“Ideological bias” doesn’t require some coherent master plan, just like minded people acting according to their incentives. Everyone really needs to read Manufacturing Consent: https://www.amazon.com/Manufacturing-Consent-Political-Econo...
Prof. Chomsky literally co-wrote the book on how the media is used by the ruling class to get the public to buy into the establishment narrative.
Give this book a read.
https://www.amazon.com/Manufacturing-Consent-Political-Economy-Media/dp/0375714499
by Deample 2021-12-10
This is not a new concept, private owned media will not deviate too much from the status quo that created them in the first place, and much of what Trump does is to the benefit of this status quo. [1]
Media can't be objective in criticising the military industrial complex if 2 minutes later they run Boeing and Lockheed Martin ads. That's how you get MSNBC jerking themselves over the beauty of airstrikes in Syria. [2]
> Despite what those propagandists and opinion pieces say, the NY Times, ... do[es] provide quality news (don't read their opinion sections either).
You ever read Noam Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent[1]? If you can't bring yourself to read the book, he made a film about it too [2]. But the book has hundreds of examples (well sourced) of why you should probably rethink that.
Manufacturing Consent by Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky.
It's basically arguing that the profit motive of capitalism has caused the "free press" to act as state propagandists. It sounds crazy, but they go into a lot of detail proving their point.
It's not specifically about capitalism vs socialism, but I think anyone who reads it would come out a little bit more skeptical of the narratives about capitalism we've grown up with.
by UserNumber01 2019-07-21
I'm not exactly an Anarchist, per say, though I am a strong ally, so I'll offer up my 2 cents here.
As far as general radicalizing, accessible texts by Anarchists go? Gotta be Chomsky, dude.
Requiem, Manufacturing Consent and Who Rules the World? are excellent introductions to deconstructing mainstream hegemony- step 1 towards radicalization.
(edit: and Requiem for the American Dream even has a documentary based on it, so that makes it even more accessible if your friend doesn't feel like diving into a massive swathe of books right away. You can even watch it for free online!)
Now general anti-capitalist work? That's more my speed. Here's a reading list I made a while back of books that I've enjoyed which are both socially radical and operate within a Marxist (or at least socialist) framework. Some on specific social issues, others addressing Capitalism directly.
by gustoreddit51 2019-07-21
In a nutshell, the classic steering mechanism for public opinion used to be Manufacturing Consent (Chomsky) or Engineering Consent (Bernays) which generates propaganda to achieve more of a public consensus whereas Adam Curtis' HyperNormalisation looks at the shift from that to neutralizing the pubilc into inaction by polarizing them with conflicting information or misinformation (patently false information) so that NO consensus can be reached. Both achieve the same goal of allowing the power elite to carry out the policies they wish while reducing the influence of an ostensibly democratic public which, in conjunction with more and more police state-like authoritarian measures making them more compliant, can no longer tell what is truth and what is misinformation. The public descends into arguing amongst themselves as opposed to those in power.
Edit. I would highjly recommend watching Adam Curtis' famous documentary The Century of the Self which looks at Edward Bernays (Sigmund Freud's nephew) and the origins of the consumer society, public relations and propaganda.
by stcredzero 2018-11-15
The free press and independent justice system makes the difference.
Those can and do make a difference. No system is perfect, however. Chinese culture has an extensive heritage of moral philosophy. Despite that, it's still been shown that it's possible to overturn the social order there with massive consequences. The west certainly isn't above that sort of chaos. France and Germany, the largest economic powers of continental Europe, have that in their history. The US isn't entirely above this kind of chaos, either.
The press in the west also follows a propaganda model.
Justice systems in the west have been known to cooperate with the authorities in miscarriages of justice, particularly in wartime or when subject to near-wartime hysteria.
When it comes down to it, there is always a struggle between good and evil in all times and places. The really tricky part of it is this: The worst evils disguise themselves as movements of good and justice. People and movements should be judged by their actions. Ask: Who is committing violence against whom? Who abets or tacitly accepts bad actions? Who is willing to call out their own side and their own tribe when they do wrong?
