Opening the local or national newspaper (whether in old-school broadsheet shedding that familiar-smelling black ink, or on a tablet or computer) with a morning cup of coffee or tea – a quintessential part of many people’s lives, a way to start the day, get those neurons firing, learn about our world and gain some global perspective.
Despite the advent of ‘new media’ in an age of exponentially increasing connectedness, and the incredible opportunities they have afforded (more about this at a later date), there is an infrastructural barrier to entry in global news gathering. Despite all of us members of the ‘blogosphere’ (fringe or otherwise) continuing to amass, aggregate, analyze and publish information (and opinion) on a scale unprecedented and growing each day, there are things for which we continue to rely on ‘professional media outlets’ (more on that later, too). It’s not easy to build out a systematic, coordinated web of contacts with global government bureaucracies, press offices, militaries and economic/financial institutions. It’s not trivial to send correspondents to warzones – and the people indigenous to those regions may not (yet) have the means to transmit out.
So we are stuck. ‘Big media’ still provides most of the information for most people. We rail against MSM, and MOPE and the captured/corrupt/complicit nature of media organizations and outlets. Why, oh why don’t honest journalists with integrity step up and do ‘investigative reporting’? Why don’t editors/publishers print/broadcast such material?
By now everyone has (or should have) heard about the extreme degree of concentration in global media ownership patterns, esp. in the US. We know that the business models of said outlets are dependent for revenue/profits on advertising dollars/euros/yen. The Citizens United ruling in the US is merely one of the more recent formal affirmation of the fact that cash outlays equal free speech, and so those with the most cash to lay out get the most ‘thorough’ coverage, in both advertising and press reporting (but I repeat myself). And don’t even get me started on the broadcast media – which if possible carry an even more fine-tuned, dumbed-down, skewed depiction of reality – without the benefit of a chance to reference or check statements against other (hopefully more independent sources), AND compounded by the massively underestimated power of visual images (or even soundtrack) which aim to influence emotions and base instincts at the same time as the new ‘programming’ is delivered to the viewing/listening subjects. And that’s just the ‘news’ portion.
Despite affectations to the contrary, and appeals to things like the First Amendment in the US and analogous free-speech/free-press covenants elsewhere, ALL media is subject to regulation/control through broadcast licenses, operating licenses, taxation and national security legislation.
In trying to get an idea of how endemic, how deep and how fundamentally important this phenomenon is, I recently stumbled upon this little gem. Unsurprisingly, Callaway’s re-election bid after this performance promptly foundered…
“Mr. CALLAWAY. Mr. Chairman, under unanimous consent, I insert in the record at this point a statement showing the newspaper combination, which explains their activity in this war matter, just discussed by the gentleman from Pennsylvania,
[Mr. Moore]: "In March, 1915, the J.P. Morgan interests, the steel, shipbuilding, and powder interests, and their subsidiary organizations, got together 12 men high up in the newspaper world and employed them to select the most influential newspapers in the United States and sufficient number of them to control generally the policy of the daily press of the United States.
"These 12 men worked the problem out by selecting 170 newspapers, and then began, by an elimination process, to retain only those necessary for the purpose of controlling the general policy of the daily press throughout the country. They found it was only necessary to purchase the control of 25 of the greatest newspapers.
"The 25 papers were agreed upon; emissaries were sent to purchase the policy, national and international, of these papers; an agreement was reached; the policy of the papers was bought, to be paid for by the month; an editor was furnished for each paper to properly supervise and edit information regarding the questions of preparedness, militarism, financial policies, and other things of national and international nature considered vital to the interest of the purchasers.
"This contract is in existence at the present time, and it accounts for the news columns of the daily press of the country being filled with all sorts of preparedness argument and misrepresentations as to the present condition of the United States Army and Navy and the possibility and probability of the United States being attacked by foreign foes."
Now, none of this should come as a surprise to anyone. Why would we think it is any different today? How much time have they had to solidify their grip? We have all heard the David Rocker-fellow quote expressing his gratitude to MSM luminaries (lackeys?) for helping him get closer to establishing NWO. Due to the fact that the quote claims he was addressing people who were/are in effect his employees, I find the wording and thus the quote suspect – but it’s one of those quotes that ‘ought to be true even if it isn’t’. Yet I think it important to take a step yet further back. For those academically inclined, I encourage you to take a look at this paper on ‘The network of global corporate control’. There is a lot of cool modeling that can be played with on this topic on the authors’ project page here.
