We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Ellen Plays by State Department Rules — Agrees to ‘Promote’ Hillary’s ‘Agenda’ on Her Show

Click here to access article by Claire Bernish from The Free Thought Project.

This report represents a breakthrough in documenting the ongoing efforts of our ruling class masters to manipulate our opinions in order to elect their favored candidates. (Remember that the same right-wing organization known as Judicial Watch also obtained government documents last year that inadvertently provided dramatic evidence that the Empire deliberately used al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups to bring down the Assad government in Syria.) This article provides another excellent illustration of how our masters use entertainment in addition to straight news media to manage our consent to their nefarious policies.

Though it isn’t surprising — given the vast majority of media in the U.S. is owned by a handful of corporations with both murky and direct ties to the government — such outlets would fawn over the chance to proffer government-approved propaganda....

What he suggests is the use of platforms Americans turn to for entertainment, as secondary news sources, be manipulated to advance whatever governmental agenda needs to be legislated.... 
I am convinced that media directors of the ruling capitalist class routinely use entertainment, especially movies, to insert propaganda messages in support of their policies and actions.