Mass Media in The United States of Oligarchy
The United State is an Oligarchy
In 2014, a study published by Princeton and Northwestern Universities titled Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens used extensive policy data from 1981 to 2002 to measure the state of the US political system.
After sifting through nearly 1,800 US policies enacted in that period and comparing them to the expressed preferences of average Americans (50th percentile of income), affluent Americans (90th percentile) and large special interests groups, researchers concluded that the United States is dominated by its economic elite.
The peer reviewed study concluded that only a few powerful actors, namely special interest groups and economic elite are able to influence US policy. The average American has no influence over the US political system and government policy.
"The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organised groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence."
From the BBC,
Americans do enjoy many features central to democratic governance, such as regular elections, freedom of speech and association and a widespread (if still contested) franchise. But we believe that if policymaking is dominated by powerful business organisations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America's claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened.
Counterpunch's Eric Zuess puts it starkly
American democracy is a sham, no matter how much it's pumped by the oligarchs who run the country (and who control the nation's "news" media)," he writes. "The US, in other words, is basically similar to Russia or most other dubious 'electoral' 'democratic' countries. We weren't formerly, but we clearly are now.
Additional reading - Zerohedge
Domestic Propaganda is Legal
The National Defense Authorization Acts signed by president Barack Obama in 2013 and again before leaving the oval office in 2017 include provisions that remove safeguards against domestic propaganda directly targeting American citizens.
Here's a link to the 2017 NDAA pdf
Right before the Christmas holidays on December 23rd 2016, Obama quietly signed NDAA 2017. On page 547 of the 900 page document, there's a section titled Countering Disinformation and Propaganda Act. The passage describes the creation of the Global Engagement Center by the US government, essentially creating an official government propaganda arm.
According to WeAreChange, NDAA criminalizes media that the government deems to be 'propaganda'.
This bill, as we reportedly previously, will “Criminalize ‘Fake News, Propaganda’ on the Web,” a key piece of legislation meant to crack down on free speech and independent media. In Layman’s terms, the act will allow the government to crack down with impunity against any media outlet it deems “propaganda.” The next piece of the legislation will provide substantial amounts of money to fund “counter propaganda,” to make sure the government’s approved stories drown out alternative media and journalists who question the status quo.
Only a few years earlier in 2012, Obama signed into law the 2013 NDAA which effectively replaced the Smith-Mundt Act with the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act. The originally Smith-Mundt act introduced in 1948 protected American citizens from being subjected to US domestic propaganda intended for foreign audiences aborad.
“No funds authorized to be appropriated to the Department of State or the Broadcasting Board of Governors shall be used to influence public opinion in the United States.”
While the Smith-Mundt act does not outright use the term propaganda, the act was clearly designed to safeguard againt the use of propaganda on US citizens.
By U.S. law, knows as the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and the Department of State are not authorized to use taxpayers’ money to influence public opinion in the United States or to otherwise propagandize to Americans. It appears, however, that the Voice of America (VOA) is now spending public money to help distribute its programs specifically to American citizens and U.S. residents and to promote such domestic distribution of VOA programming.
Media Consolidation & the Illusion of Choice
With every passing year, we see the merging of already massive media empires with one another creating enormously powerful conglomerates. As a result, we see the erosion of choice throughout the media industry. We may have thousands of production companies, tv studios, and websites to choose from but they're really owned by the same corporate entities and therefore conform to certain company guidelines. Of course, these companies are driven by profits but they also filter out undesirable journalism, programming, and information that doesn't fit in with their overall growth strategy.
Some would argue that the media landscape has completely shifted since these graphics were originally produced in 2011 as the Tech giants such as Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon have overtaken the model. There's no doubt that this is true with these companies quickly becoming immensely profitable, influential and integral parts of the economic system.
In fact, Google in Facebook are quickly outpacing their digital media competitors due to their flexibility in adjusting and implementing new advertising strategies.
Just like the media landscape the tech industry also shows signs of significant power consolidation.
