Manufacturing Consent

manufacturing consent is a book written by Edward S. Herman and noam chomsky, published a few decades ago. it's quite extensive, exposing with sharp factual analysis the role big lamestream corporate media plays in propagandizing the american public, in order to sway their opinions and manufacture their consent for whatever agenda their corporate masters seek, be it support for military aggression in the guise of promoting 'democracy and freedom', support for capitalism, or whatever. i read a significant portion of it many years ago. it further educated me and strongly reinforced what i'd already begun to learn about this topic.

here's a link to a short (less than 5 minutes) animated video narrated by amy goodman about manufacturing consent and how it's basically done:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34LGPIXvU5M

i came across this link thanks to the caitlin johnstone blog, which i've become an avid follower of. it's writing reveals a very impressive base of knowledge, a very radical understanding of the role that western (mainly american) militarism, imperialism, and especially propaganda plays in world affairs, and an ability to put into the most eloquent if blunt and at times vulgar words things i and i suspect many others basically have learned, but have never articulated, in part because we couldn't do so nearly so well or effectively. i don't agree with every opinion expressed there, but i certainly share the overall worldview. link to the relevant article:

https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2022/08/15/china-threatens-the-us-empire-not-the-us-itself-notes-from-the-edge-of-the-narrative-matrix/

If I Ever Grow Up

if i ever grow up, i want to be like greta thunberg.

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&biw=&bih=&q=greta+thunberg+a+year+to+change+the+world+watch+online&iflsig=AJiK0e8AAAAAYvXBR26RXwUqsBv6WwGN5iOzvdnVlmat&gbv=2&oq=greta+thunberg+a+year&gs_l=heirloom-hp.1.3.0i512l4j0i30i22l6.20493.27163.0.32823.21.12.0.9.9.0.222.1415.4j7j1.12.0....0...1ac.1.34.heirloom-hp..0.21.1618.O6CKlyUPOwE

CAESAR'S MESSIAH: The Roman Conspiracy To Invent Jesus

going back 30 years i've read free thought literature which examined and questioned the historicity of jesus christ and concluded that no such man ever existed. so i've long embraced the idea. this great documentary featuring joseph atwill and several other maverick historians on this subject comes to an even more provocative conclusion: that jesus and the christian religion his myth is based upon was an invention of a roman emperor working in cahoots with a turncoat jewish historian named josephus, for the purpose of pacifying a jewish rebellion against roman rule. these scholars seem to know their stuff and broadly agree with this thesis, presenting their arguments very cogently and backing them up by comparing josephus' other historical writings with the biblical gospels. i think they make a compelling case.

i thought i'd previously covered this in this blog, but apparently not. probably just mentioned part of another great documentary titled ZEITGEIST which merely makes the case that christianity and the figure of jesus christ were based on older religions which go back to sun worship. links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmEScIUcvz0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzMqlsAGL14

The Case For Doom

the year 2007 was a watershed in terms of productions which made a compelling case for the relatively imminent collapse of industrial civilization and likely near term human extinction (nthe). 3 notable works then all in their own way made a case for doom.

that year there were 2 books published which probably remain among the best regarding anthropogenic climate disruption. SIX DEGREES by mark lynas lays out in excruciating scientifically peer reviewed detail how each degree celsius of global climate warming, up to six, brought about by our consumption of fossil fuels, can be expected to adversely affect agriculture and eco-systems. it didn't really need to go past 6 since at that point nthe will be very much in play, if not sooner. UNDER A GREEN SKY is a more comprehensive look at the relationship between sudden climate change and our planet's chemistry and fitness for life as we know it. it makes clear a link between it and past mass extinction events. both of these books are highly recommended.

a 2007 documentary titled   What A Way To Go: Life at the end of Empire   is exceptionally well produced, 2 hours long, featuring many prominent 'doom' authors like william catton, richard heinberg, derrick jensen, richard manning, and daniel quinn. it's on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2em1x2j9-o

The United States, Cuba, And This Thing Called Democracy

more wit and wisdom from the late great william blum:

https://williamblum.org/essays/read/the-united-states-cuba-and-this-thing-called-democracy

