Political Economy of the Mass Media - Stupid Man

Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media is a book published by Noam Chomsky together with Edward Herman in New York by Pantheon Books in 1988.

Noam Chomsky, author of 112 books to May 2012 (chomsky.info/books.htm), is well regarded as distinguished linguist, political critic, historian, cognitive scientist, logician and activist. He is also regarded as one of the greater if not greatest intellects of today.

 
A video of the lecture at the University of Wisconsin in 1989 on the above mentioned topic is available for viewing on youtube in two parts of approximately 1.5hrs and 1.25 hrs.

There are many topics covered in the lecture of which the focus of this article will be on the beginning of the first part.

AS described in the lecture, the rulers of society be it governments, corporate conglomerates, the global financial elite or industrialists, see society as ‘stupid man’.

The cannon fodder is led down a very narrow path of financial oppression and must be “subservient to civil rule”.

The ‘shapers’ of society, be it law makers, judges, lawyers or theologians have the view that man(kind) is stupid and the herd needs to be led.

Reinhold Niebuhr (picture below) (1892-1971) is known to have remarked:

“The stupidity of the average man, he follows not reason but faith and his naïve faith requires that necessary illusions be developed, emotionally potent oversimplifications have to be provided by the myth makers to keep the ordinary person on course”, referring to “because of the stupidity of the average man”.

Faith is based not upon fact but myth; quite simply put a misrepresentation or non existence of events or scenario. Religious leaders are fully aware of the naivety of ‘stupid man’ and exploit this fact.

A United Kingdom lawyer, Clement Walker (died 1651) with reference to people who printed leaflets and pamphlets exposing government lies, is known to have said:

 “ .. having an extremely dangerous effect, revealing the mysteries of government, it will make people so curious and so arrogant that they will never find humility enough to submit to a civil rule, and that is a problem”.

“Stupid man” or the plebs, must submit to a civil rule by creating the necessary illusion, so that ordinary person will remain on course (on the path of slavery to the system).

These views and opinions, which are held by the ruling elite, have been brought from the United Kingdom in order to set up Australia as a ‘prison isle’ not just by the deportation of ‘convicts’ (people who stole bread to survive because of government created poverty), but also in the shaping of the newly formed society.

Today we can see how the ‘sheeple’ are treated by politicians, in the example of Julia Gillard how she speaks in a slow and simply insulting derogatory manner at (and not to) the general population explaining policies and agendas.

Discrimination, racism, financial oppression exudes from behind the doors of authority, strictly hidden from public view.