Critics like Columbia law professor Tim Wu suggest that the major tech firms are creating information monopoly aka an oligopoly.
The author goes on to argue that despite the Internet’s reputation for encouraging freedom, it looks “increasingly like a Monopoly board” with most of the major sectors controlled by “one dominant company or an oligopoly.” According to Wu, search is “owned” by Google, while Facebook owns social networking, eBay rules auctions, Apple “dominates online content delivery” and Amazon owns online retail.
Highly Advanced Propaganda Directed at Citizens of Western Democracies
Propaganda has evolved to such an extent over the lat 100 years that it's become unrecognizable to its intended audiences. Nowhere on earth is the propaganda more advanced, more evolved and more imperceptible than in Western democracies. The illusion of choice is present throughout mainstream media if one is careful to recognize it.
Perhaps the grossest ongoing censorship of all is the culturally conditioned, narrow range of opinion fed to the vast majority of Americans by their own media. The differences in story lines and opinions in the “news” given by well-watched television channels such as ABC. CBS, NBC and CNN, or those of the nation’s major newspapers and news magazines, is minuscule.
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The narrow range of views offered creates a uniform background noise hiding most of what is at variance with the standard message. In other words, media practices constitute de facto censorship.
So well does this process work that it is probably the case that many news editors and broadcasters and most of the public taking in their reporting do not understand that their reductionism has rendered the constitutional right of free press ineffectual.
Really meaningful contrary opinion and reporting (particularly of the progressive persuasion) is so infrequent and marginalized that it stands little chance of competing with the orthodox point of view.
This relates to Chomsky and Herman's Propaganda Model in that the goal of propaganda is predominantly to marginalize and distract from contradictory opinions, positions, news, information and even people.
Propaganda in western societies promulgated through the media is designed to select, sanitize and filter news before it ever reaches the public. Power is concentrated in the hands of a small number of un-elected individuals and corporations whose interests are served (advertisers, stakeholders,etc.).
Society's managerial class know that propaganda is critical in order to maintain the status quo. Therefore, it is equally important that the average citizens remain marginalized, distracted and isolated.
People have to be atomized and segregated and alone. They're not supposed to organize, because then they might be something beyond spectators of action.
Identifying Propaganda
Propaganda exists in a wide range of forms and persuasive techniques to influence the mind. Some of the most common techniques are included in four main groupings:
Activating Strong Emotions
Propaganda plays on human emotions—fear, hope, anger, frustration, sympathy—to direct audiences toward the desired goal. In the deepest sense, propaganda is a mind game — the skillful propagandist exploits people’s fears and prejudices. Successful propagandists understand how to psychologically tailor messages to people’s emotions in order to create a sense of excitement and arousal that suppresses critical thinking.
Propaganda feeds off of emotions and the absence of critical thinking. Any effective piece of propaganda creates strong positive or negative feelings towards the subject represented.
Responding to Audience Needs & Values
Propaganda may use accurate and truthful information, or half-truths, opinions, lies and falsehoods. Successful propaganda tells simple stories that are familiar and trusted, often using metaphors, imagery and repetition to make them seem natural or "true."
It cannot be stressed enough the key function of REPETITION plays in the effectiveness of a PR campaign, advertisement or propaganda piece. As an example, think of how the MSM beat the drums of war in the build-up to the invasion of Iraq.
WMDs
WMDs
WMDs
There were no WMDs or any connections to Al Queda.
The only evidence of WMDs, were the media's WEAPONS of MASS DECEPTION
Today we have a similar lie that is repeated incessantly in the MSM 24/7/365.
Russia!
Russia!
Russia!
It’s becoming abundantly clear that the Russians didn’t hack the US elections.
Evidence to support these claims are anemic but powerful interests are determined
to hammer this lie into the minds of an exhausted US citizenry.
Simplifying information & ideas
Effective propaganda conveys messages, themes, and language that appeal directly, and many times exclusively, to specific and distinct groups within a population. Propagandists may appeal to you as a member of a family, or your racial or ethnic identity, or even your hobbies, your favorite celebrities, your beliefs and values, or even your personal aspirations and hopes for the future.
