Journalist, author and filmmaker John Pilger, who has spent decades studying governments’ nefariousness, tells Katie Halper how to spot propaganda.
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Volume 29, Number 341— Monday, December 2, 2024
It also represents the TOTAL INCOMPETENCE of EU POLITICIANS & Brussel in particular! GET elected & then get SLEEPING RICH = EU RULE
Where to begin with this comment! None of the products from these countries dominating the markets are the fault of the countries. It was the lie of globalization, destruction of regulations preventing monopolies from forming, the lie that we had to ship our manufacturing to third world countries due to competition lie that started this destructive ball rolling. It was Democrats and Republicans equally complicit in this. Not a mistake but part of a long-term plan. A coup took place when Kennedy was murdered by the state, I remember the world changed just after. We have been brainwashed into thinking uncritically of what we are told, taught in fact critical thought is the national deficit which is obvious in some comments. You have been given a single puzzle piece and left to figure out what the entire picture is. So simple explanations are given as cause instead of the entire history of a subject. If we had not stopped protecting our manufacturing with tariffs that allowed foreign goods to compete, we would not have been led into the lie of competition where American goods were more expensive and could not compete, and so we had to send the jobs out to practically slave labor countries. Supposedly so that the goods we used to make would be cheaper here, right? Did this happen? No, it did not! So, it was and is a lie but why? What was the motive for this blunder? It was not a blunder it was a plan! I will explain it and see if you will actually do the reading that will show you the light. Book one is The Modern Anglo-Dutch Empire, Its origins, Evolution, and Antihuman Outlook. The elite of the world have been planning this for centuries and they play the long game like the Tortice and the Hare. They are the Tortice in this drama. Eugenics is the plan, and it is the destruction of most of the population on this planet. No, you say! This is just conspiracy theory! I know why you would think this way because they programed you to think this way. Time to red pill and wake up from the matrix. If you think you live in a Democracy with representative government then you are truly asleep. How much better is life now than it was fifty years ago? oh yes you have your amazing phone to keep you entertained but how about generally? Not so great right. So, if everything they have foisted on us was supposed to make life better, what happened. Read the book and one other by Eustice Mullins, Murder by injection. Just the two and see if your mind is not expanded. Or do not and remain in denial. Denial is not a river in Africa. Do not blame a Chinese immigrant or a Russian immigrant or any at all, just ask yourself how they became immigrants in the first place! How your job has been offshored by the technology that lets someone in another country do the job you used to do. Electronics has enabled this to happen. Globalization has allowed this to happen. Not coincidence, but part of a plan that you cannot see because you have a single puzzle piece. Corporations are not people and money is not speech and yet it is now! George Carlin called it when he stated that your choices are paper or plastic, take it or leave it. Your representative does not represent you; they represent corporations. Just send your Rep. an e-mail with a serious question and wait for an answer! Never comes because they do not care about your interests or concerns unless you are a financial doner. Don’t believe it is true? Still believe the two parties have different interests. Still believe your vote counts for anything. Democrat or Republican is the same as paper or plastic take it or leave it.
Not only that, but in Pilger’s documentary “The Coming War on China” He takes a look at what we had done to the people living on the Marshall Islands, once we tested our bombs, we moved the people back and told them it was safe – when indeed, it very much wasn’t. We did it to monitor the effects on the local population. It’s a very good look at how for all our claims to be a force for good, we’re ghoulish when it suits us.
As Pogo said “we have met the enemy and he is us”.
Pilger too uses “the invasion” of Ukraine (circa minute 18), but cautiously, accompanies it with a “but”; plus speaks of the entirely “unprovoked invasion” vs the “provoked invasion.” I argue use of this term is in itself “propaganda” and has been echoed by numerous commentators writing or speaking for CN. This language is also to be found in RFK jr’s current campaign statement, taken to an even further extreme as “brutal invasion.”
With all due respect to these persons using the “invasion” term and roundly condemning it, why is not assault on the Donbass region from Ukraine forces, leading we are told to some 14,000 deaths over a period of years, not also called “invasion” and “brutal invasion.”
My point is this is sloppy use of language that over-simplifies, that evades, and that works to create a misimpression of the events factually. Use of this term “invasion” (even here with Pilger) deserves discussion and resolution to more precise language for this event. “Invasion” is inadequate and misleading to the context involved with this war.
beautiful, TQ
I really appreciated the distinction that Katie and John made between impartiality and objectivity. These concepts are crucial for understanding the process of seeking truth through investigation and reporting. In reality there is a thin dividing line between impartiality and objectivity, with the one state often morphing into the other. The fundamental point is that objective truth is socially constructed, and to comprehend it requires an open process of debate in a freedom of speech context, where all views (short of incitement to war or violence against others holding contrary viewpoints because they hold these viewpoints) have a right to be heard. I try to explore objective truth in respect of the meaning of Zionism, antisemitism, and being-Jewish though my articles on the Medium platform.