The left/right political spectrum ceases to have meaning when you look at it that way. The Authoritarian/Anti-authoritarian spectrum and the tribalist/universalist spectrums hold much more value.
>but it's another example of civil rights eroding.
Civil rights don't exist anymore see this talk by national security advisor the upper classes of the world are afraid of the political awakening of the masses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7ZyJw_cHJY
These links will take a while to digest, but if you want to understand what's going on in the world, you owe it to yourself to become informed about the true state of the world.
Our brains are much worse at reality and thinking than thought. Science on reasoning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYmi0DLzBdQ
Rd wolf on economics
http://www.rdwolff.com/
"Intended as an internal document. Good reading to understand the nature of rich democracies and the fact that the common people are not allowed to play a role."
"I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil intersts in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested."[p. 10]
"War is a racket. ...It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives." [p. 23]
"The general public shoulders the bill [for war]. This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations." [p. 24]
General Butler is especially trenchant when he looks at post-war casualties. He writes with great emotion about the thousands of tramautized soldiers, many of who lose their minds and are penned like animals until they die, and he notes that in his time, returning veterans are three times more likely to die prematurely than those who stayed home.
Prof. Chomsky literally co-wrote the book on how the media is used by the ruling class to get the public to buy into the establishment narrative.
Give this book a read. https://www.amazon.com/Manufacturing-Consent-Political-Economy-Media/dp/0375714499
This is not a new concept, private owned media will not deviate too much from the status quo that created them in the first place, and much of what Trump does is to the benefit of this status quo. [1]
Media can't be objective in criticising the military industrial complex if 2 minutes later they run Boeing and Lockheed Martin ads. That's how you get MSNBC jerking themselves over the beauty of airstrikes in Syria. [2]
https://www.amazon.ca/Manufacturing-Consent-Political-Economy-Media/dp/0375714499
You ever read Noam Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent[1]? If you can't bring yourself to read the book, he made a film about it too [2]. But the book has hundreds of examples (well sourced) of why you should probably rethink that.
1. https://www.amazon.com/Manufacturing-Consent-Political-Econo...
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuwmWnphqII
Developers! Startups! Cap tables! Unicorns! Disrupt YC and tune it out.
Manufacturing Consent by Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky.
It's basically arguing that the profit motive of capitalism has caused the "free press" to act as state propagandists. It sounds crazy, but they go into a lot of detail proving their point.
It's not specifically about capitalism vs socialism, but I think anyone who reads it would come out a little bit more skeptical of the narratives about capitalism we've grown up with.
I'm not exactly an Anarchist, per say, though I am a strong ally, so I'll offer up my 2 cents here.
As far as general radicalizing, accessible texts by Anarchists go? Gotta be Chomsky, dude.
Requiem, Manufacturing Consent and Who Rules the World? are excellent introductions to deconstructing mainstream hegemony- step 1 towards radicalization.
(edit: and Requiem for the American Dream even has a documentary based on it, so that makes it even more accessible if your friend doesn't feel like diving into a massive swathe of books right away. You can even watch it for free online!)
Now general anti-capitalist work? That's more my speed. Here's a reading list I made a while back of books that I've enjoyed which are both socially radical and operate within a Marxist (or at least socialist) framework. Some on specific social issues, others addressing Capitalism directly.
In a nutshell, the classic steering mechanism for public opinion used to be Manufacturing Consent (Chomsky) or Engineering Consent (Bernays) which generates propaganda to achieve more of a public consensus whereas Adam Curtis' HyperNormalisation looks at the shift from that to neutralizing the pubilc into inaction by polarizing them with conflicting information or misinformation (patently false information) so that NO consensus can be reached. Both achieve the same goal of allowing the power elite to carry out the policies they wish while reducing the influence of an ostensibly democratic public which, in conjunction with more and more police state-like authoritarian measures making them more compliant, can no longer tell what is truth and what is misinformation. The public descends into arguing amongst themselves as opposed to those in power.
Edit. I would highjly recommend watching Adam Curtis' famous documentary The Century of the Self which looks at Edward Bernays (Sigmund Freud's nephew) and the origins of the consumer society, public relations and propaganda.
