Surviving Capitalism (Not) : How the Media Whitewash the Face of Capitalism

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 Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Friday, April 11, 2014

How the Media Whitewash the Face of Capitalism

Click here to access article by Patrice Greanville from The Greanville Post.

What is a bit discouraging about this excellent post is that it was written and published in their print edition back in 1982, almost 32 years ago! It's clear that such views didn't make a dent in the American psyche. Even today, many people who are upset about things only want wars to go away.

Such is the case with Rick Staggenborg, MD who writes today in opposition to wars by explaining that they have something to do with our history since WWII, and something to do with corporate war profiteers and their propaganda. What he writes is all true, but why can't he then take the next step and tie it to the system of capitalism? It seems that he is another victim of not only the propaganda that he writes about, but the whole system of capitalist indoctrination. He has bought into one of the basic myths of this indoctrination that Greanville exposed 32 years ago--that capitalism is based on human nature:

This propaganda ~~equation~~ [myth] is one of the oldest and most effective ideological weapons utilized in defense of capitalism. It pays off handsomely in a number of important ways. ...if capitalism is congruent with “human nature,” then the capitalist system must be the most “natural” and “logical” form of social organization, as people will have a built-in tendency to observe its basic rules.

Of course, these capitalist myths which they have poured into the minds of citizens since birth are not just the result of journalistic media. They are proliferated everywhere: in all education, in entertainment, in our workplaces, etc., repeated endlessly by our peers and families, and it may be in the very air we breath. The fact is, this 24/7 brainwashing is absolutely necessary if the ruling One Percent class is to continue with their system, the goose which lays them so many golden eggs. It is necessary in order to get us to serve them, to stop what we're doing and go off to kill people who are their enemies in foreign lands, to get us to work for paltry wages, to determine what work we do and when, to endure unemployment, poverty, ill health, etc.

We don't have wars merely because of corporate propaganda, but because corporate propaganda is an integral and inevitable part of capitalism.

So, the big question for today is: are we going to continue to be brainwashed by their indoctrination and propaganda, and thereby insure that we continue to be plagued by wars, unemployment, austerity, poverty, etc? There is now much more at stake--think about it: if capitalism continues, we face climate destabilization and the end of the human race along with other species!