Corporate America, Calling the Tune of Mass Culture (by Philip Kennicott)

[Amy-Lee]

Thanks TankGirl!

Shows that "folk culture" isn't just a silly ideal after all

I couldn't think a better way of expressing what I wanted to say than Stuart Wilde has in his book "Whispering Winds of Change".

Not Napster related, but not far off the point, I think:

"Have you ever asked yourself the question, "Why are our governments so obsessed with controlling every minute aspect of people's lives?" The answer is, in part, that it makes them more godlike and as a result more secure. The more control it exercised, the more it can rise above the herd.

So then you might ask, "Given that the world is becoming less and less secure, and given that the control and interference of governments has brought nations to their knees, will those governments now realize that control is folly?" Answer: No. Not voluntarily, they won't." The more unsettled things become, the more insecure people in power will feel, so the more they will seek absolute control.

On the surface it seems there is no way to break the power of the megapolitical monopolies or the control of money and information which governments and the status quo enjoy.

But all extremes of power expressed through ego eventually destroy themselves. When a political or social system enjoys unbridled power there's no realistic check to the limit of that power.

As people grow and become more courageous, they will pull away from the government nipple that controls them. They will want their freedom and spiritual birthright more than any pittance offered for their allegiance by the controllers of Animal Farm. People will burn with desire to fulfill themselves.

Unfortunately, the process whereby the ego gives up control to the spirit usually takes place only through collapse. It's almost impossible for the ego to release its grip voluntarily. It will take a crisis to shrink the world ego to the point where the spirit can begin to win back control.

Our Western institutions will also come under an ever increasing pressure to change their ways. Many of them are still based in the remnants of the old fuedal system, in which ordinary people are just expendable cogs in the wheel. As people power gains strength, our institutions will have to embrace a new ideology. Of course, the corruption and mismanagement of many of our institutions is so endemic many of them will not see the changes coming, and they will collapse."

[Cash--]

Excellent post..

Ausgezeichneter Pfosten habe ich viel Fussel in meinem Nabel!

[greedy_lars]

im with wallberg, i like the story, but from the title i was expecting more. as the world gets better connected, and the corporate spin masters perfect advertising, its not real hard to see who is in control. its all about money, always was, but between electronics and years of practice, its a science now, the science of guiding the masses, the sheep.

i hate television, i never watch it anymore, cause im so sick of how it portrays american culture, how it guides it. the culture of the television is shallow, and comerical, and what ever the masses want, (jerry springer) and its devoid of real substance. its there to sell a product, or several products, by whatever means they can think of next. thats not to say i wouldent watch nova or frontline on pbs if i thought about it, and i watch movies. but screw the tv. as far as 'corporate america' is concerned, or the gov for that matter, i really enjoyed reading...

http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/sam/sam-contents.html


be irie people

[TankGirl]

This thread sort of felt at home in here...

- tg

[HellBound]

Originally posted by aaacbada
the thing that really bugs me about this whole p2p sharing system is how the media (at least of what I've seen) never seems to share what napster has to say back to the recording industry about this whole ordeal. the media always seems to cover what the recording industry is charging against napster, but doesn't give any attention to how napster is responding to the pressure. napster and other programs are trying their best to please both customers and the artists but the media doesn't always show this, so I think some people get the wrong picture of napster.

anyway that's my 2 cents for this thread. this is probably one of the longest replies i have typed .

I know i pasted this on malk's thread...but aaacbada brought up the media angle again and i thought in case someone missed it..i would paste it again.

"Right now, the "voice of the people" is assumed to be the news media. American media is corporate -- that is, all major organs of media are corporations, without exception. Corporations, as seen above, will always privilege capital over all else, since it is the only way they can continue to exist. Therefore, media is in fact not the voice of the people at all, but the voice of corporate reality. Corporate media speaks to you, not for you, and cannot be trusted to reflect the views of humans. Instead, it is the organ with which corporations will continue to recreate the reality that allows them to exist at our expense.

This, finally, is why community matters. The only potential way out of this mousetrap we've created for ourselves is to actually speak directly to each other. Town meetings, open hearings, internet communities, places where people may actually speak as human individuals to other human individuals; these are the only places that we may examine what we have decided will be our reality, and the only places we may possibly decide to change that reality. "

HellBound

I was too tired last night to go through the whole board looking for things to bump. I went to page 17 (of 24) and that was it. I'm glad this was found and brought to this section. I didn't arrive here until three days after everything started, so I never saw this thread. It's a goodie, though.