PB271

Yosho - Watch Out

Democracy of the vote without democracy of information is not democracy. It doesn't matter if people are able to vote as long as the media-owning class are able to manipulate how they vote. "One person, one vote" is meaningless if influence and control of information is highly concentrated in an elite few. And it is.

Reading by Tim Foley.

Real Democracy Means Democracy Of Information

The Atlantic, which is owned by billionaire Laurene Powell Jobs and run by neoconservative war propagandist Jeffrey Goldberg, has published a pair of articles that are appalling even by its own standards.

Reading by Tim Foley.

The Atlantic Is A Shitty Propaganda Rag Run By Elitist Wankers

Westerners are taught that evil foreign "regimes" don't let their people criticize their government, meanwhile westerners themselves are trained to never criticize their government. They're trained instead to criticize decoy dichotomies — false partisan nonsense — not the real power.

Westerners are trained to criticize the actions of the other party or the beliefs of the other ideological faction, never the foreign or domestic policies which are fully supported by both parties. The power structure which maintains 99.9% of the same policies regardless of which party is officially in charge is the real government, but westerners are trained never to look there. They're instead trained to fixate on a false two-handed puppet show diversion.

Reading by Tim Foley.

They Keep Us Focused On Decoy Dichotomies

I wonder if my own government is being truthful about its actions in that part of the world?

I wonder if my own government is in the wrong on this issue?

I wonder if the news media are telling the truth right now?

I wonder if the news media tell the truth about things generally?

I wonder if the "Evil Dictators versus Virtuous Liberal Democracies" framework I've been taught by teachers, pundits and politicians is the most accurate lens through which to view world events?

Could I have been deceived about the way my government operates, at home and abroad? 

Is it possible that my beliefs about my society, my government and my world are completely wrong?

What if the teachers, preachers and parents who helped form my worldview were relying on inaccurate information?

Who has benefitted from the beliefs that are in my head? Is it possible that those beliefs were placed there, directly or indirectly, from people who have benefitted from my having them?

Are there any power-serving falsehoods that I believe because it is cognitively easier to believe them than to let in information that might hurt my ego or require me to restructure my entire worldview?

Reading by Tim Foley.

Thoughts That Should Probably Occur More Often

Un-banning a few famous people will drum up a lot of headlines and online chatter and make it look like you're really doing something, but in the end all you've done is reinstate a handful of Twitter accounts. You haven't done anything to meaningfully scale back the speech restrictions on your platform.

Reading by Tim Foley.

Musk's Free Speech Moves On Twitter Have So Far Been Unimpressive

"I can't imagine a US intelligence official would be wrong on this."

Can you imagine not being able to imagine a US intelligence official being wrong? This would be an unacceptable position for any educated adult to hold, much less a journalist, still less an editor, and still less an editor of one of the most influential news agencies on earth.

These are the people who publish the news reports we read to find out what's happening in the world. This is the baby-brained level of thinking these people are serving the public interest with.

Reading by Tim Foley.

AP Editor Said She "Can't Imagine" A US Intelligence Official Being Wrong

I will never get used to living in a world where our rulers will openly imprison a journalist for telling the truth and then self-righteously pontificate about the need to stop authoritarian regimes from persecuting journalists.

Reading by Tim Foley.

US Officials Concern Troll About World Press Freedoms While Assaulting Them

Facts:

- There are Chinese people with real grievances against their government.
- The US empire's propaganda machine will spin current protests in China to advance imperial agendas.
- Western intelligence agencies will become more and more involved in these protests the longer they go on.

Reading by Tim Foley.

China Keeps Aggressively Surrounding Itself With US Bases

Readings of all Caitlin Johnstone's articles, usually by her co-writer Tim Foley.