Yesterday I was hit by massive corporate media coverage of Nelson Mandela portraying him as a hero for the ages. Although I have been aware of international capital's approval of Mandela before, such coverage immediately set off alarm bells in my head.
Memories flooded in about other mainstream institutional reactions to events that in hindsight revealed a major component of ruling class interest in the events and subsequent bias in their treatment: extensive media coverage of the Egyptian protests in early 2011 when US NGOs were discovered operating (little coverage since then of all the subsequent anti-regime protests), the massive promotion of the NY Time's version of The Pentagon Papers in bookstores (compared to a much superior book in Sen. Gravel's version), the massive promotion of Robert Fisk's book mis-titled as The Great War for Civilisation which reported in extensive detail the corruption and human rights abuses in various Arab countries, the steady and overwhelming barrage of Jewish victimization themes starting with the 1960 propaganda film "Exodus" and followed up in all media since then--to name just a few.
Thankfully, Cook's piece immediately alerts us to a similar treatment of the legacy of Nelson Mandel now occupying so much space in ruling class media. He provides a much more accurate picture in this brief summary of the historical contributions as well as the character weaknesses of this human being. Finally, Cook warns us of the dangers of being taken in by this type of propaganda:
For too long we have slumbered through the theft and pillage of our planet and the erosion of our democratic rights, preferring to wake only for the release of the next iPad or smart phone.If you need another antidote to mainstream coverage, I suggest you read a piece by Jerome Roos entitled "Nelson Mandela passes away — his struggle continues" in which he develops the following theme:
The very outpouring of grief from our leaders for Mandela’s loss helps to feed our slumber. Our willingness to suspend our anger this week, to listen respectfully to those watery-eyed leaders who forced Mandela to reform from a fighter into a notable, keeps us in our slumber. Next week there will be another reason not to struggle for our rights and our grandchildren’s rights to a decent life and a sustainable planet. There will always be a reason to worship at the feet of those who have no real power but are there to distract us from what truly matters.
Today’s liberation movements are here to remind us that the only appropriate way to honor Nelson Mandela’s legacy is not to beatify the man but to take his struggle to its logical conclusion.Still another even better antidote from The Daily Beast by Peter Beinart entitled "Don’t Sanitize Nelson Mandela: He’s Honored Now, But Was Hated Then" which reveals the history that our ruling masters would like to forget--or like you to forget.