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Herding the Sheep
Financial insider and commentator Yves Smith wrote an essay
last week entitled "MSM Reporting as Propaganda" arguing that the
government has been using propaganda to make people think that things
are getting better, no one is angry, and - therefore - no one should
get upset:
The message, quite
overtly, is: if you are pissed, you are in a minority. The country has
moved on. Things are getting better, get with the program...
Per the social psychology research, this “you are in a minority,
you are wrong” message DOES dissuade a lot of people. It is remarkably
poisonous. And it discourages people from taking concrete action.
Is Smith right? And even if she is, isn't "propaganda" too strong a word?
Think Positive
Sure, William K. Black - professor of economics and law, and
the senior regulator during the S & L crisis - says that that the government's entire strategy now - as during the S&L crisis - is to cover up how bad things are ("the entire strategy is to keep people from getting the facts").
Admittedly, 7 out of the 8 giant, money center banks went bankrupt in the 1980's during the "Latin American Crisis", and the government's response was to cover up their insolvency.
It's true that Business Week wrote on May 23, 2006:
President
George W. Bush has bestowed on his intelligence czar, John Negroponte,
broad authority, in the name of national security, to excuse publicly
traded companies from their usual accounting and securities-disclosure
obligations.
I can't deny that the Tarp Inspector General said that Paulson and Bernanke falsely stated that the big banks receiving Tarp money were healthy, when they were not.
Okay, the government and Wall Street have traditionally tried to dispense happy talk when there is an economic crash, and Arianna Huffington recently pointed out:
There
is something in the current DC/NY culture that equates a lack of
unthinking boosterism with a lack of patriotism. As if not being drunk
on the latest Dow gains is somehow un-American.
And I'll give you that a recent Pew Research Center study on the coverage of the crisis found that the media has largely parroted what the White House and Wall Street were saying.
But that's not propaganda . . . its just positive thinking, right?
The Other Guy
And the whole word propaganda is a Nazi, communist kind of thing which has no place in the same sentence as America. Right?
Granted, famed Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein says the CIA has already bought and paid for many successful journalists.
And sure, the New York Times discusses in a matter-of-fact way the use of mainstream writers by the CIA to spread messages.
True, a 4-part BBC documentary called the "Century of the Self" shows that an American - Freud's nephew, Edward Bernays - created the
modern field of manipulation of public perceptions, and the U.S.
government has extensively used his techniques (but the BBC isn't
American, so it doesn't count).
True, the Independent discusses allegations of American propaganda (but that's a British paper, doesn't count).
And (ho hum) one of the premier writers on journalism says the U.S. has used widespread propaganda.
And (are we still talking about this?) an expert on propaganda testified under oath during trial that the CIA employs THOUSANDS of reporters and OWNS its own media organizations (the expert has an impressive background).
And (I can't believe we're still talking about this) while the U.S. government has repeatedly claimed that it was launching propaganda programs solely at foreign enemies, it has actually used them against American citizens. For example:
- In 2002, the Pentagon announced that it was considering spreading false propaganda in the foreign press. However, the military has spread propaganda within the U.S. in an operation so aggressive that one participant, a military analyst, called it "psyops on steroids"
- Raw Story confirmed yesterday the use of propaganda on Americans
-
The U.S. government long ago announced its intention to "fight the net".
- As revealed by an official Pentagon report signed by Rumsfeld called "Information Operations Roadmap":
The
roadmap [contains an] acknowledgement that information put out as part
of the military's psychological operations, or Psyops, is finding its
way onto the computer and television screens of ordinary Americans."Information
intended for foreign audiences, including public diplomacy and Psyops,
is increasingly consumed by our domestic audience," it reads.
"Psyops messages will often be replayed by the news media for much
larger audiences, including the American public," it goes on.***"Strategy
should be based on the premise that the Department [of Defense] will
'fight the net' as it would an enemy weapons system".
And (when's the next episode of American Idol on?) CENTCOM announced in 2008 that a team of employees would be "[engaging] bloggers who are posting inaccurate or untrue information, as well as bloggers who are posting incomplete information."
And (who do you think will win the playoffs?) the Air Force is also engaging bloggers. Indeed, an Air Force spokesman said:
"We
obviously have many more concerns regarding cyberspace than a typical
Social Media user," Capt. Faggard says. "I am concerned with how
insurgents or potential enemies can use Social Media to their
advantage. It's our role to provide a clear and accurate, completely
truthful and transparent picture for any audience."
