A lot of my conversations, if they turn toward politics, result in me trying to outline for someone the ways in which our media culture indoctrinates us and prevents us from getting accurate information. If they become convinced I am right — and they usually do, because they probably know it deep down to begin with — their response, inevitably is:
But how do we fix it?
Obviously, it’s a deeply rooted problem, and I don’t like to seem flippant, but the reality is that we have to spend a little time educating ourselves, and then educating each other. I responded to one such query yesterday with a link to an article, What Can We Do About the Great American Lie, by Michael Lewis. The piece briefly lays out some of the sources and reasons for the lies, and then in one swift paragraph identifies the solution: simply tell the truth and the revolution will begin. Yes, perhaps a bit of flippancy here. But he has the basic idea: whenever we encounter such a lie, why not point it out? Generally, we have no problem calling out co-workers, friends and acquaintances if we think they’re being dishonest about something, and many of us punish our children when they lie. So why is it, when the real whoppers come up in conversation, such as “The media have a liberal agenda,” or “We invaded Iraq because Saddam had WMD,” or “Allowing gay people to get married will lead to polygamy, and eventually bestiality,” why do we just clam up? It only takes a minute to point out that something might not be entirely accurate, or might indeed be a malicious lie to serve the greedy.
But when it comes to such a fundamentally dishonest government and media, how can we possibly distinguish the truth from lies??
Honestly, it isn’t that difficult. Most of the time, the truth is almost exactly the opposite of what the mainstream sources are telling us. I compared distinguishing truth from lies in American politics to doing one of those puzzles for 2-year-olds, where you have to insert the triangle shape into the triangle hole, etc. The hard part is getting people to turn off their TVs and video games long enough to even see what the fucking hole looks like.
But I personally don’t have the time to investigate every politician and issue and read the public record and read all the political blogs and figure out what it all means. I’m too busy earning a living and trying to keep the house clean and raise children. It’s a lot more complicated than a toddler’s puzzle, unless you want to make it a full-time job.
But it isn’t more complicated. OK, maybe a little bit more complicated, but not nearly as hard as the people in control want us to believe. Think about it: the liars can only benefit from our hopeless attitude that their lies are too hard to expose, and that we are impotent to change things.
Do you spend ten minutes per day, ever, or even ten minutes per week, reading a news story? Something about the state of our country, or the world? If not, then this won’t be much help. But if you do occasionally engage in the actual consumption of news, try this: read about it from a source that isn’t funded by huge corporate media, or backed by a “think tank.” That’s all anyone has to do to be mildly informed about how the world works. Alternatively, take 10 minutes a day and read Understanding Power. You’ll be done with it in two to three months, and you’ll be smarter than most people you know when it comes to picking out the bullshit. I personally guarantee that. Ten minutes per day. You can do it sitting on your ass, and you won’t even have to shower afterward, although you might feel like it.
I understand the quandary as well as anyone. Everyone is busier than ever these days, trying to survive, trying to make money, trying to do the right things for their kids, and, if they’re overachievers, for their communities. When they get a little leisure time, they don’t want to spend it figuring out how they’re getting fucked by the rich and powerful. We have to take time to unwind, or we will go nuts. We need TV, video games, recreation, relaxing time with friends, etc. I do all of those things, though somewhat less than I used to. But too many people are now doing them to the exclusion of a fundamental awareness of the political and economic forces which root the decisions that are, in fact, making it so hard to find the time to understand those forces. That’s what drives it all. That’s why things are the way they are. It’s a vicious circle: if we don’t have time to figure out how, where and why we’re being screwed, how are we ever going to stop the screwing? And if we aren’t doing anything about it, we can only expect it to continue, and, obviously, get worse.
‘Politics’ has had its meaning twisted by these same inexorable forces. Politics is now a separate thing, in which some people choose to be interested, and others choose to avoid. It’s something that isn’t deeply discussed in “polite company.” But that’s bullshit. Politics should not be the bailiwick of white guys in suits with fancy law degrees. Politics is life. Everyone’s life. The means by which we assure ourselves and our children of clean air, safe food, hospitals, education, etc. No one has time to worry about all of that and still lead fulfilling lives and make valuable contributions to their communities. That’s why we have a system of government. But too many people have lost sight of the fact that government is supposed to be representative. Sure, most people understand the word, but they have abandoned the requirement in favor of party “platforms” and trite checklists of where candidates stand on a few mainstream issues. And these issues become more and more trivial (or, if not trivial, more removed from important forces which shape our lives, our communites and the future), while the the things which will actually have a dramatic lasting impact on the world (energy policy and foreign wars, net neutrality and intellectual property/patent law, media conglomeration, regulation of financial markets) are either not discussed at all, or are presented in comic book terms which intentionally obscure the overarching truths from us.
If everyone took that ten minutes per day and devoted it to legitimate self-education, the world would be a different place, and the tide would begin to turn, slowly, toward a government composed of individuals who actually felt a sense of responsibility to the voters instead of the campaign funders, and toward a media which actually felt free to report the truth in plain terms. That is it. That is ALL we need to make this country as great as what it once was, and as great as its founders intended. Two simple things: a representative government and a free media. Right now, we don’t have anything that even vaguely resembles either one of those things. And the deepest irony of the symbiotic systems of campaign finance and corporate media indoctrination is that many people will think I’m crazy for asserting that. But it’s a fact: our democracy has largely evaporated. The only way we can ever hope to get it back is to inform ourselves. Without true representation in our legislative bodies, and without a real and verified watchdog in the media, we can no longer expect to go about our lives and assume that evil and corruption will eventually be exposed. We’ve come to a point where we have to shine the light ourselves. “We the People” have to do at least a modest amount of truth-seeking on our own, and just as importantly, when we see the truth being abused, we need to speak up. The few people who are still looking after the best interests of all humans, and the future of the planet, are no longer occupying the halls of power or the halls of truth. We must take it upon ourselves now, to be informed. Even if it’s only ten minutes at a time.