Again, the Russian hacking fairy-tale is pandered mostly to liberals and progressives. Conservatives, get a fair amount of propaganda the other way, portraying a reality TV buffoon as some sort of political savior.
The notion that the MAGA, drain-the-swamp, anti-deep state crusader Donald Trump will rescue America from its deterioration and restore the nation to its mythical past glory is a simplistic narrative that many still cling to.
Attacking opponents
Effective propaganda conveys messages, themes, and language that appeal directly, and many times exclusively, to specific and distinct groups within a population. Propagandists may appeal to you as a member of a family, or your racial or ethnic identity, or even your hobbies, your favorite celebrities, your beliefs and values, or even your personal aspirations and hopes for the future.
Attacking one’s enemies needs little explanation but there are no-doubt countless examples to choose from. A few we’ve already mentioned here.
Defending Against Propaganda
- Awareness
Be conscious of the general viewpoint that is used to frame the issue at hand. Simply by accepting the initial framing of the issue allows the propagandists an early advantage. It is usually by framing (or reframing) the discourse that the author or speaker can persuade the reader/viewer to align or readjust their thoughts on a given topic.
- Situational Demands
Take note of the situational demands even aspects that at first seem to be trivial. Observe indications of group norms, symbols of authority, slogans, and commitments. Don't subscribe to simple solutions to complex social, political, cultural and personal problems.
Especially as the tactics grow more and more refined, more and more subtle, and more and more persuasive, we find that the minute we stop observing with a critical eye, we have already been persuaded. It is so often that we find ourselves overwhelmed by work that needs to be done.It is so often that we find ourselves overwhelmed by work that needs to be done. It is so often that we do not have time to sort through the information presented to us so that we may derive our own solution. And sadly, it is so often that we let ourselves fall prey to propaganda for we have grown too weary to defend ourselves.
- Action, More than Words
Ultimately, we must do more than simply express our dissent vocally. We must be willing to challenge, rebel, reist, disobey, and even to suffer the consequences of taking action in defiance to the propaganda and the propagandists that seek to control us.
Democracy is a subtle form of totalitarianism, it is the most modern invention of ideology in a way of controlling people without being aware they've been controlled, the government is giving you an illusion of free will in a game field which designed by the government. If you're a wolf telling to the sheep that the shepherd will slaughter you, they most likely to stay and eat grass. :)
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I refer all to the work of Carroll Quigley, the ivy league historian who 'accidentally' leaked the secret history of 'the network', the secret society that set up our current fake 'demonocracies' - learning the history of the present moment always helps find the angles in the tangles!
My own understanding here is that, in very short, we are dealing with epic scale heartlessness that pervades not just the scumbags we mostly all recognise but also to a lesser degree inside each of us too - often in ways we don't even understand yet. By actively ending our own denial and consciously choosing love internally with every breath - we DO make a difference to solving these epic challenges.
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Agreed!
And Highly rEsteemed!
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The problem is if you question MSM you no longer have any real ability to do anything about it. Our fake government is rigged to not answer to we the people if they actually bother to vote. And so many people are completely lacking in critical thinking capabilities, unable to research or analyse basic facts to determine what is objective and what is subjective and/or biased.
Okay to be fair to most people that last one is actually pretty hard but it is arguably the most important life skill anyone should have and Americans are far far behind the front of the pack in teaching their kids those skills.
And when you look at America's oligarchy status it is not that that it is one that it is surprising, it is for how little money the country is for sale. We have hundreds of billionaires and millions of millionaires. People who do not have to ever worry about working or retirement if they don't want to. They can sit back and throw money at our so-called "representatives" (fake government) and for a few million here and a few million there get whatever they want. Look they are at it again... http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/janus-v-american-federation-state-county-municipal-employees-council-31/
It's just mind blowing how many issues that affect the lives of millions of not all Americans are decided after some rich boys "think tank" or "foundation" bribes our main stream "government" with a few million dollars. Sometimes if something is really really important they might have to drop a few tens or hundreds of millions but if your oligarchical gang has trillions at its disposal and the payoff is 100x that is no problem at all. Meanwhile we the people fight for legislation that might if we are lucky give us a few percent improvement or so things getting worse, or maybe make them get less worse. Thanks for your soggy trickle down crumbs assholes.