And
(did you hear about the new cellphone?) it is well known that certain
governments use software to automatically vote stories questioning
their interests down and to send letters favorable to their view to
politicians and media (see - as just one example - this, this, this, this and this).
The U.S. government is very large and well-funded, and could
substantially influence voting on social news sites with very little
effort, if it wished.
The Bottom Line
Yeah yeah, people say this or that, whatever, I'm too busy to think about it.
Even if true, propaganda is
too strong a word for attempts to convince people that important issues
are boring, that no one else is angry about them, and that everything
is normal.
Perhaps "herding the wayward sheep" would be better . . .
- advertisements -
Coming into being constantly are new paradigm shifts in the development of weapons of mass distraction. The newest of which may have had good intentions (communications). However, the likes of Facebook and Twitter have instead had negative consequences in that people are using them to discuss their ever growing agendas of useless and unintellectual nonsense. Of course the usual old distractions of tv, radio, sports, and the God awful creations of the Hollywood sort still exist and are plenty efficient. I find however in my dealings with most people around me that almost all are aware of the state of affairs that confront us today. The problem I am seeing is the feeling of abandonment that people feel. Everyone is alone and scared of what is to come next (and who could say what that might be). So I will ask of this enlightened group what is the average citizen to do. Even the most peaceful of protests is likely to be disbanded or discredited by the massive system of resources that has been set against them. The police are likely to be no help as they have been empowered by the very set of individuals we are discussing and so they have been corrupted. What is to happen to make people come together and start anew? Are the sheeple to simply wait until their wealth is completely evaporated? Only the upper middle class still has somewhat of a footing in our current society but with the elites continued domination in the consolidation of wealth they don't stand to last much longer. Answer me this oh brave ZH'ers: How to organize the recapture of our dignity as a people of this nation utilizing the masses of the normal goobers you see around you every day and you will have your country back.
The internet has made everything flat.
Interestingly enough this is a topic (ideology) on which Marx had much to say that is applicable/enlightening for the current discussion, even while the shoe was on the other foot with his capitalist critique. From that perspective, the excesses of raw capitalism aligned with a socialist-leaning executive agenda makes sense as two sides of the same coin.
For 8 years I've read about the bad economy and tent cities.
But now, it's all green shoots.
Still, I have heard that 1+ million people will exhaust all the extended unemployment benefits by the end of the year and therefore will have $0/month rolling in. Will rubber hit road? Will ship hit sand?
GW,
A really excellent post. I am beginning to wonder, though, if we haven't seen the nascent beginnings of the backlash. Who were all of those people rallying in D.C. in mid-September? Why were they there? Why are mom and pop selling their equity mutual funds? Distrust is on the rise. You can beat a dog only so long until he decides that the food and shelter aren't worth the punishment. I think I hear some feral dogs howling in the night...
The sad truth is that the government's psyops are very effective - and they are working on many fronts: The majority of Americans who have been processed by government schools don't know how to even start asking the right questions. The outliers who have some critical thinking skills have been effectively neutered through isolation and by being painted as unpatriotic or paranoid.
And those of us who do question the orthodoxy of the state spend way too much time on the internet. The only hope may be history - history shows that eventually empires crumble under their own weight, and corrupt systems end up cannibalizing themselves.
You think there is propoganda and peer-pressure from TV/government? Try being a bearish dissenter inside a financial institution. You get openly ridiculed.
As an internal auditor, I fought the corrupt management of a small, publicly traded utility company. It was difficult and I eventually left. Good luck to you. BTW, I'm now working for municipalities that were screwed by my former company. The road is not easy, but there are better places awaiting honest people.
like where?
i say ...no taxation without ummmm....no wait i dont have a choice about quality in a candidate..ok ..i vote to not pay a cent in US federal tax...see if that works
Surprise, surprise. This is how Fascism works.
Ever hear of a guy named Goebbels?
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/profile.php?member=AmericanEagleWON
Watch these...
I worked for a few months (just a college thing) at a defense contractor whose activities would fit the description here of propaganda. The military would tell us some of the positive things they wanted to hear and we would give them some data and wordsmithing that would fit the bill. They would then send this out to domestic and foreign audiences.
