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The Secret Veil of Democracy Through Media in a Free Society
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by aurealeus | December 6, 2009 at 07:49 am
580 views | 35 Recommendations | 19 comments
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Many forget, it was early evening when a small group of about 200 men, some disguised as Indians, assembled on a nearby hill. Whopping war chants, the crowd marched two-by-two to the wharf, descended upon three ships and dumped cargos of tea into the harbor waters of Boston as protest against taxes they considered unjustified.
Most colonists applauded the action while the reaction in London was swift and vehement. In March 1774 Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts which among other measures closed the Port of Boston… this protest lit the fuse that eventually led directly to the revolutionary explosion of American independence and democracy.
The tax that the colonists refused to pay was a tax on tea due to the "Tea Act," an act of Parliament that attempted to expand the East India Tea Co. monopoly on the tea trade with the colonies. Colonists were opposed the Act, because it appeared to support the last remaining duty imposed by the despised tea-tax of the Townshend Acts of 1767. This became known as "The Boston Tea Party". The colonists would no longer tolerate government taxation without representation, unwarranted search and seizure, occupation and brutality by a foreign army, and other atrocious acts like the Boston Massacre where British soldiers fired upon and killed many citizens. This is what ultimately led the colonists to declare their independence from England, resulting in what is known as the American Revolution.
Since that time, there has been a gradual dumbing-down of America. Mainly due to a controlled political and education system that is supported and reinforced by a corporate controlled media, all controlled by the same people to avoid informing the public by teaching the truth to push special interest legislation through over the needs and will of the people. This can no longer be allowed to continue.
People were better informed when news media was locally controlled and community-run. As media technology advanced and the bottom line became prime, small community news outlets were swallowed up by centralized media giants who care not about providing the type of news stories or information that supports an informed public.
The reluctance of government and corporately sponsored educational systems also contributes to this phenomenon. These deficiencies within communities allow government to effectively work in secrecy in opposition to majority interests through devious usurpation of important news and information that rightfully belongs in the public domain, further disabling enlightenment and better informed decision making towards known issues that adversely affect mass-populations.
Due to current events, citizens nationwide are finally beginning to awaken through a renewed zeitgeist in America through what has become to be known as modern day "Tea-Parties'. This will soon coalesce, leading to a more unified movement and unambiguous agenda while forcing government redresses according to the will of the people.
The Tea Party protests, in their current form, began in early 2009 when Rick Santelli, the On Air Editor for CNBC, set out on a rant to expose the bankrupt liberal agenda of the White House Administration and Congress. Specifically, the flawed “Stimulus Bill” and pork filled budget.
During Rick’s rant, he called for a “Chicago tea Party” where advocates of the free-market system could join in a protest against out of control government spending. A few days later, grassroots activists and average Joe Americans began organizing what would soon become a nationwide Tea Party effort.
On February 27 2009, an estimated 30,000 Americans took to the street in 40+ cities accross the country in the first nationwide “Tea Party” protest. Since that time, many more Tea Parties have been held, including demonstrations to End the Federal Reserve System with legislation currently pending to Audit the FED.
There have been those throughout American history as well as many today who have articulated unambiguous views with clear cut plans that have not been just simple ideologies but yet, go mostly ignored. Not entirely by the public mind you, but by the media that the public relies for information.
Present day issues such as "taxation, macro economics, constitutional law, foreign policy, or the ins and out of international diplomacy" and systemic problems need not be looked upon as the only underlying barriers and it should not be misconstrued that democracy has become too hard or that people are incapable of understanding, in fact, the evidence supporting the desire for enlightenment proves this not to be true.
The American political system, whether challenged intellectually or otherwise, has the ability to correct itself where True-democracy exists. It is only when its citizens become deceived through the veil of national or globally corporate sponsored government secrecy and propagated misinformation leading to complacency that democracy fails.
