Article Summary
Round Up The Usual Suspects!
Truths are conditional, pending discovery, and using analytical, critical, and skeptical inquiry. A healthy practice is to have an attitude of systemic doubt and delayed judgments until all facts are known and fully understood. Many folks may think you are strange or unique for your ability to think critically through the entire process and come up with rational conclusions. There are always reasonable conclusions; only some may be irrational.
While 95% of Americans recognize the importance of critical thinking in today's world, it's a skill that requires effort, rational judgment, and emotional risk. Only a tiny fraction, less than 15%, can think critically. The rest, often influenced by mainstream media, may find it challenging. But you, as a reader of this article, are not part of that rest. Your unique ability to question and analyze sets you apart and empowers you to discern truth from manipulation. You are a critical thinker, a crucial individual in a world of conformity, and your role in discerning truth from manipulation is not just essential but empowering. It's a responsibility that you carry with confidence and capability.
How long have U.S.A. occupants been subjected to continuous disinformation and propaganda to direct, control, and manipulate public opinions and decisions of the masses? The answer is since the inception of our country or, on a broader scale, since humankind became somewhat civilized. This prevalence of manipulation is not just a reality; it's a stark reality that we must be acutely aware of and vigilant against. Being aware of this prevalence is the first step towards combating it. And you, as a critical thinker, play a crucial role in this fight. Your awareness and vigilance are key and influential in challenging and dismantling manipulation structures. Your actions can have a significant impact on the fight against disinformation.
The government employs critical thinking not for the public's benefit but to control the masses and shape narratives. They rely on the public to unquestionably accept their narrative, a tactic that often succeeds. The government's best interest is served by a society of docile and compliant individuals who unquestionably accept being directed, controlled, and manipulated. Some might refer to this as 'sheeple, a term used to describe people who unthinkingly follow without question. However, it's crucial to remember that everyone, including you, has the potential to think critically and independently. This potential makes you capable and self-reliant in the face of manipulation.
The role of government:
We're from the government and are looking out for you! Remember that almost all statements, reassurances, and figures are manipulated into purposeful illusions. But we trust you will remain ignorant enough not to notice.
Based on the evidence, most politicians are interested not in truth but in power and maintaining that power. To keep that power, people must remain ignorant of the facts, even the truth of their lives. What surrounds us, therefore, is a vast tapestry of lies upon which we feed.
-Harold Pinter, Nobel Lecture: Art, Truth, and Politics, 2005
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/climate-change-lockdowns-yup-they-are-actually-going-there
When data (supposed facts) are presented to the public by a government (a related source) or the mainstream media (government's puppets), there is always a spin, misleading, polarized, and politicized, resulting in untruths. For instance, a government might present unemployment figures that downplay the actual rate, or a media outlet might frame a political event to favor a particular party. These untruths are deceitful, dishonest, and mendacious conversations designed to control rather than convey helpful information. The tales are spun using controlled notifications restated into disinformation or outright lies. The purpose is to project positive results or to modify public opinions or outcomes of things the government rules. The goal is always to maintain government power and control with the status quo and to keep the masses manipulated into conformity and obedience.
The role of mainstream media:
The media are paid pawns capable of lying with a straight face and are often referred to as presstitutes. The term presstitutes refers to journalists and talking heads in the media who practice biased and misleading segments to fit a particular partisan, financial, or business agenda. The duty of truth and impartiality flew out the window.
The media is not just a messenger of information but a powerful influencer perpetuating beliefs designed to protect the broad interests of powerful corporations and governing elites. The information disseminated to the public is routinely selected and then filtered. It will be exaggerated, demonized, trivialized, and discounted as misinformation or Russian propaganda, but it is consistent with affirming favor to the powerful. This realization should make us more critical and discerning in our media consumption.
Look at us! Aren't we doing a great job representing you? The media will help you form reasonable opinions as they subscribe to their best advantage. They think that they are much more intelligent than everyone else.
The confluence of government and media:
Government and institutions have a symbiotic relationship with the media and large corporations. This means that they all depend on each other for various benefits. The government, often called the administrative state, which includes all working and retired federal, state, and local municipal employees, relies on the media and corporations to shape public opinion in their favor. In return, the media and corporations receive favorable policies and regulations. They all want power and money and to maintain the status quo. No bounds will hold them back from getting what they want, even if it means manipulating the truth and deceiving the public.
If it appears inappropriate for the government to suppress free speech, they can rely on private companies to do their dirty work. If the government wants to cancel or harass individuals, it can depend on the assistance of private companies. The government will merely nod through its agencies, such as the FBI, NSA, DOJ, and CIA, and your digital access will be eliminated (kaput). The same occurs for political expediency. Whether objectionable or perfectly acceptable, one can be marginalized and silenced at a whim if the narrative deviates from the establishment's desires.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2022/12/thomas-woods/they-silenced-him-now-hes-back/
The role of propaganda and disinformation:
Propaganda and disinformation are very much ingrained into our economic and governing systems. A few critical thinkers are fully aware of this and react accordingly. But most folks do not know nor care how they are being manipulated. Why? Most folks go about their days having been taught from grade school that they are special, unique, and entitled and that the system has their best interest. They are taught compliance, conformity, indoctrination, and threats of negative consequences for deviations. Most people assume these illusions are true and go through life as serfs, existing, recreating, procreating, and delivering the same value system to the next generation. Do not question authority!