Which is to say, we have a solution for MSM - turn it off. They live by the ads they run so if you stop consuming those ads they die. The number of eyeballs watching ads is probably one of the few places Americans actually get representative democracy so use it!
As mentioned we don't have a solution for the oligarchy - it's the law thanks to SCOTUS and its reinterpretation of the Constitution to remake America as a country of "We, the dollars". Thanks again assholes.
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So, we get rid of the PACS, That abuse made lobbying and money in government way worse.
The citizens United Ruling has allowed foreign money abd billionares to tip the scales with out being
outed in the sun light!
Then we can go back to debate of how to limit public lobbying group contribution, and the cap on the individual contribution would have real teeth.
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Great one. There. Awesome @v4vapid
In my opinion, the problem of "oligarchy" in the US has little to do with the fact that the elites get what they want, but with the ability of the "elites" to manipulate public opinion. Or, conversely, that the public is so readily manipulable by the elites. We have equal rights and free speech, but in those situations the wealthy will always be able to speak louder and more compellingly. The trick isn't getting the middle classes the ability to turn their opinions into legislation, but rather their ability to figure out what's in their own best interests.
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This is an incredible article. I like the way you describe the choices we have when it comes to media. This erosion of choice is exactly why I don't watch T.V. anymore. I quite frankly avoid all media these days. It doesn't matter what you pick, you're still supporting the same guys at the top.
I hope that Steemit can be the owner of social networking in the near future.
I call the media "Weapons of Mass Distraction", but deception works too! I find it hard to believe anything they say. All the fake propaganda that they feed us is why I got into bitcoin in the first place. It's only gotten better since then.
Life has been a lot better with less media in it. Also, search your article for "aborad" - I think you meant abroad! :)
Have a great day!
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What a mess.
Although saying that, the continual merging of media centers is beginning to look very tidy.
Will it be a case in future that just 2/3 media giants control all the news that is published? Republican, Democrat, and if 'we' are lucky, some kind of Pirate media network bringing the truth without the red/blue tinted glasses.
I tend not to have the patience to watch and listen to the news, it's a tiring exercise to constantly read between the lines and understand what's really happening!
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For my own sanity, I try not to focus too hard on this problems, which is not to say I a man apathetic or sitting on my hands. I’m trying to focus my energy into building and strengthening communities which are not fed this trash and aren’t not easily swayed by he many attempts to divide us. Still I appreciate people like you and @leecamp who make an effort to inform those who still don’t get it.
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Once again yet another brilliant post @v4vapid .. bit late commenting on this one as I've had a few wi-fi issues but I'm very glad I bookmarked it! In my mind and in this age of technology, propaganda has been involved in an exponential process of evolution. I feel that this process has occured at such a pace that propaganda has overtaken the publics perception of what it actually is. It's become so cutting edge and so heavily nuanced that the majority are entirely unaware that their perceptions of the world are being manipulated like a puppet on a string.
"The next piece of the legislation will provide substantial amounts of money to fund “counter propaganda,”
From that statement we can see that (to a degree) the system needs some form of controlled "truth" and oppostion in order to justify it's own counter propaganda. .. both opposing ideals used to power and empower the system. A duality creating a cohesive whole that pushes the mass of society in a singular direction.
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Fantastic, I love this post as it is not only informative but also breaks it down with good facts. I just hope more people can wake up. The way I like to think about the media is in plato's allegory of the cave. How the people are chained looking at a blank wall and how they percieve shadows as reality. The shadows are projected by the media and are in fact not reality. Thanks for this post to bring about awareness. In actual fact I never listen to the media or pay attention ;)
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The propaganda is becoming meshed with and embedded in social media and the masses are generally helpless in fighting off such advanced techniques..
