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Blogs: Crucial or a Waste of Time?
Preface: Everyone who is not employed by the giant banks or their government enablers knows that the economy cannot stabilize unless they are broken up. Bloggers have been saying this ad nauseum, but nothing is changing.
So we've got to ask the question: is blogging crucial or a waste of time?
Crucial for Spreading Accurate Information
We've all seen it.
A
story that bloggers have bird-dogged for many months, gaining so much
traction that the mainstream media is finally forced to cover it. [Note to ZH readers: as one example, Tyler Durden has broken many such stories, that the msm finally was forced to cover].
David
Steele - former 20-year Marine Corps infantry and intelligence officer,
the second-ranking civilian in U.S. Marine Corps Intelligence, and
former CIA clandestine services case officer - says that blogging is crucial for saving our country.
Dan Rather points out that “roughly 80 percent” of the media is controlled by no more than six, and possibly as few as four, corporations. As I wrote in July:
This fact has been documented for years, as shown by the following must-see charts prepared by:
***
This image gives a sense of the decline in diversity in media ownership over the last couple of decades:
The mainstream media are rabidly pro-war and refuse to disclose that many of the "independent" pundits they interview are actually lobbyists. The mainstream press has become lazy, and most of the stories are fed to them by PR firms.
People want change - that's why so many voted for Obama. But as Newsweek's Evan Thomas admitted:
By
definition, establishments believe in propping up the existing order.
Members of the ruling class have a vested interest in keeping things
pretty much the way they are. Safeguarding the status quo, protecting
traditional institutions, can be healthy and useful, stabilizing and
reassuring....
"If you are of the establishment persuasion (and I am). . . ."
In
other words, many editors, publishers, producers and reporters think of
themselves as being part of the establishment class, and so do
everything they can to protect those in power.
No wonder trust in the news media is crumbling.
On the other hand, as I wrote a year ago, it is possible to get direct-from-source news on the web:
Many of the world's top PhD economics professors and financial advisors have their own blogs...
The same is true in every other field: politics, science, history, international relations, etc.
So
what is "news"? What the largest newspapers choose to cover? Or what
various leading experts are saying - and oftentimes heatedly debating
one against the other?
And as award-winning investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill said recently:
I think we're in a moment where corporations are more dominant over
newsgathering and news production and disseminating information than
they've ever been.Contrary to that, though, you also have this sort of "citizen
journalism" rising up, where you have people that are staring their own
blogs or their own web sites.
So the blogosphere is certainly vital.
A Waste of Time
On the other hand, even with all of the millions of bloggers exposing what's going on, the powers-that-be are ignoring us.
Even
with high-level economics and financial experts demonstrating that the
economy cannot recover until the big banks are broken up, the
government is letting them get bigger and bigger. For example, an all-star cast of well-known experts says that we must break up the big banks, with people like Simon Johnson blogging about this daily for one of the world's most popular news sites (Huffington Post). And yet nothing is changing.
Even
with top security experts showing that the never-ending "war on terror"
is harming our national security, and that covering up for the
torturers and war criminals is making us less safe, the Obama
administration is continuing the never-ending war, and has swept
torture and war crimes under the rug.
I could go on and on, but
if you've been paying any attention, you know that our country is
headed in the wrong direction, no matter how many thoughtful writers
point out the direction we should be headed.
Moreover, the blogsphere is not a "free market" of ideas. Whistleblowers and many of the hardest-hitting blog posts get attacked or buried by the powers-that-be. Because of this censorship, there may be a highly educated minority of millions of Americans, but the majority still gets their news from the mainstream media, including the mainstream news websites.
So blogging may be doing nothing but blowing off steam,
and draining the energy which should be used for massive protests and
strikes. Indeed, maybe we are just shouting within the Matrix, in an
artificial environment. Maybe we are having as much effect as
protesters in government-approved "protest zone" - miles from the
media, let alone the real events they are protesting.
Knowing stuff isn't enough. Being smart isn't enough. Indeed, being
informed and smart but failing to take action to protect ourselves is a
recipe for disaster (and perhaps even extinction).
Maybe we need to get outside the cyber-playground and the designated protest zones, and shout with our real, physical voices at real, physical people before anyone will actually pay attention.
Useful or a Waste of Time?
Do you think blogs are useful or a waste of time? Let us know what you think.
- advertisements -
Trick question! LOL. Seriously, for a format that, either by design or natural occurrence, elicits knee-jerk responses, I'd guess it's still too early to tell. I do know a couple of things. TPTB are really pissed that they didn't buy the Internet when they had the chance. Right now I'd suggest it's the 21st century version of the old Radio Free Europe, with some exceptions and modifications. Commercial television programmers do their best to either ignore or mock bloggers, so we must be doing something right. Were it not for the blogs, I would have lost a lot of money on the crash.
As for the political angle, the jury is still out there, too. I'm guessing it's a generational thing. In my own very unscientific questioning, the younger the demographic, the less likely, for whatever reason, the need to actually hit the streets for whatever cause. That is because Americans, IMO, don't do politics, they do elections. And even then, the best turnout we can ever get is in the low 50% range. As the culture and society changes I think the net will play a bigger part. When? My guess would be when the first serious attempt at censorship comes.
