We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore LappĂ©, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Managing the News and Views

by Ron Horn.

Following NATO's overthrow of Qaddafi's government in Libya and the installation of a pro-Western regime, the Empire is currently engaged in the same regime change program in Syria and Iran. This program has many facets to it including the use of mercenary terrorists to create chaos, but I will largely emphasize one theme--there is a massive propaganda campaign in the Empire's home countries to support these projects. 

It is very difficult here in the US to find alternative sources of information about developments in Syria. Examine three current reports about the situation in Syria which I think represent three types of coverage--1) pro-Empire propaganda, 2) an attempt at reporting different views on what is happening, and 3) an anti-Empire critique from a US author and political analyst. The first type of coverage is pervasive in the US and Western media to the exclusion of any other interpretations.
  1. Many Arab monitors said to question Syria mission
  2. Discord among Arab monitors as Russia warns of Syria intervention
  3. US bringing the Salvadorian option to Syria (A transcript of interview segment on Iranian PressTV)
I regard number 1 as pure, crafted propaganda in support of the Empire. I regard number 2 as an attempt to provide balanced, but rather superficial news coverage. Number 3 I think offers a much more perceptive understanding of what is happening based on a long history of Empire destabilization campaigns since WWII beginning in Greece, extensively practiced in Latin America, and more recently in Iraq and Libya. In spite of this long and sordid history, you will have to do a lot of searching on the internet to find this type of news analysis. 

Meanwhile, the ongoing brutal repression of dissidents in Bahrain where the Empire has stationed its Fifth Fleet has been almost totally disappeared from US mainstream media.

The Empire's monopoly on news and analysis is at least as important as their use of violence to keep people all over the world serving the (.1 of the) One Percent who rule most of the world. Hence, it is of critical importance for the 99 Percent to organize their own sources of information to support their war against the political operatives of the One Percent.
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