Class Warfare 101

The more I study the actual history of U.S. politics and policies, the angrier I am becoming. This is, indeed, a class war and it’s been going on for decades right under our noses. Our politicians are bought and paid for, every sector of decision-making in government is controlled. Our media is owned by huge corporations, either directly or indirectly through conglomerations of smaller corporations and subsidiaries. The market is advertisers — that is, other businesses. The product is audiences, fairly wealthy audiences. The goal: to keep the other 80% of the population confused, bewildered, and powerless to change anything. In fact, it’s desirable to keep us uninformed because if enough of us knew what was really going on, we might actually be able to band together and make significant changes in the system, which these rich folks don’t want to have happen.

The media is only one part of the system, other parts are journals of opinion, the schools and universities, academic scholarship (including research grants and awards), etc. The entire system, what Chomsky refers to as the “doctrinal system,” is designed to keep corporations profitting at the expense of the poor. Popular movements, such as feminism, civil rights, human rights, the peace movement, the environment, etc. are pretty much the only evidence that the 80% majority of the population has any influence in what occurs in the world.

Free trade is fine for economics departments and newspaper editorials, but nobody in the corporate world or the government takes the doctrine seriously. The only part of the US economy that can compete globally is that which is subsidized by the public — agriculture, pharmaceuticals, high tech, biotechnology, nanotechnology, etc. The US government has the public pay for research and development and provides, largely through the military, a state-guaranteed market for waste production. If something is marketable, the private sector takes it over. That system of public subsidy and private profit is what is called free enterprise. The real threat to this system is not terrorism (as defined by the State) or even the black market. The real threat to it is the worker and any union-based resistance with radical democratic ideals, and the political power and appeal of local populist parties. The last thing this system wants to see happen is real democracy forming from the lowest classes of society.

Want a real education about all of this? Read Chomsky.