When I started blogging on pensions a couple of years ago, everyone was laughing at me. Well, nobody's laughing now. -)
Blogging is mental masturbation.
You get some pleasure out of the fantasies while doing it, there is a certain closure to getting things off your chest because to endure the silence of saying nothing to anyone would drive you insane, you don't need a team to carry it off, it is quick, handy, and doesn't require someone else's approval or forgiveness, but in the end, it gives no pleasure to anyone else and the only sign that anything happened are the chocolate chip cookie crumbs left around the keyboard, chair, and floor.
the truth hurts, but it can also make you laugh. touché,anony. lol
Blogs and other free speech outlets are essential.
It is not a mistake that the right to free speech is the first entry on the Bill of Rights.
I find that the MSM is rarely worthwhile for real news. (They do ok with sports and weather though.) I presume that the MSM is worthless for the very reason that they have an agenda to sell. I find it necessary to consider every source's agenda. This applies to the blogosphere as well.
Peaceful reform will come from shining light on the evils that those with vested-interests attempt to keep in the dark.
I think it is important to cross-fertilize information. That is there is not much point in preaching to the choir. They are already believers. You need to reach out to those who have the ability to think for themselves.
It is also nice to know that there are intelligent, sane people left on this planet.
www.ae911truth.org
If this were the 1960s the MSM wouldn't cover MLK Jr.'s marches or speeches. The blogosphere would. Enough said?
They are crucial. Of course, all blogs (including yours) must be taken with a grain of salt. They may reveal truth or lies. Hard-headed facts or wild conspiracy theories. But they provide information and analysis that would be unavailable anywhere else.
They are fundamental to the whole tea party movement.
If there ever is real change, blogs will be a major component.
Answer is: Howling at wind. File under "Saying phuck you to an oncoming tsunami wave, " or "laughing at the executioner and telling him where to stuff his blindfold." Other similarly pathetic and futile actions that the foolishly idealistic among us choose to do anyway, despite their apparent lack of effectiveness or meaning.
Accept the lies, or blog.
Due to ardent distributers of truth (thank goodness!) My home and the members of my community who trust me are prepared for said tsunamy.
The internet is educating us to our dilemma and daily more are awakend to the awful truth. Those of us who are moved to do something about this recognize the difficulty of how to approach it. Pitchforks and tar may have worked in days of old, but not now. The empire has much to lose and can overpower us in many diverse and violent ways. We are essentially at the mercy of our captors. And will remain so until the dollar dies. Even then the same structure may continiou itself with the old guard in posession of military. Sad to say i dont see a way out without Chinas help.
I say: "Try It Anyway (and don't forget the torches, Feathers, and rails!)"
Sorry. Just got done reading Mogambo Guru's latest and he got to me again.
Agreed. Just howling......preaching to the same old choir.
A false dichotomy, General. Blogs are a crucial waste of time. I'm sure I throw away at least two hours a day reading them myself.
Depends on what else you'd be doing.
A complete waste of time. I do it 40 hours a week....
[On]
Thank you for wasting your time.
[Off]
May you one day be recognized with a pulitzer, if that award is of any significance for you.
tks
Ah, but where else are we going to go for the news?
To reply to the essential question: unfortunately I'm inclined to think that most of this blogging is just pissing in the wind. It's fun, it's extremely informative, and it means a tiny minority of the population will have a much better understanding of why the economy is collapsing and the political system heading towards greater than total corruption. Unfortunately, it does not seem that it will have much if any effect on those undesirable outcomes. Too few people actually care, and of those who care, fewer still really have the critical thinking skills to discern genuine and important issues from fabricated issues or real nuisances of little importance.
Being a bit more optimistic, in the short term it may be a tool for some people to make some profits (or minimize losses) in the ponzi scheme that used to be called investing. And in the longer run it may, used carefully, allow intelligent and like-minded people to identify each other and perhaps even form some sort of community. But I don't see it averting the train wreck, any more than throwing cotton balls at a freight train.
Blogs are just conduits. Don't blame the conduit if the electricity ain't flowing. Blame the electricity. Wrong phase, wrong hertz, wrong amperage, wrong voltage, wrong whatever. TV is a single phase single voltage constant amperage medium that benefits from wide exposure and acceptance.
Blogs are just the opposite. Find the correct electrical source, used the proper conduit and blogs will ignite.
CD,
If we were to better use blogging to organize, what actions would you recommend?
Organize? People are desperate to connect. TV, radio, newspapers are passive activities that are one way and single medium with small forays into each other's domain. People don't want to be talked at, they want to talk with.
Blogs are now being used to compete with the other mediums. Wrong way down a one way street. Blogs are currently static, meaning while there is interactivity, it's not real time. So while people sense a connection, the delay is frustrating, like speaking to someone on Pluto with a day or more of delay, limiting their appeal.
