The Propaganda Model

This is a rough draft, of an essay I wrote a while back...Keyword rough draft.

Today, now more than ever, the Mass Media has taken control over public and social life. With our industrialized economy and consumer culture, we live in a 'media saturated' world, bombarded with advertising messages, multi-channel TV networks, and streets littered with newspapers and billboards. Popular culture, social order, and our political systems are governed and shaped by the codes and signs produced by the media, as it is starting to blur our sense of reality.
In our modern world though, mainstream media outlets are large corporations or conglomerates - actually the majority of all media (movies, songs, shows, news outlets) are controlled by the same twenty-nine companies. What you see, hear, and read is now in the hands of a well-funded elite. This, politically, creates a system similar to that of which - Edward Herman, and Noam Chomsky predicted in their propaganda model. The only solution to this is to create a media system that's in the hands of the people, a competitive, independent, public broadcasting outlet.
To start off, let me explain how the propaganda model works. First off, since all major media outlets in the US are owned or conglomerates with large corporations, then their news and information that is spread will be biased with respect to those interests. An example, the yellow journalism that led to the Spanish-American war. While working for American newspaper magnate William Hearst, artist Frederic Remington telegrammed him, saying that him staying in Cuba was pointless, as all was quiet and "There will be no war." Hearst responded with "Please remain. You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war."

Between the years 1965 to 1967, International Telephone and Telegraph's attempted takeover of ABC was met with public outcry, and controversy. ITT was a large, multinational corporation with "extensive foreign investments and business activities" - Noam Chomsky. The thought of them controlling a large media outlet was incomprehensible, as they would be given the power to "compromise the independence of ABC's news coverage in countries where it has interests." - John Pilger.
GE's takeover of ABC resulted in far less public outcry, but it is far more concerning. GE is considerably more powerful than ITT, with stakes in everywhere from the weapons industry to nuclear power business. With ABC's new structural relationship to GE it's inconceivable that they will remain neutral or unbiased on affairs that relate to GE's interests.
An article published by the International Committee of the Fourth International in 2003 they claimed that "the blame for the super-patriotic tone of the war coverage" was "largely on the media empire of billionaire Rupert Murdoch". Ironically, under Murdoch's control are many defense contractors and weapons producers. One such is Raytheon Industries. Raytheon Industries is the fourth largest defense contractor in America, and is owned by Hughes Electronics, which is in turn owned by News Broadcasting/Fox Broadcasting.
As these examples suggest, profit oriented businesses shape and cultivate news stories to match their interests. And the mutual symbiotic relationships that are formed between multinational corporations and news outlets help to make sure the governments political activities benefit the rich and elite at the expense of the working class.
Another factor in what news stories are shown by media outlets is the advertising public. Sir George Lewis noted that laissez-faire capitalism in the media would promote news outlets that enjoyed "the preference of the advertising public". This method of self-censorship works as I means of controlling public opinion, as only news that benefits large corporations is released to the public, whilst news stories that aren't end up being buried or spiked. In 1985 Public Station WNET lost their corporate funding from Gulf and Western after it showed the documentary "Hungry for Profit", a movie that "contains material critical of multinational corporations in the Third World". - (Noam Chomsky) Gulf and Western's official response to the movie was that it was "Anti-American", and that airing it was not the behavior "of a friend" to the company. After this "mishap", the London Economist wrote that "Most people believe that WNET would not make the same mistake again."
As I have suggested in my example, the US mass media fails to provide the public with the information to understand current events. Instead it systematically presents us with information that benefits it, its share-holders, and its advertisers. Increasing public funding to independent sources, and creating 100% public funded broadcasting is the only solution to informing citizens about political issues in our contemporary society. And is the only solution keeping the US a healthy democracy.

Drug Laws Make No Sense At All

So I had to right an essay about freedom today, it was boring, motivational, yadda yadda....

