There is an identifiable ruling elite in control of a massive media apparatus which is being used to manipulate, and to a very large extent, control the minds of the average U.S. citizen. This manipulation and control explains why our society is rapidly transitioning towards becoming a veritable corporatocracy characterized by an exploitative and oppressive small ruling class and a passive, and increasingly oppressed population.
As both, the collective control of the mind of the average citizen, and the techniques used to exert such control increase, the emerging reality is truly frightening. As critical theorists Theodor Adorno (1903–1969) and Max Horkheimer (1895–1973), put it:
Consumption of the easy pleasures of popular culture, made available by the mass communications media, renders people docile and content, no matter how difficult their economic circumstances.
The inherent danger of the culture industry is the cultivation of false psychological needs that can only be met and satisfied by the products of capitalism...
In contrast, true psychological needs are freedom, creativity, and genuine happiness, which refer to an earlier demarcation of human needs, established by Herbert Marcuse...
One thing that I find interesting is that not too long ago a typical reaction to this claim would be immediate incredulity, and allusions to "conspiracy theories." However, I'm finding that more and more people are ready to accept this theory, this explanation of how the current ruling elites manipulate the masses, as plausible.
I think that part of the reason is that as the effects of this "system" of propaganda spread, the disconnect between a normal situation and the increasingly absurd reality has become so extreme that it can no longer be ignored by some individuals.
One of the reasons I'm writing this is because I would like to get some feedback from readers about this topic, and especially, about some ideas I have about how to not only counteract the effects of mass media propaganda at an individual level (you), but at a collective level.
It seems to me that the first step would be to become aware of the propaganda: who is behind it; what methods are used to spread it, and the reasons behind it; and what effects it has on the citizenry.
In my opinion one of the fastest way of counteracting the effects of the mass media mind control through propaganda is to limit exposure to it as much as possible.
But that's only a first step. The next, and very important step, would be to think, mediate, contemplate, with the intention of understanding the degree to which the concept of a free people living in a democracy under the rule of law and the Constitution diverts from the current reality--and why.
My theory is that any given individual of average intelligence engaging in this exercise would come up to very similar conclusions, since once the mind is clear from the massive (and carefully-crafted) amount of propaganda, the absurdities in the current system will become crystal clear.
But what I find more exciting is the potential results of having many of these "awakened" individuals unite and collaborate in finding ways to help other individuals break free of the mind control of corporatist propaganda, and most importantly devise ways to bring down the entire regime behind it.
The main problem with the propaganda we are currently subjected to is not the mind control effects per se, but the motivation behind it.
“It is with knowledge of the human being, his tendencies, his desires, his needs, his psychic mechanisms, his automatisms as well as knowledge of social psychology and analytical psychology that propaganda refines its techniques.”
– Propagandes, Jacques Ellul
Ultimately the motivation is based on extreme greed, avarice, megalomaniacal disposition, and tyrannical tendencies. This is typical of ruling elites through the ages, and hence, it should not be surprising.
On the other hand, once a large enough group of individuals "wake up" and become aware of the true evil nature of the current system, and unite to defeat it, the motivation behind it would also be extremely important.
If the motivation is based on trying to bring about a society based on harmonious existence with the environment and with each other, on knowledge and learning, on peace, on sustainability, on democratic principles, and on the U.S. Constitution, then we'll have a very clear demarcation between the concepts of good and evil, or right and wrong, which could be a good enough motivation to help bring about a cohesive, effective, and discipline resistance movement.
A movement that could eventually grow and strengthen to the point where it could bring down the current regime based on the imposition of a Corporatocracy, or a Plutonomy.
I argue that the Occupy Wall Street movement came very close to becoming an effective resistance movement, and that in fact it did accomplish a lot of important things, including consciousness awareness of the defect in the current system.
But I think that most of its adherents remained influenced by the powerful effects of the corporatocracy propaganda machine, which prevented them from forming the type of cohesive, focused, long-term, and disciplined resistance movement necessary to take on the current powerful system.
“These blind slaves are told they are “free” and “highly educated” even as they march behind signs that would cause any medieval peasant to run screaming away from them in panic-stricken terror. The symbols that modern man embraces with the naive trust of an infant would be tantamount to billboards reading, ‘This way to your death and enslavement,’ to the understanding of the traditional peasant of antiquity”
- Michael A. Hoffman II, Secret Societies and Psychological Warfare
I look forward to readers' ideas about this subject...