From that experience and meeting many folk in the military and government, I wholeheartedly believe the government propagandizes the same way they do everything else: outsourcing it to shitty contractors who only got the deal because they knew the right people. The government is filled with people who sport chubbs thinking about the power they wield over sheeple through propaganda and lies, but in almost every instance they really just suck at it.
Hence the "tell" as to source and the nature of the response. Makes tracking somewhat easier.
BTW GW, I am sure you have a working knowledge of PSYOP and its application to the matters discussed would be worthwhile. I base this upon my experiences and assignments in various locations and departments of government.
All governments use propaganda to quell their masses. What's more, most governments deny doing so while accusing other governments of doing so. Our government is no different than the Soviet Union in that regard.
The only thing we have going for us is Freedom of speech and press so that dissenting voices will not be quieted (although they are often drowned out by the propaganda machine.
I would highly recommend a book called "Flat Earth News", by Nick Davies. Although it is written from a British perspective, it's a fine read. It is vital to educate oneself against the pervasive and invidious propaganda that assails the senses everyday.
From my very first visit to the United States, it has always been like a trip to a parallel universe. The US media presents such a distorted picture of reality (especially when it comes to economic optimism) it makes my head spin. I always used to think this was part of the winning the Cold War agenda but that came and went. Maybe it is nothing more sinister that creating the atmosphere most conducive to consumerism, but since it has reached a situation where America seems fat, miserable and drowning in debt, I question how it can go any further.
The MSM may not all be controlled by secret cabals, but they are there and their involvement is enough to shift the agenda. Just think about the fact that if anyone prior to the invasion of Iraq suggested there were no WMD, they were considered to be in the minority, but the reality was there was no "evidence". It is a mystery to me why the average American is so gullible, but I suppose it is the faith in democracy which does not exist.
As for Century of Self, I think the writer, Adam Curtis, is a genius...
Thanks for bringing up the Adam Curtis documentary again. I downloaded it a while ago, need to watch it. I really liked his 'Power of Nightmares" stuff, too...
"creating the atmosphere most conducive to consumerism"
Thank you for that one sir. Nailed it.
Great article, indeed the core of the matter, US-CIA global media control.
CIA Operation Mockingbird to control the media:
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKmockingbird.htm
Current victim of CIA Operation Mockingbird, political refugee from the US in Belgium - massive US-CIA smear campaign against this US dissident, criminal charges in Belgium against the US government:
http://about-les-sachs.angelfire.com/
If people aren't aware of the government use of misnomers then we are done for. If there is one take away from Seinfeld it's "Do the Opposite" because whatever MSM is trying to get you to do, don't just walk, run over as many woman and children you have to to get out!
as quoted by glenn beck...
when enough people shout somebody (glenn) down, maaaaybe there's something to it... (nevermind that, Idol re-runs are on channel 2)
if you aren't a little bit nervous, you probably aren't paying close enough attention to the other hand.
cheers
How about Operation Northwoods - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Northwoods? I guess this is the pessimistic version of the methods described above.
I don't know what the hell your're talking about. What problems? Bah, bah!
in the second world war, there were the "collaborators" with the Nazis, such as thepuppet governments that were installed. A well know British telco called "BT" uses this word as part of a marketing campaign. Nazis however were tangible. Are you suggesting that there is a political group/elite cabal that is perpetrating some kind of process of "thought control" on the mass of people..by dumbing them down so they refuse to consider politics and will exist only as the modern equivalent of slaves or serfs? Perhaps these people think that the average american is not equipped to earn a living without this manipulation. In other words, possibly there is an elite cabal that considers that it is creating higher living standards than an educated 99.9% of the population could create for themselves. I think its time to list the 0.1% (300,000 decision makers at CIA/FBI/Pentagon/Corporates/Federal servants) and publish their diaries. I guess twitter would work for that. 300,000 is a small number..anyone up for starting a website?
psyops works on me because one week i'm glad we went into iraq and afghanistan. the next i'm remembering george washington's advice. i go back and forth between being a buchananite and a pre-emptiver all the time.
If its not obvious, the tongue-in-cheek style is meant to highlight the technique of trying to distract people with small stuff so they don't focus on the big stuff.
Hi George, maybe it's me, since I'm pretty literal, but I didn't quite get the subtle effect, so thanks for pointing it out. :-) I love your writing and reprinted this article, Ilene (at www.philstockworld.com)