Folks, we've been on a quiet (creeping) path towards a total-information-awareness surveillance police state for a very long time. As this historic trend has been developing, we have been exposed to carefully-designed propaganda meant to manipulate the citizenry into acquiescing to the imposition of "inverted totalitarianism."
“Inverted totalitarianism, unlike classical totalitarianism, does not revolve around a demagogue or charismatic leader. It finds expression in the anonymity of the Corporate State. It purports to cherish democracy, patriotism, and the Constitution while manipulating internal levers.”
-- Chris Hedges
But like in any historic period, it is always the case that some people (although few in numbers) cannot be bought. I know this is a very hard concept to understand for the corporatist hucksters and profiteers who are lining their pockets and acquiring illegitimate power over the population, but the conscientious whistle-blower will always be the Achilles' heel of the corrupt Corporate State.
Thus far, for years and years, the propaganda war has been one-way. Our senses have been bombarded by false narratives, misinformation, outright lies and propaganda 24/7.
They've spend untold fortunes investing in the propaganda machine. The reason for that is that it takes an extraordinary amount of effort and resources to manipulate people into acting against their own interests and into believing total bullshit, as in the insistence of the Corporate State that we need to give up our constitutional rights in the name of security.
Finally, people have begun to realize what's happening--at least, enough people to make a real difference. And this is of extreme concern to the corrupt Corporate State which has become accustomed to an eerily passive population in the face of the imposition of increasingly draconian, undemocratic, oppressive, and unconstitutional regime.
{The critique herein has little to do with president Obama; it is a critique and observation about the entire system.}
And thus, you are likely to see an all-out assault on the truth, on those who speak it, on those who expose lies, corruption, greed and profiteering.
We need to educate ourselves about how propaganda works; about the history of corporatist cartels working in concert with the FBI and other surveillance state agencies to manipulate the population.
Here are some resources:
Student 'Subversives' And The FBI's 'Dirty Tricks'.
Rosenfeld's book, Subversives: The FBI's War on Student Radicals and Reagan's Rise to Power, is now out in paperback. It details how the FBI employed fake reporters to plant ideas and shape public opinion about the student movement; how they planted stories with real reporters; and how they even managed — with the help of then-Gov. Ronald Reagan — to get the UC Berkeley's President Clark Kerr fired.
To research the book, Rosenfeld pored over 300,000 pages of records obtained over 30 years from five lengthy Freedom of Information Act lawsuits against the FBI.
The records "show that during the Cold War, the FBI sought to change the course of history by secretly interceding in events, by manipulating public opinion and taking sides in partisan politics," Rosenfeld says.
COINTELPRO
COINTELPRO (an acronym for COunter INTELligence PROgram) was a series of covert, and at times illegal, projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at surveying, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting domestic political organizations.
The FBI has used covert operations against domestic political groups since its inception; however, covert operations under the official COINTELPRO label took place between 1956 and 1971. COINTELPRO tactics have been alleged to include discrediting targets through psychological warfare; smearing individuals and groups using forged documents and by planting false reports in the media; harassment; wrongful imprisonment; and illegal violence, including assassination. The FBI's stated motivation was "protecting national security, preventing violence, and maintaining the existing social and political order."
The Propaganda Model
I also suggest people read about Noam Chomsky Propaganda Model.
The propaganda model is a conceptual model in political economy advanced by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky that states how propaganda, including systemic biases, function in mass media. The model seeks to explain how populations are manipulated and how consent for economic, social and political policies is "manufactured" in the public mind due to this propaganda.
The theory posits that the way in which news is structured (through advertising, media ownership, government sourcing and others) creates an inherent conflict of interest which acts as propaganda for undemocratic forces.
It is my contention that given the history of outright criminality and deceit by these corporate-government colluding entities, that many of these tactics have not only not ceased to be used, but have become even more entrenched and sophisticated aided by advancements in technology and by the imposition of an increasingly oppressive legal framework.
I think we're entering a dangerous stage. When you see a parade of one public official after another at the highest levels making increasingly bizarre, contradictory, untrue, and preposterous statements akin to what you would see in a third world banana republics, as they try to defend the indefensible, you know something serious is going on behind the scenes.
Stay focused. You're going to see the level of viciousness against people who are speaking the truth increase significantly, in many areas. You're going to see disruptive tactics, especially online... It's akin to people jumping up and down, waving their hands, screaming nonsense, all to prevent you from understanding what's happening.
It's about this:
“In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
-- G. Orwell
Here's my suggestion... It is hard (counterproductive and unfair) to try to ascribe ulterior motives to specific individuals you may suspect of being engage in corporatist propaganda. So focus on the tactics; recognize them; study them. You will notice a pattern... Facts and statements that are either clearly true, or likely true, but that threatened the established powers will be attacked with more viciousness than others. That would be a clear sign that something is fishy.
Use your own intellect; think. Analyze issues carefully; look at the facts, and you should be able to come up with your own conclusions about what's happening. And most importantly, engage in this propaganda war. Speak truth to power. If we stay silent, the corporatist profiteer propagandist will always win. We need to engage full steam ahead in a relentless, non-stop, strategic, counter-propaganda effort.
P.S. To learn more about this subject, please visit the following links: The 15 Rules of Web Disruption / Thirteen Rules for Truth Suppression / Disinformation: How It Works.
George Carlin ~ The American Dream
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