For nonconformity, the world whips you with its displeasure.
And indeed, it demands something godlike in him who has cast off the common motives of humanity and has ventured to trust himself as a taskmaster. High be his heart, faithful will, clear his sight, that he may in good earnest be doctrine, society, law, to himself, that a simple purpose may be to him as strong as iron necessity is to others!
Ralph Waldo Emerson, from his essay Self-Reliance, written in 1841. Emerson's recurring themes were that the individual must avoid conformity and false consistency and follow his instincts and ideas.
https://academyofideas.com/2016/09/ralph-waldo-emerson-self-reliance-nonconformity/
Does mainstream media disseminate propaganda and disinformation on behalf of government corporations or both? The government provides media access and preferential tax benefits, and big businesses provide advertising revenue.
We are not allowed to know the truth. Accurate facts and truth are reserved for the elites. Illusionary (pretend) facts and untruths are disseminated widely to the masses.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2022/12/no_author/four-minutes-of-undiluted-truth-on-mainstream-tv/
Around 1923, a new influential figure, Edward Bernays, became of national prominence. He pioneered a new field called public relations. He wrote numerous books, including Propaganda, Crystallizing Public Opinion, and Engineering Consent. Bernays described how intelligent minorities (invisible governing elites and corporatists) could control or influence the unsophisticated majority (the masses). Bernays used social constructs that appealed to emotions and subliminal sexual suggestions through advertising campaigns. His uncle was an Austrian neurologist and psychoanalyst, and Sigmond Freud and Bernays used his theories to form his strategies. Freud suggested that the influence of human behavior is controlled by unconscious memories, thoughts, and urges, usually sexual. Companies that hired Bernays were immediately successful in using Freudian techniques.
Another journalist, Walter Lippman, believed that the elite classes were responsible for making decisions for the less astute (masses). He described propaganda as a revolution in the art of democracy. The public could be convinced to believe and support choices subscribed to by the elites without participation or knowledge of the process. He called his method manufacture of consent. The beneficiaries were the elite rulers and major corporations, with mainstream media and advertisers as hired guns to do the job.
Corporations are profit-motivated entities. When corporations are media companies, the news and advertising become the product, and the audience is the consumer. When corporations and media companies adopt ideologies designed to benefit only an elite few and to the detriment of the many, the public essentially becomes herds of sheep to be led to slaughter.
The truth is hidden, but the Big Lies are prominently displayed for the consumption of all suspects. Using artificial intelligence (AI), the media is excellent at rounding up the usual gullible suspects.
If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the lie's political, economic, or military consequences. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and therefore, by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State. Joseph Goebbels was Adolph Hitler's propaganda chief.
Investigative journalists and editors openly admit to attempting to influence the decisions and thinking of the audience. When the media consolidated into a monopoly, it allowed only six major international mega-corporations, and the allowable flow of information became even tighter. Tighter means were designed to control the flow and influence the decisions of the public. The six majors are Comcast, Disney, AT&T, Paramount Global, Sony, and Fox, which control 90% of media content and advertising revenue.
https://www.webfx.com/blog/internet/the-6-companies-that-own-almost-all-media-infographic/
The audience of media corporations is usually made up of low-information normies. Normies are ordinary people with an average social life and are consumers of fake stream media. Their connection to the outside world is what they watch on television or read online from mainstream media outlets. Hence, they are easily swayed by false and misleading propaganda because they opt for no other sources. Gullibility to the establishment narrative is assured by most of these people, no matter how irrational or preposterous the language and actions become.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2022/12/no_author/the-war-on-words-great-propaganda-tricks-of-today/
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2022/12/no_author/dissecting-the-gross-domestic-pig-gdp/
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2022/12/joseph-mercola/an-invisible-prison-has-been-built-just-for-you/
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2022/12/no_author/americans-dumbed-down-on-russia/
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2022/12/gary-d-barnett/depopulation-and-democide-at-every-turn-this-is-the-planned-future-you-have-voluntarily-accepted/
These folks form habits that become extremely difficult to break. A perfect example is how Kevin O Leary of Shark Tank fame was paid 15 million from FTX to promote their crypto products. He was paid handsomely to spin a narrative away from the fraudulent conduct as it was occurring. FTX is now bankrupt, with investor losses approaching 32 billion dollars. Investors were reliable gullible suckers who ate the advertising propaganda like cheesecake. Hollywood promoters, famous people, and corporations are willing to defraud the public no matter how damaging it may be to people, their families, and their cohort social groups. Profits are the almighty god of pleasure and power.