I am a media professional with a strong background in PR…which is a term Bernays coined to replace propaganda. Propaganda has always existed. But media propaganda did not until the advent of universal literacy and …yes…the “mass media” – wide circulation newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, film and later the Internet. Universal literacy was made possible only by universal education, which was in itself method of propaganda, to create a docile citizenry, with the right beliefs and a respect for authority. The ideal was to create citizens with “minds fit to rule”. But that was propaganda too. The reality was the creation of citizens with minds willing to serve believing that they are free when they are not.
Arendt wrote that the banality of evil lies in the failure to think. Literacy was used to subvert thinking.
Propaganda hardly needs to be “identified” since it is ubiquitous. You will notice, however, that is usually consistent, ignoring contradictions usually through omission. So the Media ignore Seymour Hersh on Nordstream; ignore all the evidence on the chemical attack in Syria; ignore the evidence of Nazi atrocities in Ukraine.
I connect Bernays, propaganda on the sinking of the Moskva, and the Pentagon Leaks as well.
\
I am a media whore. This is my penance.
The reason so many on the left are pro-ukraine and anti-russia is due to trump, and the successful campaign to paint russia as pro-trump, and the further insight to craft ukraine as a victim of trump as the core of his 1st impeachment. There was alot of groundwork laid in anticipation of this conflict.
Yes, but there is no “left” in mainstream US politics, only two flavors of right-wing authoritarian, warmonger parties. (For more confirmation of this, go to politicalcompass.org)
Exactly! The sad part is, it doesn’t matter how much evidence to the contrary you provide people of this mindset, they’ve internalized the narrative and won’t part with it. They need someone to blame besides the Dems. They will seek a false sense of security wherever they can find it.
Remarkable. Amazing man.
That’s the gigantic point: Nobody wins a nuclear war. Everybody dies in a nuclear Winter.
It’s existential: life & death. Massive premature deaths.
Screw the details, focus on survival.
It gives me no pleasure to say that, based on multiple sources of information, I find Putin and Lavrov much more trustworthy than Biden and Blinken. For example, it has recently been revealed that Blinken orchestrated the US intelligence community’s made-up claim that the Hunter Biden laptop story was Russian disinformation. The Duran analysts discussed this revelation.
Ex-CIA Mike Morell reveals, Blinken behind ‘Intel officials Russia disinfo’ letter
hXXps://rumble.com/v2juf3i-ukraine-calm-before-the-storm.-eu-grain-debacle.html
Not only did Blinken’s disinformation falsely accuse Russia, but it directly injected consequential disinformation into the 2020 presidential election. In other words, Blinken did exactly what he falsely accused the Russians of doing.
According to Aljazeera (and other news sites) reporting in March 2023:
“Four new military bases to be used by United States forces deployed to the Philippines will be in scattered locations around the country, including in a province facing the flashpoint South China Sea, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has said.
The Marcos administration announced last month that it would allow rotating batches of US forces to indefinitely stay in four new Philippine military camps in addition to five local bases earlier designated under a 2014 Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).”
“Constant daily provocation of China by the US.”
Many Filipinos do not agree with the new US bases. Today, a good three-part analysis started on the manilatimes.net.
But what say do the people have really. I doubt they have a vote on it. America says “jump” and the governments say “how high”. Thanks for the info on manilatimes.
“When the truth is found
To be lies
And all the joy
Within you dies
Don’t you want somebody to love?
Don’t you need somebody to love?
Wouldn’t you love somebody to love?
You better find somebody to love
Love”
The number 5 song in America on the Pop Charts in 1967.
“Somebody to Love”, by Jefferson Airplane, on the #3 album in America, “Surrealistic Pillow”
…. It appears that in 1967, there were a lot of peple out there who saw a world ‘where the truth is found to be lies’
Surrealism repeats apparently.
I like and respect John Pilger, but it turns out I’d rather listen to Grace Slick’s voice. :)
I can’t wait to watch it. But, here’s one from my own list.
To spot Truth, look for consistency. A Liar can of course be consistent, for awhile, but this will be a tell in the longer term.
For instance, predictions should come true if the source is truthful. Not 100% accuracy like some magical Nostradamus, but by and large, if someone is speaking the truth, then they will tend to be consistent and will at least try to predict what they see as the truth that we are heading for. Remarkably, a truthful speaker will actually also admit mistakes. If a person is truthfully describing the world, then listening to them will help understand that world.
On the other hand, when the story changes constantly, when items appear in the news, then disappear after their usefulness has expired, when there is a constant rotation of stories that never last for long before replacement, and especially when these are emotionally charged stories designed more to get an emotional response from a mob than for a reasoned response from an intelligent soul …. then you are probably seeing propaganda.
