This AP article comes across as a desperate attempt to resurrect Guadio’s credibility. Mentions people “too preoccupied trying to meet basic needs like finding food and medicine” but neglects to say they are put into that position because of US sanctions.
“The very efficacy of opinion manipulation rests on the fact that we do not know we are being manipulated. The most insidious forms of oppression are those that so insinuate themselves into our communication universe and the recesses of our minds that we do not even realize they are acting upon us. The most powerful ideologies are not those that prevail against all challengers but those that are never challenged because in their ubiquity they appear as nothing more than the unadorned truth.”
‘Contrary Notions’ by Michael Parenti
I’m about 20% of the way into my new writing project “You Are Blind” – a look at how propaganda works in a corporatocracy – and it’s going very well.
Meanwhile, OpEdNews has this excellent new article by Noam Chomsky.
He starts by quoting international affairs scholar James Peck who states:
“In the history of human rights, the worst atrocities are always committed by somebody else, never us” — whoever “us” is.
Chomsky then presents a few recent examples of how the western media loves to focus on atrocities by “the bad guys”, such as Syria, while ignoring (or justifying) similar or worse atrocities committed by “our side”. Or they highlight China’s treatment of dissidents like Chen Guangcheng while ignoring 0r justifying American treatment of dissidents like Bradley Manning.
It’s all part of what I’m writing about in my book. We are programmed from birth by our governments, corporate media, corporate PR departments, the education system (co-financed by the government and the wealthy elite) and religions to believe that a certain set of truths are self-evident – and that this programming is so pervasive that we don’t even notice it.
don’t ask, don’t tell