President John F. Kennedy, in his address before the American Newspaper Publishers Association, held in New York City, April 27, 1961, warned;
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aurealeus
BeanTown, to Florida, United States
Recommendations (35)
Rhonda J Mangus
North Tonawanda, New York, United States
Frank Liao
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Hugh Askew
Omaha, Nebraska, United StatesAnonymous user
Spydermonkey
huntsville, Alabama, United States
Babel-Fish
Negros Oriental, Philippines
YankeeJim
Arlington, Virginia, United Statesa211423
Clearlake, California, United States
Susan Marie Kovalinsky
Ledgewood, New Jersey, United States
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (19)
at 08:01 on December 6th, 2009
Not sure if America wants liberty any more. I doubt little that given their choice between liberty, or their agendas, many. many Americans would choose their agenda. Don't have to look far to see the endless parade of of voices shouting down and marginalizing those that disagree theirs.
at 09:01 on December 6th, 2009
I understand Hugh and unfortunately, sadly and reluctantly agree. We have become a nation of sheep being led to the slaughter house. It regards, it would be most prudent to bear in mind, the words of two of our most prominent founding fathers who stated it best;
"... God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty.... And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance?" Thomas Jefferson
“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Benjamin Franklin
at 11:06 on December 6th, 2009
".....And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance?"
best to whisper that...sounds horribly un-American.
at 11:31 on December 6th, 2009
Questioning government is the most American thing a citizen can do.
...is that whispered soft enough? ; )
at 14:01 on December 6th, 2009
And a return to regionalism and localism and forget the big nationalistic globalism
at 14:24 on December 6th, 2009
People were better informed when news media was locally controlled and community-run.
While I see your point aurealeus, I think people were better informed when they could read and the information disseminated could be above the sixth grade. I know the media machine is controlled by a few, but its also our responsibility to seek out the information and make sure reporting is substantiated and comfirmed from original sources.
I don't agree with the tea partie agenda, but I do support their right to assemble and march with a permit and to attend rallies unarmed. No, I am not against gun ownership, but wearing a gun to political rally is inappropriate the same as it was for the man who wanted to test the system and take a gun into a community center.
I agree, we need to question the government, and the way to start is through re-evaluating campaign financing. If legislators were limited in amounts and from whom they can receive campaign funds, you're right, the system will correct itself.
at 15:50 on December 6th, 2009
I'm not quite sure what you mean by "when they could read and the information disseminated could be above the sixth grade" but as for the corporate media machine, this is a relatively recent phenomenon, only developing within the past generation or so.
What is also a relatively recent phenomenon is the large availability of alternative media, mainly due to the explosion of the internet. It wasn't all that long ago when many of us living today were listening to AM Radio, reading metropolitan and local newspapers and (here's the best part) aside from public broadcasting, there were only three commercial television stations. There was no digital, satellite, cable or any other electronic media as it exists today.
As an example, I am a graphic artist and signmaker and less than ten years ago, I was still creating graphics and signs by hand. Today, there is very little need for hand-drawn art (except for in the fine arts) because all graphics today are produced digitally. We've come a long way in a very short amount of time.
Unfortunately, the problems have been around for a long time and increasingly growing. I believe, had we had the abovementioned technological resources throughout the last century, we would not be facing the sort of crisis’s we do today because citizens WOULD have been better informed.
The man who carried a pistol into a West Seattle community center to protest Seattle's new ban on guns in public spaces was a separate event and didn't happen at a tea party rally and had nothing to do with this group.
The Tea Party agenda is all about restoring rights that have been diluted and trampled upon by the banks, corporations and big government over the years. Campaign financing is one of them including the right to assemble WITHOUT A PERMIT... amongst a host of others. There is nothing in the Bill of Rights that says a permit is required to excersise this right. You might want to check out the "Tea-Party" and related platforms. I don't think they would be too far off from your own beliefs when it comes down to controlling big government and our constitutional rights.
at 16:05 on December 6th, 2009
In response to my comment below, you asked what I meant.
Sometimes I am a bit cryptic and oblique, because I am too tired for a weighty debate.
I think that there are plenty of legitimate issues for Americans to address in the form of public protests under such themes as: 1) war is not the answer, 2) government work will not grow the economy, 3) free enterprise is the answer, 4) affordable healthcare for all Americans through private enterprise is the answer, 5) separation between church and state, 6) civil partnerships for all and marriage for those who want the personal option, 7) tolerance and respect for diversity in American society, 8) investment in children and education before criminals, etc.
If you want to have a tea party to support these issues, count me in.
at 17:46 on December 6th, 2009
I suppose what puzzles me in regards to your recent comment shown above and as shown in Hugh's comment bellow, is what your point was where you said...
"Differences between the two situations are vast." ........How so?
at 09:09 on December 7th, 2009
I'm replying to my own comment because after re-reading it in response to the comments made by a211423, the thought of having to apply for a PERMIT for the RIGHT to petition governement is one of the most common violations of our constitutional and fundamental rights that really irks me to the bone.