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From the git go. The constitution of 1787 does not even have the president elected by the voters at large. It is does by privileged and special people
Also from the git go, land owners have been the favored minority. They had the vote to start with and non-land owners did not get to vote until the administration of Andrew Jackson. And even then only white males had the vote until fairly recently.
Also keep in mind that the United States of America is constituted as a Republic, NOT a Democracy. The U.S.A. was NEVER a democracy
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Good points, and we still don't have a President elected by we, the people. And even then the government doesn't even pretend to represent the usual 1/2 of the country that didn't vote for them. That is when they are even bothering to do something for people and not money of rich corporate persons. Which isn't very often. Ergo the piss poor approval ratings of Congress that are far far below the percentage of people who voted for them.
Americans should familiarise themselves with the saying "insanity is doing the same thing over and over and getting the same bad result". The people of America have been doing that since at least the 70s if not we'll before.
Probably the best thing at this point will be too dissolve the Federal government and let the states go their own way. The wall building companies will make a fortune. Of course then we will just have 50 little oligarchies until the states that choose to fix that problem enact laws to that effect. That is corporations are not people and money is not speech, two of the most un-America scams purportrated by the oligarchs' appointed SCOTUS.
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this is so true. i'm getting so tired of the media repeating russia over and over again right now, it's insane.
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They'll warn that a tranny is always lurking just around the corner...
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And who owns those 6 mega media companies? Pretty sure they all have read the protocols of the elders of zion.
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Great article (as usual) - without going in-depth I would like to add...
ALL Governments* are controlled by One Group!
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Propaganda has been a very influential technique to shape up public opinion. From some virus to tax on education, it influences all walks of life. In current times, the flow of information is very fast-paced but availability of internet allows anyone to post anything online. This makes it really difficult to the masses to differentiate between correct and incorrect info. In my part of the world, epidemics, earthquakes, polio drops and floods all are reported in a way that always helps the politicians.
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Your absolutely right the problem is people take a post like this which would have been on the op-ed (opinion editorial) page of the newspaper because its opinion and not fact.
And are those getting it as "useful information" is only seen that way because the lack of supported facts and inability for the common person to vet anything easily.
It leaves people calling America an oligarchy. It isn't yet, but Trump has been trying to make it that way.
Plus the citizen's united ruling created PACs which allowed huge corporate and family held monies tilt the elections......
Thats the destruction of an independent democracy by putting a thumb on the scales of fairness and buying off the peoples representation.
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Really interesting writeup. I appreciate your hardwork.
You know what? I love my Country, The United States of America. And many times, scoffed at the idea that the US has become an Oligarchy. But now? I firmly believe it has. And it saddens me to have to witness this.
Obviously, it didn’t happen overnight and it slipped in under our noses. We were apathetic and too consumed in our own lives. And it will get worse. The ideals of our Founders are slipping away. Many Americans, are fed a daily diet of discrediting opinions about our Founders….”slave owners”, “selfish white men”, “couldn’t forsee”, etc. Our Constitution is viewed as outdated and we are constantly maligned and viewed with scorn, by other nations.
What a shame that this happened. And, there are the “elite” of our society who can do no wrong and get away with anything they do. The media and Hollywood fall in line and protect these people and dynasties.
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You have to be pretty “special” to believe in that garbage.
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No chance in hell my kids go to public school. They are a terrible idea to begin with and should all be shut down.
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Reading this research notes and eye opening act and signing makes me bleed to the heart, why will a govt that promise to protect it's people take everything away from them and in return feed them with propaganda and lies. The rate at which the govt control it's populace is very wrong in this manner and it saddens me more to see that those who stand up and stand out from all this are counted as enemy of the state, the fear that this post is monitored by the CIA a d the likes scares me the more, what are we doing here.
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All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.
