Controlling how people think.

[Fivetide]

LOL - I'm more of a democrat when it comes to language. When a term gets taken on in wider society it does get used more broadly, but (and yes, I'm seeing this is an agree to disagree moment!) I'd be loathe to say it was dumbing down. I believe most people are mostly pretty smart. If a word or phrase moves from its original meaning which was used in a small group of people, and takes on a broader more general (or more flexible) meaning as more and more people use it in their own day to day language, that's the creativity of people at work. And we're all enriched by it.

 

(I'm loathe to admit this but ... after all that it still sets my teeth on edge whenever I hear someone say 'evolved' when I think they mean 'developed' ... hehe ... )

 

As for the results - ah - again we disagree but not on the outcomes, just the reasons for it. The social development of words and meanings is just part of the natural processes and doesn't affect the overall 'intelligence' of the competing narratives. But the setting up of false dichotomies, skewed perceptions and such for my money is the result of the deliberate manipulation of language by idealogical forces which control the media and actively seek to destroy informed debate. For me.

Edited January 31, 2013 by Fivetide

[epiphany]

But the setting up of false dichotomies, skewed perceptions and such for my money is the result of the deliberate manipulation of language by idealogical forces which control the media and actively seek to destroy informed debate. For me.

 

This we agree on. I actually think the overly-flexible use of key terms that define the reality and potential of our political and economic systems has arisen from the institutions that benefit from a marginalised, dumbed down and fragmented public.

 

The "founding father" of public relations had something very similar to say about the public's role (or lack thereof) in shaping society. In short, propaganda (which is now called "PR") and dumbing down is essential to keep the public as spectators rather than participators in democratic societies.

Edited January 31, 2013 by epiphany

[Fivetide]

This we agree on. I actually think the overly-flexible use of key terms that define the reality and potential of our political and economic systems has arisen from the institutions that benefit from a marginalised, dumbed down and fragmented public.

 

The "founding father" of public relations had something very similar to say about the public's role (or lack thereof) in shaping society. In short, propaganda (which is now called "PR") and dumbing down is essential to keep the public as spectators rather than participators in democratic societies.

 

Lmao - I agree with every word. Good point, well made!

[Cyclone]

Society. For example, there was general public unhappiness when energy firms were seen taking more than 10% of their revenues as profit.

 

The 'free market' has become a smoke-screen to hide exploitation. As such it might be time to curb such behaviour through regulation.

 

The market should stop that happening, and when it doesn't the OFT is the representative for society. I'm not saying it works perfectly now, but that's the theory.

[stingray-man]

This is done by telling a story, or mentioning an incident, but laced with hidden ingredients, a bias, a prejudice littered with forgone conclusions, facts mixed with specific opinions.

 

So once for instance there were three classes Upper, middle and lower, simple and straightforward and each gave an indication as to educational, skills, job and wage levels. So the middle looked sown on the lower and up to the upper, with lower normally not giving a toss about either, and at best disliking both.

 

But this class simple to understand class system bonded masses of peoples together, in the middle and working class. Thatcher encouraged the working class to migrate to the middle classes, through changing their value system, mainly through selling them shares and selling off council houses, while smashing up the unions. So the working class became divided, and as manufacturing and mining were destroyed the working class became the unemployed, the looking for work

, scroungers, cheats, lazy, spongers, working poor, deserving poor and so on. The fact the government created unemployment through businesses relying on manufacturing and mining going out of business was never discussed. We suddenly had millions of parasites, with no future for them their families, as 120 thousand families lost their homes a year, as a result of unemployment, which was none of their fault.

 

So since then we have a parasitic class, swelled by the inclusion of the deserving and undeserving poor, the lazy disabled, workshy sick, who we all have learned to loath and hate. These groups, although single mothers wanting council homes have disappeared for the moment, we are reminded over and over again, are ruining everyone’s life. As for the sick, they are being divided into the obese, smokers, drinkers and others who have made themselves ill, and questions regarding their suitability for NHS treatment are periodically discussed.

 

So slowly we are discovering who to loathe, who to revile, led by politicians on the make, and their lapdogs a compliant media. We are constantly fed stories to create prejudices, and to point us in the direction who to vilify, this week. We do not have to think anymore, its all done for us by other people.

 

So targeting scapegoats, blaming foreigners, Muslims, the unemployed, the sick, disables, and the rest allows people to choose the flavour of the week to blame for current ills. But all of this is a smokescreen, a clever ploy to take people gaze from what policy makers, corporations and banks the puppet masters who regulate all the money the rest of us get. So Muslim are fed pork, and we all are fed horse and donkey meat, various chemicals, as its all about corporate profits, and sod the rest. Meanwhile the war industry is booming, as military adventures are ongoing, as being a client state of the USA finds us fighting anyone that will not allow our corporations to plunder resources they need. Liberating people from certain dictatorships, using depleted uranium, contaminating their land for hundreds of years, while the media informs us that these foreigners are all terrorists and deserve liberating into environmental, economic and social chaos. We consume these distortions of reality like its mother’s milk, which help turn us all into the mean, selfish idiots, easily persuaded to swallow any official lie, all for the benefit of corporate profits.

 

 

 

You watch way too much month python.....

 

---------- Post added 03-02-2013 at 09:48 ----------

 

It seems to have worked some magic on you.

 

 

Hasn't it lmao, I bet Erebus actually glows green with envy