The problem will come from intentional disruptors, which is already experienced, only not in real time. How do you have a thousand conversations in real time without drowning them all out? Sorry, just some stream of consciousness here. To organize who for what purpose to what end under what circumstances? A 20 year old won't snap at the same bait a 50 year old would.
Want to organize? Set out the ultimate attractor, the honey for the ants. They will come if they smell what they want. Not talk, not hope but action. A strong magnetic field that compels them to act. How do you overcome the programming of the Matrix? You don't. You use the large size of the opponent against him. You use what the Matrix has against the Matrix. Or you offer something the Matrix doesn't have.
The Matrix is one size fits all. Blogs offer every size for everyone. But it's currently two dimensional. Even TV recognizes this limitation, thus the reason they're going 3D, to further the illusion of depth and interaction, a facsimile of reality.
What is the most powerful force that acts on a person? Seeing a crowd of people all running in the same direction. Irresistible. I have ideas but they would be considered subversive. The jack boots are already here, we just choose not to be aware.
Let me think about this GW and get back to you. I need to put it in the back of my brain and let it ferment.
the law follows behavior, informally at first, and then formally ...
In a simple nation/state enterprise (add circuits for the global economy), the primary tap of the evolutionary circuit depends on understanding the recursion of physics. The secondary tap depends on a net individual liberty feedback loop with the controller, government.
Government cannot see the net liberty feedback mechanism. All it understands is controlling the motor, with a labrynth of capacitors and resistors. Left to its own devices, all of its solutions will involve increasing control, until the economy comes to a dead stop, while it feeds its own loads, and never closes the motor contacts.
The motor, Wall Street, naturally wants to be free of control, to run at will, and will seek to bypass both the control and the loads, pull excessive amps, weld the starter contacts, and short itself out. The motor contacts are welded, and government is discharging its capacitors to feed its own loads.
Well put Mad Max
Mad Max is a Moron and so are you.
Obama said no Lobby!
Obama said... bla, bla, bla....
Thats what got him elected.
JW, what passes for acceptable internet intercourse in other sites just marks as a moron here. if you disagree with the comment, state your counterpoint and your supporting reasons...
if you cannot do that, then you had best spend your time elsewhere...
personally i thought Mad Max's comment was dead on, i guess that makes me a moron too, at least IN YOUR OPINION, how about enlighten us as to WHY you hold that opinion, or.........STFU
JW n FL
So you are contributing which facts , links or intelligent discourse?
Your comment sucked!
Blogs can be a great source of information but no use for action. Indeed by helping to channel frustrations they are acting as a safety hatch for those in power. However if we can somehow use the blogs to organise a critical mass of people rapidly to take action like withholding tax from the government it can work as a medium to organise effective peaceful action.
Obama was marketed the same way that you could market a new cola or diet pill. The idiot masses bought the marketing tripe because they've been brainwashed from birth to do so for two generations now. His election was the ultimate triumph of political marketing over substance, and he didn't even have to plan a coup d'etat in a beer hall to get there.
The US is simply one of many examples that so-called representative democracy is a failure in a world where the voting masses are ignorant and the tools to manipulate them are sophisticated.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_v6Vx4TUIw6Y/SmVkmLMBFbI/AAAAAAAAB9c/g3c2FUQ0l0...
I blog therefore I'm spam...
Useful, if you seek truth.
Exactly. MSM/Gov't will never cede power and only admits weakness to expand its power with more alphabet soup agencies - the only positive thing that will register on the "change" Richter scale will be in the hearts and minds of those that are no longer willing to lie to themselves. Nothing short of millions "going Galt" or foreign invasion will reverse the descent into totalitarianism. By then the USA will be in fractured regions anyway - only major population centers will be under control of the mass murderers.
Keep the truth out there so that more and more might prepare themselves with eyes open - you are offering freedom and saving lives.
+1 for ZH et al!
A few days ago I caught the bus outside the local coin shop. I sat in the front and noticed that the bus driver was having a conversation right up my alley, "Glass Steagall....." I joined and we had a nice round of , "Those guys setting policy are idiots." As I stepped off I said I had read this one article that was quite enlightening off of a site named, oh what was it named....ZEROHEDGE, thats right. He said he reads it EVERYDAY. I asked him if he posts. He doesn't.....I thanked him for the ride.
People are waking up. Interesting the momentum pushing both sides is of an equal force, so by the time the SHTF, we may have enough minds connected to withstand the high tide that is about to wash upon our shores. We still have some time left, and everyone counts.
+1 ZHers....We fight the good fight, every last one of us.
I no longer follow any main stream media, except bbc online, and AlJezera.com, just to get a balanced perspective.
If it wasn't for the blogosphere I think we would be living in hell. Between this site, Baseline Scenario, Naked Capitalism and several other key daily stopping points, I can not imagine life without the blogosphere. I simply do not trust those journalists who are corporate pawns with no passion. They themselves are just employees, and personally I only trust other entrepenuers, and like minded free thinkers who speak with a passion for what is right.
If they start to control and censor the internet that is when I will take to the streets with my pitch fork, that will be the time for the real revolution to begin.