While they controle mass media they will have power and ifluence, sadly people tend to believe in everything without questioning the facts. In modern days where informations are available on every corner, ignorance is a choice!
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Wow this is really shocking and very informative ....thanks for the enlightenment...."the United States is an oligarchy not a democracy ". This statement is certainly shocking, that one of the most advanced country on this planet is being controlled by a few number of people...actually I think that applies to almost all the countries...the common citizen is made to believe that they have a say in how the country is ruled but in actual reality they don't !!! This is really sad ....this is not democracy !!!!!
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Yes definitly the political parties who rules the countries use this propaganda weapon to shape the laws in favour of their bosses who usually funds them to power,and political parties return the favour to them as art of reciprocity.
Media plays important part in making propaganda feel like real thing to innocent people,usually people fell for the trap which is set by farrago of media,govts,and businessmen.
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100% If traditional media wasn't enuff now they want to throttle and control the internet
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@v4vapid Great post. First time I've ever heard of,
Domestic Propaganda is Legal under NDAA 2013 and 2017. Decentralization is the best thing that could happen to the USA. I do know that many people in other social medias are starting to get frustrating on Youtube, instagram . Lucky for them there's Steemit :D Best wishes to you. - @splendorhub
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There is no sense in questioning, the government always prevails at the end. Well mostly in Africa though. Your article is very good though.
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Important conversation.
I think something like New Zealand and the U.S. are the only two countries that allow pharmaceutical companies to advertise on TV.
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really nice information and good to know about democarcy and propaganda
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It is the wrong division of power and money splitting and dividing society.
Thanks to blockchain, we are no longer getting censored. It is up to us to change the world through ourselves.
Thank you for enlightening us! Keep doing the goood work!
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Well articulated. I like this part
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This is the Exact reason we need alternatives, like Steemit!
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Wow! A well worded and much needed piece of literature! Thank you for your contribution. I'll be following.
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The thing we read on the media deserve to be reviewed before we swallow them hook, line and sinker. Thanks for throwing some light on this
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Hi man that's really great to hear about how politics work in America
Its really the same thing every democratic country
They say everything is done for welfare of people but all the policy benefit the elites and the rich people
Following you for some great news
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Not so in many (but by no means all) European countries, especial the Nordic ones.Something about long dark winters makes them figure out how to build equitable societies. Just look at Norway's sovereign fund.. A shining example of what happens when a government decides not to give away all the country's wealth to a few rich oil companies. Maybe it's all the fish they eat? Or having recovered from a long history of raping and pillaging? Maybe it's their ability to embrace religion with letting it run their lives and country?
For sure they are not perfect but at least the people are involved, income distributes are so much better than the US, and they are constantly evolving and using result driven policies. What a concept, actually measure the benefits of legislation and if it doesn't work throw it out. Unfortunately America and most of the world actually are pretty damned weak on evidence and facts.
However never underestimate the ability of greed and corruption to fuck up any system. To eliminate that you need transparency. Yet another thing America and so many countries are notoriously weak on. Yeah we have freedom of information requests but if you don't know something is there you can't ask for it, and there's always some big fat oligarchs stooge to say "no, can't release that, it's secret" if it suits his masters.
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G
M
T
We face a powerful storm of disinformation and propaganda, spreading fitnah among communities and tribes, discrediting the honorable, with the aim of controlling awareness and directing behaviour and a certain bias towards a group or group, we live in a real media struggle in cold blood, taken from the word, image and sound weapons attack Using armies of journalists and media workers behind offices and black screens to mislead people, broadcast lies and obscure facts.
The media occupies the first power in these cold wars, because it relies very strongly on propaganda and false advertising, where it is used in advertising and propaganda and disinformation, the use of the art of lying, hypocrisy, valour and poking, which is like mixing the poison with honey, hardly distinguishes between what is true What's wrong, and if you're not careful, the flags will make you hate the oppressed, and you love those who practise oppression and injustice. And your eyes will sparkle as champions of the right ostensibly, while in the sub they are quite the opposite thank you @v4vapid
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Let's see I don't own a TV, or a radio. Whenever an advertisement comes up online I just exit out. I know propaganda and understand it quite well. I've studied North Korean, Chinese and old Soviet propaganda among others. Propaganda doesn't work very well on me at all.
