... in a would-be free and open society——and especially in a society that aspires to be a democracy——propaganda and thought-control are crucial to the formation of public attitudes. In a nominal democracy, such as exists today in the United States, shaping the opinions of the masses is crucial to the appearance of legitimacy for the ruling elite. The public must be guided and persuaded to ratify the policies favored by the wealthy and well connected, while insuring that the general public does not actually interfere with the policies and profits of the corporate rulers.
Huge public opinion and marketing machines, along with the advertising industry provide commercial forms of propaganda. Their success flows from their ability to keep people self-indulgent, to keep people consuming, to keep them on the debt treadmill, and to keep them complacent, self-absorbed, and hedonistic.
In that I've been trying to teach hardly motivated or capable kids these last five years I know the future is likely not much better. Intellectual thinking and critical analysis is hardly accomplished in many classrooms these days. The standardized testing and data-driven education that the Conservatives have pushed hardly prepares kids for actions the Professor has suggested provide remedies to this problem. I admittedly get a touch conspiratorial when I ponder how the wealthy and connected might have designed systems such as our current finance and media and educational complex. Peace ... or War!
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