Those can and do make a difference. No system is perfect, however. Chinese culture has an extensive heritage of moral philosophy. Despite that, it's still been shown that it's possible to overturn the social order there with massive consequences. The west certainly isn't above that sort of chaos. France and Germany, the largest economic powers of continental Europe, have that in their history. The US isn't entirely above this kind of chaos, either.
The press in the west also follows a propaganda model.
https://www.amazon.com/Manufacturing-Consent-Political-Econo...
Justice systems in the west have been known to cooperate with the authorities in miscarriages of justice, particularly in wartime or when subject to near-wartime hysteria.
When it comes down to it, there is always a struggle between good and evil in all times and places. The really tricky part of it is this: The worst evils disguise themselves as movements of good and justice. People and movements should be judged by their actions. Ask: Who is committing violence against whom? Who abets or tacitly accepts bad actions? Who is willing to call out their own side and their own tribe when they do wrong?
The left/right political spectrum ceases to have meaning when you look at it that way. The Authoritarian/Anti-authoritarian spectrum and the tribalist/universalist spectrums hold much more value.
https://toptalkedbooks.com/amzn/0375714499
You can probably find the pdf somewhere for free
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent
Let me just jump on here to point anyone who might see my comment to some interesting, and highly relevant, material.
Manufacturing Consent: The Movie
And if you really want to educate yourself, do read the book . Chomsky (with Ed Herman) shows, in excruciating detail, just how propagandistic the US media are.
>but it's another example of civil rights eroding.
Civil rights don't exist anymore see this talk by national security advisor the upper classes of the world are afraid of the political awakening of the masses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7ZyJw_cHJY
These links will take a while to digest, but if you want to understand what's going on in the world, you owe it to yourself to become informed about the true state of the world.
Our brains are much worse at reality and thinking than thought. Science on reasoning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYmi0DLzBdQ
Rd wolf on economics
http://www.rdwolff.com/
"Intended as an internal document. Good reading to understand the nature of rich democracies and the fact that the common people are not allowed to play a role."
Crisis of democracy
http://trilateral.org/download/doc/crisis_of_democracy.pdf
https://toptalkedbooks.com/amzn/0814713653
Education as ignorance
https://chomsky.info/warfare02/
Overthrowing other peoples governments
http://williamblum.org/essays/read/overthrowing-other-peoples-governments-the-master-list
Wikileaks on TTIP/TPP/ETC
https://youtu.be/ABDiHspTJww?t=17
Energy subsidies
https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2015/NEW070215A.htm
Interference in other states when the rich/corporations dont get their way
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mxp_wgFWQo&feature=youtu.be&list=PLKR2GeygdHomOZeVKx3P0fqH58T3VghOj&t=724
Manufacturing consent (book)
https://toptalkedbooks.com/amzn/0375714499
Protectionism for the rich and big business by state intervention, radical market interference.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHj2GaPuEhY#t=349
Manufacturing consent:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwU56Rv0OXM
https://vimeo.com/39566117
Testing theories of representative government
https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf
Democracy Inc
https://toptalkedbooks.com/amzn/069114589X
From war is a racket:
"I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil intersts in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested."[p. 10]
"War is a racket. ...It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives." [p. 23]
"The general public shoulders the bill [for war]. This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations." [p. 24]
General Butler is especially trenchant when he looks at post-war casualties. He writes with great emotion about the thousands of tramautized soldiers, many of who lose their minds and are penned like animals until they die, and he notes that in his time, returning veterans are three times more likely to die prematurely than those who stayed home.
https://toptalkedbooks.com/amzn/0922915865
Blum:
http://williamblum.org/aer/read/137
US distribution of wealth
https://imgur.com/a/FShfb
http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html
The Centre for Investigative Journalism
http://www.tcij.org/
Some history on US imperialism by us corporations.
https://kurukshetra1.wordpress.com/2015/09/27/a-brief-history-of-imperialism-and-state-violence-in-colombia/
The real news
http://www.therealnews.com