Surviving Capitalism (Not) : The Fairy Tale Of The ‘Self-Questioning’ BBC

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

Thursday, June 23, 2016

The Fairy Tale Of The ‘Self-Questioning’ BBC

Click here to access article by an editor of Media Lens (based in Britain).

The writer makes a devastating attack on mainstream media which always defends business-as-usual and the capitalist trajectory that is leading us over the cliffs of a nuclear conflagration and climate destabilization. This may be radical politics 101, but we can't ignore reality: most people are so habituated to corporate media and naively believe that it offers an accurate lens on reality. Thus I see the final paragraph as an understatement of the year:

...relying on journalists in the corporate media, not least the BBC, to exercise such responsibility is a forlorn hope. We should reject the elite media which exists to serve elite interests. Instead, we need to develop and support alternative means of informing and empowering the public in the vital struggle for climate protection, peace and equality. [emphasis added]