William Blum

i just used this blog's search engine to search for william blum and was surprised to discover i've yet to mention him. i've long been acquainted with blum's great writings exposing the horrid role that american imperialism, militarism, and the cia have had in shaping our modern dystopian world (subverting democracy while claiming to support it, sponsoring countless political assassinations and coups around the world in favor of oligarchy and brutal right wing dictatorships and against progressive populism or socialism), and have certainly written about it previously in other venues, but it's been less than 3 years since i started dystopian and doomed, and apparently this will be my first mention of blum's work here.

anyway, anyone who wants to know the truth about these things should familiarize themselves with blum's books as well as his other writings and speeches. here's a sample:

https://williamblum.org/essays/read/building-a-new-world-conference-speech-radford-university

“Building A New World” conference speech, Radford University “Building A New World” conference speech, Radford University. By William Blum. What follows is the text of a speech delivered at the ”Building A New World” conference, Radford University, Virginia on May 23rd 2008. williamblum.org

note i'm pretty sure blum was being sarcastic and satirical when he offhandedly remarked that he hadn't spoken to (osama) bin laden in months, just as he was when he states further into this speech that 'george' (w. bush) (who was well known for his mangling of many words and phrases) 'almost' speaks english. also keep in mind this is from a 2008 speech, which is why it focuses a lot on the bush 43 administration and events of the first years of the 21st century in its remarks. (pasted below is the paragraph with the bin laden reference):

'A few people who called into the TV and radio programs I was on attacked me as if I and bin Laden were friends and I had asked him for the endorsement. I had to point out that he and I were not really friends; in fact, I hadn’t spoken to him in months.'

i also wish to note that as smart and extremely well informed blum generally was re. american foreign policy and propaganda, he apparently was clueless re. 9/11 truth (that it was an inside job, with the official narrative being a pack of lies, as i've mentioned previously and often in past posts, backed up by references), as evidenced by this sentence copied from the speech:

'The 9-11 hijackers, or alleged hijackers, were not a bunch of poor peasants; they were largely middle and upper class, and educated.'

Fox News For People Who Eat Organic Produce

years ago i read a fascinating book that was sort of a sideline story to the jfk assassination. it was about the life and death of mary meyer, one of jfk's lovers. according to some, she was very influential in opening his mind and heart to the idea of pursuing a path of peaceful coexistence and ending the cold war, which may well have been the precipitating factor leading to the decision by tptb that he had to go...

https://www.amazon.com/Marys-Mosaic-Conspiracy-Kennedy-Pinchot/dp/1510708928

it was from this book and other sources that i learned how 'intelligence' agencies like the cia go to great lengths to control liberals. mary meyer had been married to a prominent liberal who became a cia big shot and subsequently was very involved in the cia's efforts to control liberal thought by controlling liberal media.

this is critical to understanding how effectively propaganda is used to shape public opinion over a broad range of topics across the political spectrum, but especially regarding foreign affairs. it's critical to understanding, for example, how both american conservatives and liberals have been duped and continue to be duped over the role that the 'western' u.s. led alliance has played in the current war between russia and ukraine, and how particular countries and their leaders who are  deemed 'enemies' of this alliance have been consistently demonized by influential 'western' media for years or decades.

anyone who hasn't taken the time to deeply and independently look into certain notorious 'deep events' like the jfk assassination has virtually no idea how powerful so-called 'intelligence' agencies like the cia have become, nor how ruthlessly violent and deceitful they are, or the very chilling effect they have had on our supposedly 'free press'.

caitlin johnstone recently published a very good article related to this topic, focusing on one particularly very influential 'western' liberal newspaper, THE GUARDIAN. the last couple of paragraphs are especially cogent, closing with a zinger of a one liner which i used for the title of this post. her article also cited as a reference an article from another independent media source which has never grown influential enough to have been subjected to the chilling effect of 'intelligence' agency attention, and thus is still free to publish the truth, in this particular case regarding how THE GUARDIAN was 'neutralized' after it had begun publishing disturbing revelations from wikileaks.

https://declassifieduk.org/how-the-uk-security-services-neutralised-the-countrys-leading-liberal-newspaper/

https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2022/06/19/the-guardian-churns-out-embarrassingly-awful-empire-propaganda/