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, August 13, 2021

Posts that I especially recommend for Friday, August 13, 2021 (A slightly shortened edition)

  • The Propaganda War (Part II) by CJ Hopkins, who is a wise satirical comedian in an age when satire is dead, from his weblog Consent Factory, Inc. (Note: Hopkins, an American blogger, is currently living in Berlin, Germany.) My reaction: He writes about the need for people to grow up (def.):
That is what the column you are reading is … an attempt to influence people’s opinions. Of course, that isn’t all it is. Nothing is ever only one thing. But it is absolutely propaganda. And so is everything else that you will read today.

I’m terribly sorry if this comes as a shock, but there is no “objective” fantasy-land in which no one is trying to persuade you of anything or pressure you or otherwise influence you to do something. It does not exist, this “objective” dreamworld, where “authoritative sources” report “the facts,” where “the facts” are “verified” by “neutral” “fact checkers,” where ex-NSA and CIA spooks are hired as commentators by MSNBC and CNN because they care about “the truth,” where “science” is immune to manipulation. This fantasy is the alibi of authoritarians, cult leaders, and assorted other control freaks, and the people they have brainwashed into believing in it.
  • Citing Corrupt Think Tanks For News Reports Is Blatant Propaganda by Australian Caitlin Johnstone with her American husband also reading the script (but you may miss supporting examples, illustrations, etc.)--from her weblog. My reaction: It appears that this deceptive propaganda is more powerful in Australia than the USA, and Australia is an integral part of the US/Anglo/Zionist Empire. It is not shocking, but expected when the cabal of fascist (advanced capitalists) instigators within the British Empire and their counterparts in the USA have so consolidated their control over every institution in every year since WWII (75 years).
Mark Horvath is the founder and director of InvisiblePeople.tv. The non-profit organization was built to highlight the plight of people living on the streets in the US. Horvath had experienced homelessness and held a career in the TV industry in Los Angeles before the 2008 economic collapse. In the months after the crisis began he started taking a camera to interview people without homes. Lee Camp and Horvath discuss the story of Horvath's project, the causes and experience of homelessness, an upcoming movie on homelessness from InvisiblePeople.tv.... [inserted my link]
 
The homeless are people fast becoming that target of billionaire government institutions. They are invisible people because they have no influence on how our government is run. These people are the "useless eaters" (those who do not contribute to the profits of major corporations) that the billionaire governments of the US/Anglo/Zionist Empire want to get rid of.
  • American coup d'etat (part 2) featuring Chris Hedges interviewing Dennis Kusinich, a politician who tried to succeed in a billionaire-managed electoral system, from his RT channel (25:19m). See how his attempts to serve the people belie the ubiquitous (def.) propaganda of our ruling capitalist masters that we are a democratic society.
    Dennis Kucinich served as a U.S representative from Ohio from 1997 to 2013, losing his seat after the state Democratic Party machine redrew Ohio’s 10th Congressional district, a redistricting designed expressly to oust him, although he is a Democrat, from his seat, which is what happened. He was also the 53rd mayor of Cleveland. As mayor he took on the entrenched power of the big banks and business interests, along with the mob, which controlled City Hall.
     
  • Afghanistan - This Is The End ... by Bernhard, a German independent blogger, from his weblog Moon of Alabama. (Note: It must be remembered that the Taliban are Afghanis (def.).)
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