Where in the Frst Amendment does is say a permit shall be required for people to peaceably assemble? Will somebody please show me?
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." First Amendment to the Constitution
at 15:55 on December 6th, 2009
Colonists rejected the British imposed tax and the colonists rejected British rule.
Americans who reject government policy have the right to vote for their leaders, and they can express their disapproval for government policy in public forums of a variety of types.
Differences between the two situations are vast.
at 16:00 on December 6th, 2009
I think TJ would differ on that, mere speculation of course, but he certainly wrote differently.
at 16:04 on December 6th, 2009
Mass indoctrination shifted from the house of prayer into a new world of politics and now both religious and political bodies use the media as a tool for indoctrination. It's now broadcast into a citizens home.
The internet has become a political and religious tool as well. However there are many forms of indoctrination religious and political. Everybody is indoctrinated in some form and some way, thankfully there are people that have a free thinking minds.
I like to think I am one of them.
at 16:07 on December 6th, 2009
My comment about reading levels was in response your statement below. Additionally, you don't have look further than advertising to gage not only reading level, but also attention spans. The corporate control of the media can share in the demise of education, but I think its our systems of legislation that have eroded education standards by underfunding, for example, increasing class sizes and keeping teacher salaries low in comparison with other professional salaries with equivalent education. With the the influences lobbiest and corporations have over legislators due to campaign financing, there will be no change. Remove this, and legislators will be working for their constituency, not for pay backs or financing for their next election. The election and re-election system is flawed, but we can change it if enough people have the political will to do it.
Since that time, there has been a gradual dumbing-down of America. Mainly due to a controlled political and education system that is supported and reinforced by a corporate controlled media,
I only made the allusion to the Seattle man as a comparison to illustrate further an inappropriate carry. I know it was not related to tea party events.
The Tea Party agenda is all about restoring rights that have been diluted and trampled upon by the banks, corporations and big government over the years.
The corporations can only be controlled by government. Deregulation got us into this economic mess, and government reinstituted regulations will have to get us out. I'm sorry but I don't see how libertarian idology is going to create jobs and provide for the poor. Libertarians are huge on a message, but short on realistic delivery methods to secure health care for all and other basic social needs or partner globally as the worlds' issues become our own.
Yes, I believe in the Constitution that created this Republic. I do not believe it created a Libertarian State's Rights, Jeffersonian aggrarian society where everyone is a farmer, and their state exists in a vacuum apart from national and international concerns. I believe that mind set is outgrown, backward and antiquated. Tea party agenda has little to do with my core beliefs.
at 17:31 on December 6th, 2009
Thank you A... now I understand. Actually my comment regarding "dumbing down" had nothing to do with reading levels or education for that matter. It was meant to be taken in a pejorative sense where most of the airwaves and print in media today, are deliberately jammed with useless entertainment and opinions of biased talking heads that cram misinformation into the public psyche or avoid important issues completely. Advertising is a whole other philosophy completely and has no bearing on educational or reading levels since the advertiser is limited to time and space in that regard.
The Public Education System in America is a joke and so are many of our legislators, in my opinion. Career politicians have done nothing but to send our nation plummeting to ruin by favoring corporate and special interest lobbying, while keeping the public appeased (dumbed-down) with the crumbs of their tax dollars. Funds that should (have) be utilized for public use, more times than not, are misappropriated for other use and personal gain. I would like to see Public financing of campaigns that allow for equal time and exposure of all candidates platforms opposed to that of just the popular and corporate funded Republicratic campaigns that exist today.
"The corporations can only be controlled by government." I disagree and believe it is the other way around as shown in your comment, "With the influences lobbyist and corporations have over legislators due to campaign financing,..."
Deregulation didn't get us into this economic mess, crooked investors and bankers did while our elected officials looked the other way. Our lawmakers could have stopped it if they wanted to but why would they? They were profitting also. It's greed, pure and simple... that got us into this mess.
It's not the job of government to create jobs and provide for the poor. It's up to business to create jobs so the poor can accumulate wealth and provide for themselves. But when traitorous corporations move our jobs offshore and our government allows this to happen, it is the American taxpayer who has to provide the bailouts and we all suffer no matter each personal political beliefs.