Then I started to think about what the term freedom meant, I decided it was, to do something in according to one's will, values, morals. So then I thought what restricts that. I thought at first about what Jean-Jacques Roasseau has said about people restricting people, and how indirectly every action we make, is in some way (whether voluntarily or involunarily) influenced by societies current accepted norms and other relativistic values. (That was a long ass run-on sentence lol)

But then I realized who else was the perpetrator...the government. Well, the government takes away so many of our rights, it wouldn't be funny or necessary to count them all here...but I thought about drug laws for a second.

Why does the government outlaw drugs? There are many conspiracies that I could suggest, but the prevailing opinion, to me, was that drugs are outlawed because they are bad for you.

So because you do something that's bad for you, you get sent to jail. WTF? Seriously think about it...

Yanqui U.X.O.

The Sea of Life

Friedrich Nietzsche - "Zeus did not want man to throw his life away, no matter how much the other evils might torment him, but rather to go on letting himself be tormented anew. To that end, he gives man hope. In truth, it is the most evil of evils because it prolongs man's torment."

All men dream, all dreams, just as equal, but ultimately it is the current of life that decides whether or not they come true...

I assume they float in murky waters, either sinking, swimming, drifting off, dying, or rising to the surface.

So shouldn't we, oh shouldn't we, throw our hopes into the ocean.

Fashioning Flowers From Fancy

It's hard to think - it's easier do.

Today I wasted my whole day doing meaningless shit, over and over.

Although the definition of "meaningless" varies from person to person...

When I was a little kid I never thought I was going to grow old, I always assumed I was going to kill myself before then.

We always attach ourselves to the tranquility of peaceful, everyday life, yet I think - secretly - we wish the currents of our lives would ebb and flow for once.

I bleed onto this page, but I think it ran grey.

Fucking Irony

So, today I was bored and was searching "Urban Decay" on google.

Why? I have no clue.

And then...fucking irony.

The first result is http://www.urbandecay.com/. Lol.

A fucking beauty/make-up site. Oh how I love irony.

What a name to - Urban Decay - you know what's really decaying though, the quality of life. I wonder if in the primitive era (or Neolithic), we were such self-coscious shits.

Maybe. But not to this degree I hope.

People tell you the quality of life is expanding - yeh how the fucks so? People are more insecure, less social, less real to themselves...

We're only "blessed" with living longer.... like that's a fucking blessing.

A Sad Story (Sorry for the Language)

So the other day I was at my freind's house, and he was checking his Facebook, like he always - like every fucking five minutes. And he got a post on his wall from this kid who is ---- eerrr.... unpopular.

Now personally I couldn't give two shits on whether or not this kid was popular or not, but my freinds starts fretting over it.

He was like, "Oh shit. Now people are gonna think I'm freinds with him. I have a fucking reputation to maintain."

I told him "Fucking deal with it. You care too much about what people think of you." - Which is funny because I'm pretty damn self-concious.

But anyway he deleted the shit off his Facebook wall... but it made me think. Were we always like this?

Did humans all ways act like such shit to each other? I mean he couldn't even pretend he was fucking freinds with this kid. That's fucking sad.

I Opened Up My Wallet and It was Full of Blood

Sometimes you want to be put in a cage....especially when outside the cage there's a cougar... Well multinational corporations are the cougars, and the government's the cage.

I believe it was Noam Chomsky that made up a witty metaphor along those lines.

So for sure it was the valley of death, I opened up my wallet and it was full of blood.

Full of dead Iraqi Citizens, dead marines, dead Afghani's, dead Israeli's, me, you, and...

I believe it was Tao Te Ching that said, "Above all do not compete."

Do people think the same way as this? Or am I just crazy?

I wonder if people realise the billboards are all leering, laughing at them.

Consumer Culture (Sorry for the Vulgar Language)

So I just went outside today and worked for like 4-5 hours - the first time I've worked in like a year (I'm only 15)... And earned like 50 bucks. So I've been wanting to get the new Persona 4 game for a bit now, so I was browsing on ebay to get a copy of it, when I came across some manga for the third game.

For some reason I felt an urge to buy it.

I stepped back for a second and was like "WTF?"

