Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Andrew Gavin Marshall — The Propaganda System That Has Helped Create a Permanent Overclass Is Over a Century in the Making

Pulling back the curtain on how intent the wealthiest Americans have been on establishing a propaganda tool to subvert democracy
AlterNet
The Propaganda System That Has Helped Create a Permanent Overclass Is Over a Century in the Making
Andrew Gavin Marshall

History lesson.


4 comments:

Matt Franko said...

But people only live less than a century... so how can there be this conspiracy that has been operative for over a century?

Is this "passed on" to the next generation?

The most disgraced and dangerous human being in our country, Peter G Peterson, is the son of penniless Greek immigrants who went to college and worked in industry before getting involved in government then revolving door to private equity where he amassed a great fortune...

So you have to believe that there is some sort of "secret society" or "grand conspiracy" among we humans to think that some sort of "system is over a century in the making"...

Some people are able/desirous to work the system and amass great fortunes within their lives, ok ... but that doesnt mean they are broadly intelligent or good people...

Look at Peterson, came from nothing and amassed a great fortune and he is still one of the biggest morons on earth...

I dont buy these "conspiracy theories" Tom...

Yes, there are those among us who amass more earthly wealth than others within a lifetime, but none of us can take it with us...

The problem at core Tom looks like that these "elites" so-called all have no true 'faith'.

They are the "faithless" among us and they can do great damage if they can work their way into positions of authority or 'exousia' or influence on same...

Here is the quote from Paul on 'silver-love' or 'philarguria' from 1 Timothy:

"For a root of all of the evils is the fondness for silver, which some, craving, were led astray from the faith..."

The metal-lovers are led astray from the faith,

Here is the quote from the bitcoin people:

“We have elected,” declared Tyler Winklevoss recently, “to put our money and faith in a mathematical framework that is free of politics and human error.”

Yes they have indeed put their faith in math...

Here's our Roger from his latest headline:

"People Don't Lose Faith Until They Have To?"

Roger's getting on top of this...

Here's Peterson from his wiki page:

"I remain a Republican, but the Republicans have become a far more theological, faith-directed party, not troubling with evidence."

Peterson rejects faith here...

Tom consider perhaps these disgraced "elites" are really just part of the "faithless" cohort among us ...

From Mat 8:

Centurion: "For I also am a man set under authority (exousia)..."

Jesus: "Verily, I am saying to you, With no one in Israel so much faith did I find."

Possessing a correct view of this 'exousia' is the highest manifestation of faith.

The stupid and blind (disgraced) among us DO NOT have this view imo ... no matter what their social status... it's A if not THE major problem...

rsp,

Tom Hickey said...

But people only live less than a century... so how can there be this conspiracy that has been operative for over a century?

Is this "passed on" to the next generation?


Culturally (class structure, group loyalty, "secret handshakes") and institutionally (institutional arrangements that determine policy, selection of personnel, methodology, etc.).

Ignacio said...

You don't need any big conspiracies, you only need social memes that perpetuate themselves, and people interested in maintaining the status quo and their own position using the levers of power to promote certain thought and policies over others.

Has been done always, nothing new about that Matt. It's pure cognitive dissonance, people believes what they want to believe because they think it's better for them, that makes reinforcing certain ideas over others, and promoting them socially. Then there is an asymmetry in social models or information transmission power, so some ideas get reinforced over others naturally. And off course there is actionable power, translated into policies, which is also asymmetric.

Tom Hickey said...

Previous to the modern age, the primary cultural artifact and institutional construction was the prevailing religion, which shaped the cultural memes and mores. After the great liberalization, this function was taken over by other institutions and others have observed how "orthodox" economists are the priests of the new religion of "progress. The heterodox are the heretics that are marginalized and even persecuted.

Of course, that was not the only function of religion, which did a lot of work as a cultural institution, but in just about every society the predominant religion was controlled by the ruling authority. That is still true in many societies and even in supposed liberal democracies there is a predominant religious ideology and norms.

Sine the great liberalization, the ruling class in every society has had to fashion new institutions to replace the old that were declining in cultural influence. As the post reveals this was not haphazard in the US but rather organized.

Recall Georgetown history prof. Carroll Quigley writing in Tragedy and Hope (1966):

"The powers of financial capitalism had (a) far-reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent meetings and conferences. The apex of the systems was to be the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, a private bank owned and controlled by the world's central banks which were themselves private corporations. Each central bank... sought to dominate its government by its ability to control Treasury loans, to manipulate foreign exchanges, to influence the level of economic activity in the country, and to influence cooperative politicians by subsequent economic rewards in the business world."   

Carroll Quigley (1910-1977), Professor of History at Georgetown University, member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), mentor to Bill Clinton   Source: in his book Tragedy and Hope, ch. 20

Ref:
Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Time by Carroll Quigley
Volumes 1-8
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1966
archive.org