The problems we face today are not because of Libertarian ideology but are the result of over a century of Democratic and Republican dumbed-down ideologies. This cannot be denied. Maybe if there had been third party candidates elected over all these years, things might have been different. But we haven't and they're not. If we stay on the present path, I think we will all be living in antiquity... except there won't be any more farms. They were all scooped up years ago by Cousin Farmer with the help of (rather, lack of ) Big Brother.
at 17:43 on December 6th, 2009
Here it is deregulation, and yes the crooks took over because they didn't have the Glass-Steagal Act of 1933 anymore.
An agreement between the Clinton administration and congressional Republicans, reached during all-night negotiations which concluded in the early hours of October 22, sets the stage for passage of the most sweeping banking deregulation bill in American history, lifting virtually all restraints on the operation of the giant monopolies which dominate the financial system.
The proposed Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999 would do away with restrictions on the integration of banking, insurance and stock trading imposed by the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, one of the central pillars of Roosevelt's New Deal. Under the old law, banks, brokerages and insurance companies were effectively barred from entering each others' industries, and investment banking and commercial banking were separated.
The certain result of repeal of Glass-Steagall will be a wave of mergers surpassing even the colossal combinations of the past several years. The Wall Street Journal wrote, "With the stroke of the president's pen, investment firms like Merrill Lynch & Co. and banks like Bank of America Corp., are expected to be on the prowl for acquisitions."
It's up to business to create jobs so the poor can accumulate wealth and provide for themselves. Do you really believe business cares whether poor people make a living wage? Look how difficult it is just to raise the minimum wage, and who usually opposes raising it? (It's too late today, or I would get the voting record on the last time it was voted on.) Those who are enstrusted by corporations to make sure Americans stay in low paying, subsistance work. I was poor for years, and accumulating wealth wasn't something I thought about as I survived from paycheck to paycheck.
I am most certainly NOT blaming the Libertarians, but I don't see their idology being a solution either. Yikes, here we go with third parties. A while back I posted all the third parties. I think there are about 50-75. Even nine communist. Third parties are not a solution; at least they have not proven to be so.
aurealus, I don't think we will be living in antiquity although it does have some appeal to me. : ) I rather liked the language of the 18th and 19th century when people had a vocabulary and letter writing was fashionable. But I am a Romantic in this sense.
I do support small farms and farmers, even though I realize we need government. I see a rejuvenation of small farms together with green movements that support local agriculture.
at 19:41 on December 6th, 2009
Sure, Glass-Steagal is a major contributing factor but so isn't the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 and the Fourteenth Amendment which preceded it. May I suggest that you read the story linked-in my previous comment? I think you might come away with a different outlook where corporations and government vs. citizens rights and social problems are concerned.
We can agree to disagree where I contend it is not up to government to provide jobs. I believe it is the duty of government to insure that workers are treated fairly, such as in the matter of poverty wages, et, al but that is all. Government cannot generate it's own income and therefore cannot create jobs outside the public sector because it is not a business. It's revenues come from taxes paid by the people and therefore, is limited on what it can and cannot do.
I'm also not saying that third party candidates are the solution or that ALL third party candidates campaigns should be government funded. Only that there should be equitable inclusion for the front-runners for the injection of alternative ideas and/or solutions that might effect more positive change, eliminate special interest lobbying and keep in check, the status-quo. Term limits and other restraints might also be relatively expeditious.
Oh give me a home,.......... ............where... the skys are not cloudy all day.
at 20:08 on December 6th, 2009
I used to favor term limits, but now I don't. It takes a long time to follow through on some legislation, and one doesnt go to Washington and get assigned to communities and chair positions initially. Those are earned and an incentive to prove value and worth.
Yes, I agree to disagree with you in the spirit of meaningful debate.
at 21:22 on December 6th, 2009
I've gone back and forth myself, a couple of times... but now back to term limits because I realize the career politician has not done much to help our nation's problems but instead, have hindered real progress as shown by current events... i.e., war, economics, etc., etc. and have tired of good 'ol boy politics as usual that allows them to buddy-up over time with corporate and foreign leaders, usually it seems, to the detriment of the public's needs.
If our elected officials had more time to spend on the people's business and less on special interest influences, I think legislation might flow much more quickly. Four, six or eight years in total should be sufficient for most legislation to be passed and at the same time, allow for others who want to serve their country without monopolization by career politicians who's main focus seems to be to use and abuse the system. Just my opinion.