... there is a complex system of filters in the media and educational institutions which ends up ensuring that dissident perspectives are weeded out, or marginalized in one way or another. And the end result is in fact quite similar: what are called opinions on the left and on the right in the media represent only a limited spectrum of debate, which reflects the range of needs of private power - but theres essentially nothing beyond those acceptable positions. So what the media do, in effect, is to take the set of assumptions which express the basic ideas of the propaganda system, whether about the Cold War or the economic system or the national interest and so on, and then present a range of debate WITHIN that framework - so the debate only enhances the strength of the assumptions, ingraining them in peoples minds as the entire possible spectrum of opinion that there is. So you see, in our system what you might call state propaganda isnt expressed as such, as it would be in a totalitarian society - rather its implicit, its presupposed, it provides the framework for debate among the people who are admitted into mainstream discussion. In fact, the nature of Western systems of indoctrination is typically not understood by dictators, they dont understand the utility for propaganda purposes of having critical debate that incorporates the basic assumptions of the official doctrines, and thereby marginalizes and eliminates authentic and rational critical discussion. Under whats sometimes been called brainwashing under freedom, the critics, or at least, the responsible critics make a major contribution to the cause by bounding the debate within certain acceptable limits - thats why theyre tolerated, and in fact even honored. - Noam Chomsky: Understanding Power #BookExcerpts #NoamChomsky #UnderstandingPower #TheMedia
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 16:15:46 +0000