How does public education (K-12 and college) contribute, and how does this relate to disinformation?
Disinformation in education has a similar result to intentionally withholding information. Withholding is to deceive, thwart one's progress, and keep one down. The objective is to remain ignorant.
The Federal public education budget was $154 billion in 2015. The 2022 budget has grown 414% to $637.70 billion. The monstrosity of the education bureaucracy continues to grow unfettered, with little or no consideration for improving education for the kids. Has anyone noticed how much brighter the kids have gotten? Yet, there is no outcry from the public. Why not?
52% of young adults (18-29) still live with their parents. Many are sponging off mom and dad while consuming their inheritance prematurely.
There are 10 million job openings, but employers need help finding qualified workers. The education system is failing big time. Workers who are comfortable living with mom-and-pop can hold out for more flexible and remote work options because they are spoiled and allow someone else to support them.
I am comfortable commenting about public education. I have a lifetime teaching credential and have taught high school for five years and college-level adult education. I have given 350 educational seminars. I observed the classroom, the administrative overload, and the teachers at the school. That was 45 years ago, and the quality of education has deteriorated on purpose. A monopoly status protects public education teachers and is one of the most powerful unions in the U.S.
Teachers teach mediocrity by design. They only know mediocracy, are educated and indoctrinated in it, and are expected to perpetuate it generation after generation. The worst teacher, glorified babysitters who are fully aware that they are exploiting the system and the kids, makes the same salary as the best teachers on campus. The lousy teacher is protected by tenure (employment for life or retirement) and a robust backup of an iron-fisted national labor union.
Districts usually avoid classes that teach kids how to function and advance in society. There is a gap between learning to work in real-life circumstances and conformity, indoctrination, and subservience to the government system.
School districts have mostly dropped classes designed to teach kids how to function in real life. Auto shops, metal, woodworking, and home economics are now gone. They were extinguished because labor unions did not want to teach competition that would take away their jobs. They can hire kids without knowledge and require them to go through apprenticeships with step-ups for less money and eventually earn journeyman status. Of course, at every level, there are labor union dues. Labor union dominance results in all goods and services costing as much as 100% more than non-union workers.
When I taught at Saddleback School District, I designed a curriculum to teach kids how to enter the job community, personal financing and organization, and consumer awareness. Classes included business mathematics, accounting, consumer education, economics, typing, word processing, and student store. Computers were not yet mainstream.
Today's high school graduates graduate with few skills to go out into the world and accomplish great things. The same goes for college graduates. Today, kids lack the essential reading, writing, and arithmetic skills to transition into a job or further advanced training.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2022/12/charles-stampul/beyond-school-and-schooling/https://www.lewrockwell.com/2010/08/john-taylor-gatto/public-schools-have-wrecked-america/https://www.lewrockwell.com/2017/06/murray-n-rothbard/evil-public-education/https://www.lewrockwell.com/2012/02/samuel-l-blumenfeld/public-education-the-sick-dinosaur-on-fedlifesupport/
Comments:
A hyperactive war is occurring against civilians to control all aspects of their lives and minds. The goal is complete control of the public narrative and to vilify dissent. The narrative engineers are responsible for creating the official positions designed to protect the government establishment and the large corporations.
Official positions are never considered wrong. Lies and deceptions used to be hidden. But today, the volume of lies and deceptions is so great that the government must rely on mainstream media to spread misinformation. The low-information people are gullible enough that the transition into a technocratic surveillance-based (single-party) totalitarian system will be easy.
Official lies are disguised as the truth, and objectors are considered advisories, racists, and outcasts. Objectors will be canceled, isolated, and punished.
Exploiting the masses benefits the few (governing elites, corporatists, and mainstream media puppets) and is the direct consequence of a lack of offensive actions by the people.
Our system of governance and government (public) schools discourage citizens from advanced learning and the ability to think critically. If voters were far more educated about life, the government, systemic failures, and spending fiat money, they would quit voting for stupid things like unwarranted entitlements, Build Back Better, and more free stuff. If young folks realized the government is 100% responsible for inflation, reduction of the dollar purchasing power, and societal breakdown, they might say no. Most of society's participants are ignorant about who controls and manipulates them and why. They obediently vote for their demise.
Our historical system of language, borders, culture, the rule of law, family, individual accountability, responsibility, the right to practice or not to practice religion, and upholding the constitutional provisions of our republic has been upended. We need an overhaul or a reaffirmation.
Time is limited for this possibility. Time is precious, a finite resource, and non-renewable. Once gone or wasted, it is gone forever. I sincerely hope that most critical-thinking people work to straighten our society and return it to the level of dignity that we grew up with, including international respect. Let's return to traditional and active assurances that each subsequent generation will be better off than the last. Could you talk about possible offensive steps with everyone you know or encounter and ask them to do the same?