Now I gotta go watch what the respected Mr. Pilger says.
Been listening to him since he was telling the stories about how the Democrats under Clinton were causing death and disease for Iraqis via sanctions …. and what he says usually points truthfully towards the future that does unfold.
My apartment building belongs to a Chinese family, a neighbor is a Chinese family of 6, grand parents, parents and children. At a nearby shopping center shoppers can be heard speaking Chinese, local schools now teach Mandarin Chinese language
My home is full of stuff made in China, half the products at a local department store is stuff from China. We should boycott all Russian stuff, books, music, athletes…. China is now in the same category?
First. for those unfamiliar in analyzing communication to discern its veracity, I wish Pilger
had been more precise. Second. His emphasis on striving to understand an event by clarifying its context, its location in a big picture, cannot be made too loudly. Third. Understanding the big picture demands an education (self or institutional) of some history, a healthy skepticism of leadership positions, a certain degree of objectivity (a cold mindedness) and the instinctual capacity to smell a rat. Given the cold bloodedness of the free market corporate obsessive intent on profit and its control of governments, then embedded in every political event is the overriding question – how does corporate stand to profit from this political stance, decision, propaganda? And whole are the ones to be damaged by this?
On the other hand, many informed people know and love John Pilger; they recognize him as a treasure of the English -speaking world and a voice of reason in a world of insanity.
Like my favorite economist, prof. Michael Hudson, John Pilger is as sharp as a razor, despite being over 80 years old. I appreciate CN posting this.
Agreed…!
Mr. Pilger hit the nail on the head when he spoke of “common sense”; we appear to be losing our instincts as well:
“The Death of Common Sense”
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.
He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
Why the early bird gets the worm;
Life isn’t always fair,
and maybe it was my fault.
Common sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults are in charge not children).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of an 8 year old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate on the cheek, teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch, and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student, but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses, and criminals received better treatment than their victims.
Common sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common sense finally gave up the will to live, after a women failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common sense was preceded in death, by
His parents, Truth and Trust
His wife, Discretion
His daughter, Responsibility
His son, Reason.
He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers
I know my rights
I want my rights
I want it now
I’m a victim.
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.
Well done Valerie! I see myself standing along the way wishing for a distant dirt road with a bird on a fence rail.
I cannot claim authorship for that Charles. I read it some time ago. Common sense is pretty much the same as logic i think.
John Pilger confirms, from his lifetime experience in journalism, an important truth about deceptive propaganda – that so much of it depends on omission. Reporting that A attacked B is misleading and deceptive, if the fact that B first attacked A is omitted from the reporting. G.K. Chesterton made a similar observation in 1909: “[News] may be so selected as to give a totally false picture of the place or topic under dispute. Tennyson put it very feebly and inadequately when he said that the blackest of all lies is the lie that is half a truth. The blackest of lies is the lie that is entirely a truth. Once give me the right to pick out anything and I shall not need to invent anything.”
The best journalism on world conflicts would have a good historical perspective. That is especially true today regarding Ukraine, as often noted by Consortium News. One of Mr. Pilger’s interviewees has George Washington saying “If you want peace, prepare for war.” That is a maxim going back to Ancient Rome, if not before. But the omitted thought, worthy of reflection, is: “If you want war, prepare for war; and if you want peace, prepare for peace.” The way you prepare for peace is by finding jobs for redundant soldiers and munition-makers.
“But the omitted thought, worthy of reflection, is: “If you want war, prepare for war; and if you want peace, prepare for peace.” The way you prepare for peace is by finding jobs for redundant soldiers and munition-makers.”
Well said Randal. There are many jobs waiting for redundant soldiers and “death-makers”.
George Washington’s actual words are worth quoting: “…if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known, that we are at all times ready for War.” (Fifth Annual Address to Congress, 1793)
The tone of that admonition appears to be one of genuine defense of an already existing peace. It is not one of actively seeking war for world-wide economic or political domination.
Those aware of Katie’s media history should agree: Kudos CN for picking up her content! Tnx
Sadly, not many people will watch or understand what has been said. Sadly.
Share it as much as possible
Speculation about a nuclear attack by China??? Risk of nuclear war and China using a nuclear weapon? One needs only to look at the USA bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to see what it would be like. No one needs to speculate or give a theoretical analysis about what and how a nuclear attack on any country would be like. Look at the reality of the bombing by the USA on millions of people.
Some people in Japan are still dying of leukemia and other cancers due to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
So I agree with John Pilger regarding the propagandizing about war and nuclear war by the press.
There have been more deformed babies born in Falujah, Iraq, as a result of USA munitions, than Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined.
And the bloody brits want to send those same depleted uranium munitions to Ukraine.