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Leo Walsh's Reviews > Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies
Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies
by
by
I don't know why, but I've been on a Chomsky kick. I broke out this book -- which has been sitting unread on my book shelves for years -- and found it contains the skeleton key to Chomsky's political thought. A true scholar & scientist, Chomsky serves up an operational model of tearing apart media stories that anyone can apply.
Here's a quick overview....
1) Find a media story that tells about a war or economic policies of one of our "freinds" -- like, say, Israel. And pay attention to what they are actually doing.
2) Find the media story of an official enemy of the US. Like Iran.
3) When you locate a match in situation and action -- say both countries responded to an internal terror threat by imprisoning the terror suspect -- notice the tone of the media coverage.
Once you learn the trick, you can take apart and locate the biases even when the US media is reporting on itself. For instance, the Boston Marathon Bombings just happened recently, and were carried out by a couple Muslim extremists. Tragically, three people were killed, and hundreds wounded. There was a huge outcry. About a week before, a US drone killed 13 people in Pakistan. The media shrugged, with no public outcry.
This book also makes Chomsky's central thesis clear. We all live in a world where our side it right. In this regard, the US is no different than Iran. the big difference seems to be that the US government is not overtly coercive due to the Constitution. Instead, they try their dangdest to indoctrinate us. But education and hard thinking can actually lift you out of that "propaganda climate." And allow you to see the government for what it is. Warts and all.
And, all too often, that picture is not nearly as pretty as we'd want it to be. But, instead of whining about it, Chomsky's dedication to communicating his cause makes him a role model for thought in action.
Here's a quick overview....
1) Find a media story that tells about a war or economic policies of one of our "freinds" -- like, say, Israel. And pay attention to what they are actually doing.
2) Find the media story of an official enemy of the US. Like Iran.
3) When you locate a match in situation and action -- say both countries responded to an internal terror threat by imprisoning the terror suspect -- notice the tone of the media coverage.
Once you learn the trick, you can take apart and locate the biases even when the US media is reporting on itself. For instance, the Boston Marathon Bombings just happened recently, and were carried out by a couple Muslim extremists. Tragically, three people were killed, and hundreds wounded. There was a huge outcry. About a week before, a US drone killed 13 people in Pakistan. The media shrugged, with no public outcry.
This book also makes Chomsky's central thesis clear. We all live in a world where our side it right. In this regard, the US is no different than Iran. the big difference seems to be that the US government is not overtly coercive due to the Constitution. Instead, they try their dangdest to indoctrinate us. But education and hard thinking can actually lift you out of that "propaganda climate." And allow you to see the government for what it is. Warts and all.
And, all too often, that picture is not nearly as pretty as we'd want it to be. But, instead of whining about it, Chomsky's dedication to communicating his cause makes him a role model for thought in action.
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Reading Progress
April 20, 2013
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Started Reading
April 20, 2013
– Shelved
April 25, 2013
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Finished Reading
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Aaron wrote: ""the big difference seems to be that the US government is not overtly coercive due to the Constitution."The ruling class will disregard the Constitution the moment its power is threatened. It's n..."
Regarding the quote from my review: I'm just paraphrasing Chomsky. His conclusions is based on observation, and has held up quite well over the decades. Of course, past performance is no guarantee of future performance.
And Chomsky traces the covert way that media is manipulated. Which is his point. He is not worried about the constitution being overthrown. But he is interested in manipulation... which is generally carried out within the framework of the constitution.
And he gives plenty of examples HOW the powerful manipulate the media. Once you learn his methods, you can pull apart the news today. And apply another of Chomsky's tools.... using the business press, which is straight-forward, to determine what the power elite actually want. They do not hide their agenda in Forbes... like they are forced to when twisting news in the NYT.
To the best of my recollection he not hint or state that the US will be DIRECTLY coerced in this book. And he seems to feel it unlikely since I've never walked away from a Chomsky tome feeling freaked out -- like I'd imagine a reader of Alex Jones freaking out the the government is coming after you...
The ruling class will disregard the Constitution the moment its power is threatened. It's not a centuries old piece of paper that restrains it. To the limited extent that they manage to avoid the use direct coercion, it's due solely to the fact that social control is achieved by other more expedient means, of which Chomsky goes over in this book.