Why?

And then I realized it. My life is shit. I have very little freinds that I act "real" around. On the other hand, in video games - manga - or rather I'll use the persona series as an example - well, it's based around a group of kids with extroardinary abilites, that have interesting past's - future's - and oh fuck it.

None of our stupid lives are like that. To quote The Kodan Armada "We will always dream we are invincible, we always fucking will..." Well guess what I'm not, I'm mortal, and I still have a shitty average life.

I guess that's why we play video games though. I remeber a comedian saying once, "Men go to movies to feel strong....After I see a movie, I always feel like I can kick someone's ass." - It was something along those lines, but it was true. We go watch Scraface - and think it's cool and all - and then we fucking kill another man in the street.

I can't even bench 30 pounds, but after a Jet-Li movie I feel like I can kick someone's ass...

Ironically, if you've ever played the game Persona 3 before, you'd notice that in the intro to the game it says "Remember you are mortal. Remember you will die." I always depicted that, as a reference to the fact that the main characters constantly shoot themselves in the head with fake guns, but maybe it's a joke.

Laughing at our pathetic lives.

Well I guess I'll go buy the game or the manga now...

Iwishididnthatemyself.com - Part 1

dan- no more wires. fuck the tv screens. fuck the monitors. fuck the drama fuck the bother. can you make me feel better? [enter] will you be my friend? [enter] get off the internet [enter] Get off the fucking computers, we live our lives through wires and screens, fuck it,atleast call. love through wires is not a motto for all. kill me with a keystroke baby, kill me with a click!

cory- communications down! cut the wires that entagle me! i'm so down. cut the cord that powers me. i'm so fucking down! kill me with a keystroke baby, kill me with a click!

brent- talking in numeric code is the newest trend and its telling me that youre the one for me. i know i cant see you, but i know that you mean everything to me [enter] speak to me in 1's and 0'2.. we'll last forever that way. sauter me with your warm words, speak to me in the only language i know. [enter] kill me with a keystroke baby, kill me with a click!

adam- no more wires, words stretch for miles, time after time. kill me with a keystroke baby, kill me with a click!

ryan- kill me with a keystroke baby, come on! kill me with a click!

The Movie = Kairo

Song Lyrics = Iwishididnthatemyself.com by The Kodan Armada

I was reading the imdb reviews for the movie Kairo, when I came across one reviewer desriving the movie as "a study of loneliness in modern society". When I saw the movie, it was in my opinion, that the director based transformed all of the loneliness of us, and people into these menacing ghosts.

But anyway, there'd be nothing lonelier in my opinion, than wishing to communicate to others, but being confined to the internet because of some phobia (agoraphobia?).

You can always talk to someone online, or write stupid blogs over the internet (*sigh...*) but I feel you never know a person til' you meet them face to face.

My brother tends to talk to people over the internet a lot, and he doesn't seem to have very many non-internet freinds - maybe I should ask him one day if he feels lonely.

I think they should study if extreme internet use has an effect on your personal health - or causes depression.

When I was in 8th grade we watched ann anti-bullying video. There was this kid that - wasn't very popular (not that, that matters) - but used the internet a lot. There were a bunch of girls in his class that would tell him, they "love him" over AIM and such, but when he got to school they would all laugh at him... He killed himself.

Er..... I think I've strayed to far off topic.... I'll continue this later.

The Most Beatuiful Song Ever

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_W7ydnPtB4&feature=related

Unitary Urbanism

Why?

Err.... I couldn't really come up with a blog name, so I chose "Short Walks Down Long Roads" - named after The Kodan Armada song.

It made me wonder what does it mean to take a Short Walk Down a Long Road.


So, scrolling through the internet I came across this image, entitled "A Long Walk Down a Short Road". I found it pretty cute, and such.

So if I judge the title of this blog in and according to the title of this picture, then taking a Short Walk Down a Long Road, would be to rush through life or not enjoy it - something to that accordance.

Do I enjoy life? Have I rushed through it? Did I waste my childhood? I don't know...