f61f9bb7b2cc4dd57b1de19eaff865&subid=14320-ed6e16dd9909f67 584f8142057a46c5e&tmpl=component> &ctrl=archive&task=view&mailid=354&key=41f61f9bb7b2cc4dd57b1de19eaff865&subi d=14320-ed6e16dd9909f67584f8142057a46c5e&tmpl=component -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. 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