Theres a long interview with Noam Chomsky in todays Salon magazine. One of his main premises is this: [Hes discussing his book of about 20 years ago, Manufactured Consent in which he posits that by selectively informing Americans about what the U.S. is doing around the world we create consent that wouldnt be forthcoming if the entire story was known.] There are a number of filters that determine the framework of reporting, and one of the filters [in the book] was too narrow. Instead of “anti-communism,” which was too narrow, it should have been “fear of the concocted enemy.” So yes, it could be anti-communism—most of that is concocted. So take Cuba again. It’s hard to believe, but for the Pentagon, Cuba was listed as one of the military threats to the United States until a couple of years ago. This is so ludicrous; you don’t even know whether to laugh or cry. It’s as if the Soviet Union had listed Luxembourg as a threat to its security. But here it kind of passes. The United States is a very frightened country. And there are all kinds of things concocted for you to be frightened about. So that should have been the filter, and [there were] a few other things, but I think it’s basically the same. Reading this I remembered the huge furor a few years ago when it was proposed to bring some Guantanamo Bay prisoners to New York for trial. Ohmygod! Actual terrorists on U.S. soil! I remember thinking, this is the home of the brave??
Posted on: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 19:00:52 +0000
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