The triumph of propaganda

Extracts from an article by John Pilger

A recent article by the commentator John Pilger discusses why so much of modern journalism has succumbed to propaganda, and why censorship and distortion now have become standard practice. The following extract from his much longer article deals with the role of propaganda in the economic crisis.

“Why are millions of people in Britain persuaded that a collective punishment called ‘austerity’ is necessary?

“Following the economic crash in 2008, a rotten system was exposed. For a split second the banks were lined up as crooks with obligations to the public they had betrayed.

“But within a few months – apart from a few stones lobbed over excessive corporate ‘bonuses’ – the message changed. The mug-shots of guilty bankers vanished from the tabloids and something called ‘austerity’ became the burden of millions of ordinary people. Was there ever a sleight of hand as brazen?

“Today, many of the premises of civilised life in Britain are being dismantled in order to pay back a fraudulent debt – the debt of crooks. The ‘austerity’ cuts are said to be £83 billion. That’s almost exactly the amount of tax avoided by the same banks and by a range of other large corporations. Moreover, the crooked banks are given an annual subsidy of £100bn in free insurance and guarantees – a figure that would fund the entire National Health Service.

“The economic crisis (as presented) is pure propaganda. Extreme policies now rule Britain, the U.S., much of Europe, Canada and Australia. Who is standing up for the majority? Who is telling their story? Who’s keeping records straight? Isn’t that what journalists are meant to do? “

Source: John Pilger blog; 5 Dec 2014

http://johnpilger.com/articles/war-by-media-and-the-triumph-of-propaganda

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Governments are deemed to succeed or fail by how well they make money go round, regardless of whether it serves any useful purpose. They regard it as a sacred duty to encourage the country’s most revolting spectacle: the annual feeding frenzy in which shoppers queue all night, then stampede into the shops, elbow, trample and sometimes fight to be the first to carry off some designer junk which will go into landfill before the sales next year. The madder the orgy, the greater the triumph of economic management. – George Monbiot

Once you realize that trickle-down economics does not work, you will see the excessive tax cuts for the rich as what they are — a simple upward redistribution of income, rather than a way to make all of us richer, as we were told. – Ha-Joon Chan