But the top 20 list of companies (which together control 27.1% of the operating revenue of the 43K transnational corporations identified in the study) is quite instructive:
No Name Control in %
1 BARCLAYS PLC 4.05
2 CAPITAL GROUP COMPANIES INC, THE 2.61
3 FMR CORP 2.28
4 AXA 2.28
5 STATE STREET CORPORATION 1.81
6 JPMORGAN CHASE & CO 1.53
7 LEGAL & GENERAL GROUP PLC 1.47
8 VANGUARD GROUP, INC.THE 1.24
9 UBS AG 1.21
10 MERRILL LYNCH & CO., INC. 0.99
11 WELLINGTON MANAGEMENT CO L.L.P. 0.89
12 DEUTSCHE BANK AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT 0.84
13 FRANKLIN RESOURCES, INC. 0.82
14 CREDIT SUISSE GROUP 0.82
15 STATE OF FRANCE 0.82
16 WALTON ENTERPRISES LLC 0.76
17 BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON CORP. 0.71
18 NATIXIS 0.70
19 GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC, THE 0.66
20 T. ROWE PRICE GROUP, INC. 0.65
Additional data points:
“The primary near-term security concern of the United States is the global economic crisis and its geopolitical implications.” – Dennis C. Blair, Director of National Intelligence, February 12th, 2009
“Psychological operations -- Traditional psychological operations, including the creation and delivery of messages via leaflet, loudspeaker, radio or television; the newer "influence operations" associated with the creation of Web sites and the use of social media to extend U.S. influence, both overtly and covertly; and the separate clandestine and covert activities associated with influence, deception and perception management.” – Top Secret America, Washington Post -- list of hundreds of private firms and billions of dollars in contracts
“PSYOP are a key capability in furthering US endeavors to deter aggression, and to maximize the commander’s efforts to shape the operational environment, insert combat forces, neutralize the threat, and secure the region. When authorized, PSYOP forces may be used domestically to assist lead federal agencies during disaster relief and crisis management by informing the domestic population. […] Army Service PSYOP assets provide a vital instrument of engagement across all military phases in support of the full range of military operations and interagency coordination in a foreign setting and under special circumstances during domestic emergencies as well.” – DoD clarification on the use of PsyOps
Is the global financial and monetary system a critical element of the global economic crisis, and therefore a central concern to the US (and presumably all other Western countries)? Are precious metals a significant constituent of the above? Are controlling owners of assets not likely to utilize those assets to their advantage, including but not limited to monetary gain (see top 20 owners above)? Is the ongoing (by some accounts worsening) economic crisis NOT an emergency? Have you looked at a list of recently signed Executive Orders pertaining to governmental/executive powers during declared emergencies? How much more proof is required before we accept that the federal government and its agencies take a VERY active role in creating, controlling, disseminating and amplifying the messages/information/news that the population receives (and is ABLE to receive).
So there you have it. A pretty bleak picture, and I have not even brought up, let alone connected all the dots. All this is nearly enough to make anyone want to curl up in a ball in the corner, and promptly forget about any possibility of being truthfully informed.
However:
“Morpheus: No. It's another training program designed to teach you one thing: if you are not one of us, you are one of them.
Neo: What are they?
Morpheus: Sentient programs. They can move in and out of any software still hard-wired to their system. That means that anyone we haven't unplugged is potentially an Agent. Inside the Matrix, they are everyone and they are no one. We have survived by hiding from them, by running from them, but they are the gatekeepers. They are guarding all the doors, they are holding all the keys, which means that sooner or later, someone is going to have to fight them.
Neo: Someone?
Morpheus: I won't lie to you, Neo. Every single man or woman who has stood their ground, everyone who has fought an agent has died. But where they have failed, you will succeed.
Neo: Why?
Morpheus: I've seen an agent punch through a concrete wall. Men have emptied entire clips at them and hit nothing but air. Yet their strength and their speed are still based in a world that is built on rules. Because of that, they will never be as strong or as fast as you can be.”
The information we are talking about is NECESSARY for the ongoing operation of the global economy, the functioning of governments and militaries. Everything CANNOT be kept hidden and/or distorted. And even for the mis/dis-information aspect of things, a SEMBLANCE of truth (and thus a certain proportion of veracity) must be maintained.
The advent of ‘new media’ or ‘social media’ we are all a part of now presents a unique opportunity for asymmetrical engagement. ‘They’ are the gatekeepers, ‘they’ have access to all hardware and software in the system, ‘they’ have enormous resources. BUT:
The growth of the community Turd has built here, and the coalescing of like-minded, truth-seeking individuals in countless other organic, grass-roots-driven endeavors continues apace. Too slowly, perhaps, but in my view inevitably leading to an evolution in the structure and (hopefully) mindset of society. Green Lantern posted about a (relatively) recent study about network analysis:
“When the number of committed opinion holders is below 10 percent, there is no visible progress in the spread of ideas. It would literally take the amount of time comparable to the age of the universe for this size group to reach the majority," said SCNARC Director Boleslaw Szymanski, the Claire and Roland Schmitt Distinguished Professor at Rensselaer. "Once that number grows above 10 percent, the idea spreads like flame." Social consensus through the influence of committed minorities. (More research on the topic can be found here)
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While we may not be kings as one-eyed men/women in the land of the blind, we certainly have a leg up on MOST of the population of ‘developed’ countries in discerning truth from Matrix code. Every time you post an informative link, a piece of thoughtful analysis, a seemingly wild theory (as long as it’s not one directly contradicted by facts) that creates new connections or lights a bulb in someone else’s brain, you are helping (in an admittedly minute way) lay the foundation of the 10%+ base. To blatantly plagiarize/rehash an earlier comment:
While it may seem like trying to cut stone with water, once the first crack appears, the process accelerates rapidly. You never know when your in-law, brother or friend might actually READ that explosive article or incisive blog post. And that idea connects with the seed of a thought planted months or years ago. I realize there is much teeth gnashing about having recommended PMs to people close to us, who are now panicked and resentful. But all we should be trying to show them is that 'There is no spoon', that the 'desert of the real world' that WE 'digital dickweeds' (CNBC) frequenting 'low-brow fringe blogs' see is, in fact real.
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Read, post and prepare accordingly. Thank you all (well, most, anyway) for sharing this journey with me thus far, I look forward to the next phase. For a list of interesting media links, take a look at this forum (and add your own).
