Re: Two faces of the future of the world-system

>[In this article I wish to make a simple claim: 20th
>century advertising is the most powerful and sustained
>system of propaganda in human history and its
>cumulative cultural effects, unless quickly checked,
>will be responsible for destroying the world as we
>know it. As it achieves this it will be responsible
>for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of non-western
>peoples and will prevent the peoples of the world from
>achieving true happiness. Simply stated, our survival
>as a species is dependent upon minimizing the threat
>from advertising and the commercial culture that has
>spawned it. I am stating my claims boldly at the
>outset so there can be no doubt as to what is at stake
>in our debates about the media and culture as we enter
>the new millennium.]


It's not just advertising, is it?

Doesn't our so-called "free press" share
a major responsibility in the dissemination
of propaganda that keeps people and society
stuck in our patterns?


"The enormous gap between what US leaders do in the world and what 
Americans think their leaders are doing is one of the great propaganda 
accomplishments of the dominant political mythology."  --  Michael Parenti, 
political scientist and author

"If those in charge of our society - politicians, corporate executives, and 
owners of press and television - can dominate our ideas, they will be 
secure in their power.  They will not need soldiers patrolling the 
streets.  We will control ourselves."  --  Howard Zinn, historian and author

"The corporate grip on opinion in the United States is one of the wonders 
of the Western world. No First World country has ever managed to eliminate 
so entirely from its media all objectivity - much less dissent."  --  Gore 
Vidal, novelist and critic

"One of the intentions of corporate-controlled media is to instill in 
people a sense of disempowerment, of immobilization and paralysis.  Its 
outcome is to turn you into good consumers.  It is to keep people isolated, 
to feel that there is no possibility for social change."  --  David 
Barsamian, journalist and publisher

"The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the 
spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that 
spectrum - even encourage the more critical and dissident views.  That 
gives people the sense that there's free thinking going on, while all the 
time the presuppositions of the system are being reinforced by the limits 
put on the range of the debate."  --  Noam Chomsky, American linguist


Jay.


>TO READ THE FULL VERSION OF THIS ARTICLE, GO TO:
>http://www.sutjhally.com/onlinepubs/onlinepubs_frame.html


+++

Jay Fenello, Internet Coaching
http://www.Fenello.com ... 678-585-9765
http://www.YourWebPartner.com ... Web Support
http://www.AligningWithPurpose.com ... for a Better World
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