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Thank you for this.
The system was founded to make sure that the 'opulent' (rich) class ruled over the 'masses' (the people) as advocated openly by founding fathers ( bar a few) and specifically, architects of constitution like john adams.
These people believed there would be chaos if it was a democracy outright, because then the landless peasants would make reforms for land distribution from the mega landowners (aristocrat class) to the poor people. The founding fathers, many of them extremely rich wealth owners, were ok with British aristocrats' lands being redistributed, but not theirs. So, they pulled the reins at that point.
So you ended up with a 'senate', where rich, wealthy and old men rule, and a travesty called 'electoral college' - which makes it possible for a party getting minority votes to rule over the majority.
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I'm long Special Materials Blockchain, Inc. Gonna get real rich and fast.
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nice learning post sir
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Best definition I can find is: Broken Republic. We are a Republic motivated and influenced by money. We overvalue the idea of individual rights in every avenue of government, whether it's really against our best interest or not. As such, we allow people with a tremendous amount of money to run our government, in the promise we keep our individual rights, while their primary goal is to protect their own interests.
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What about boots? All the clothes I buy are made in China or some other distant land.
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FYI
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aqeelshehzad (46) · 4 days ago
Best definition I can discover is: Broken Republic. We are a Republic propelled and impacted by cash. We exaggerate the possibility of individual rights in each road of government, regardless of whether it's truly against our best advantage or not. In that capacity, we permit individuals with a huge measure of cash to run our legislature, in the guarantee we keep our individual rights, while their essential objective is to secure their own particular advantages
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Individual rights are the most important. It is not against our best advantage, think about it......... If you loose you're individual rights you have no rights AT ALL. Not as an individual not as a group that is made up out of individuals.
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Without a doubt America is an oligarchy. The majority of elections are won by the candidate with the largest financial backing. Lobbyist group essentially buy political capital as if it is a tangible good.
When you ask about perception Im not quite sure if you mean the perception of the elites of other countries that we democratize or of the common citizens. Democracy is primarily forced by the US. Considering the fact that a decent majority of our own citizens aren't keenly aware of how our political system works I doubt that most foreigners are aware of gerrymandering and Super Pacs. Democracy is only an ideology in America not a practice.
You made huge points here.
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America is a democratic country. It is not a doubt that democracy is a very important feature in the United States. But sometimes this country loses its own character. That is why people who live in this country are the acts of their father By doing good, many wrong work is done for personal interest, which leads to misery in the country.
You have shared a knowledgeable post .your followers will happy to this post thanks for sharing it
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Such important information... every American citizen needs to understand this!
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Thank you @morphonios, I've been meaning to leave a message in your comments for the child trafficking and SRA videos. It really is excellent work.
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Mind Blowing stuff & awesome!
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upvote and follow @rikineng
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right .... in the item above is not yet complete that only the product
@v4vapid
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Really interesting writeup. I appreciate your hardwork.
You know what? I love my Country, The United States of America. And many times, scoffed at the idea that the US has become an Oligarchy. But now? I firmly believe it has. And it saddens me to have to witness this.
Obviously, it didn’t happen overnight and it slipped in under our noses. We were apathetic and too consumed in our own lives. And it will get worse. The ideals of our Founders are slipping away. Many Americans, are fed a daily diet of discrediting opinions about our Founders….”slave owners”, “selfish white men”, “couldn’t forsee”, etc. Our Constitution is viewed as outdated and we are constantly maligned and viewed with scorn, by other nations.
What a shame that this happened. And, there are the “elite” of our society who can do no wrong and get away with anything they do. The media and Hollywood fall in line and protect these people and dynasties.
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Best definition I can discover is: Broken Republic. We are a Republic propelled and impacted by cash. We exaggerate the possibility of individual rights in each road of government, regardless of whether it's truly against our best advantage or not. In that capacity, we permit individuals with a huge measure of cash to run our legislature, in the guarantee we keep our individual rights, while their essential objective is to secure their own particular advantages
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Nice post
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thank you for sharing my @v4vapid friends I am very inspired about the enlightenment you post.
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Thanks for the important info..
resteem this post
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brings to mind my favourite joke "Question everything!" "Say's who?" - terrific post, well researched.
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Look no further our own beloved steem community running under the same governance as the world government run its citizens. Look at the poor and homeless, they represent redfish and minnows while orca and whales represent politician and business owner. I dont want to go further, its hurt to hear the truth.
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Collectively (in final total) our Founding Fathers "knew what they were doing": the final form, The constitution and the amendments, had a chance like no other political inventions before or since. As a Republic, while strongly influenced by Christian and Jewish morals there was hope for mankind. The malignant cancer of total democracy always destroys societies. Progressivism fronts as a representative democracy. They get people to vote their agenda, and gone is the constitutional republic, and hello Elitist dictatorship.
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I am a frog that exists outside the corporate news media and broadcast media's pot. I get my tv fix online with limited commercials. It usually consists of star trek or modern movie in the background as video wallpaper.
As such, any visit to the bar to watch sports or a hang out session at a friends in front of the TV and I'm often completely freaked out by the crude nature and sharp tone of the commercials.
Or watching the news. Holy cow, the background music and background video/graphics? Man, talk about psyops.
And now each news Network has their very own CIA or NSA Director to commentate and oversee all security discussions. Works for them.
I'm just completely shell-shocked when watching TV sometimes. That shit is not good for you, man.
A friend sent me a video to watch, it was MSNBC, some kind of "proof" that there is there there on the Drumpf collusion shit... It started with a white screen and music. 10 seconds later there was a perp board and the evil dramatic hum/music continued.
It was INSANE! And people watch that shit. I declined to watch and asked for a transcript or link to source.
I stay away from it because of Affect; you can't unring that bell. Corporate news is psyops. It changes you if you ingest it.
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This is very helpful post. Thanks for share.
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This is a very good publication. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, good job.
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The government says what the people are
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ohhhh noooo! This is where I live... ahhhh!!! runs to cryptos and hides
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Nice post!
Thank you!
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This the good article, Thanks for sharing this article, this is very informative
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How is it that a few get to decide policy and law? Yes we vote for a politician, but we don't get to vote for policy. Sometimes politicians slap policy onto us without consent. The policies promised to us before election time, the policies that motivate us to vote for them, are way too often not implemented. This is not democracy in my opinion. I like the idea England had before brexit, it was left to the public to make the final say.
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thank you for sharing
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Democracy is an illusion. The only place for the ‘rule of the people’ in it is in the etymology of the word itself.
Great analysis of propaganda mechanisms – so obvious yet so difficult to spot (and so massively missed). I'll be following you for more content of the kind.
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Great post!
And jacob rotchild owns the whole damn lot...
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The truth will set you free. Most people do not want the truth which is sad or are so set in there mind the people they have been listening to have been telling the truth. They will not believe what is really happing. Good post keep on , keeping on.
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Accepting anything blindly without question is dangerous, no matter if its MSM or alternative media. Neither side is immune to corruption or false information. And there's a fine line between being healthy-skeptic and being paranoid.
Thanks for writing this! I hope the idea of not automatically believing everything you see gets de-stigmatized soon. It's not as strange as it seems.
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Thanks for your comment and I absolutely think we also have to be skeptical of non-mainstream media as well. There's certainly a vast ocean of disinfo/misinfo out there, but it can really be exhausting to use 'critical thinking' 24/7... perhaps turning off media and reading a good book is something we should do more of.
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Books are just as good, and using critical thinking 24/7 would not be a wise option.
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Every word of your mind, you wrote very well. Hopefully you'll be giving us a good post like this.
I would like to say you keep it up and well done.
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