For a peak inside what motivates people to submit to “higher” authorities whiles simultaneously degrading others for refusing to do so, I came across this amazing article which paints a painful psychological portrait of those of the authoritarian persuasion. The article, however, doesn’t explain how people get to this point. I’m no psychologist, but as a student of human consciousness, I suspect some kind of abuse– physical, emotional or sexual– is what transforms a beautiful child into such a monstrous personality.
I offer this wisdom for the sake of compassion, because as things get tough and us weirdoes go pro, the fascists will smell blood (remember that Palin and her sudden rise is an important weathervane of where a lot of Americans are at these days). We need to watch our backs.
* Authoritarian submission: A high degree of submission to the authorities who are perceived to be established and legitimate in the society in which one lives.
* Authoritarian aggression: A general aggressiveness, directed against various persons, that is perceived to be sanctioned by established authorities.
* Conventionalism: A high degree of adherence to the social conventions that are perceived to be endorsed by society and its established authorities.
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Back in the day I told myself that if I ever heard the Butthole Surfers or Sonic Youth recorded as supermarket muzak, it would surely mean the apocalypse had arrived. So far only The Police hold this distinction. Nonetheless, something far more nefarious lurks in the shadows of modern day cultural discourse. The quoting of punk by right wing pundits. May you live in ridiculous times.
So a reality check is in order, hence the extended Jello Biafra rant below. He was reacting to news that right wing talk show nut case Michael Savage made ample use of Dead Kennedys material for a recent show gloating over the news of Ted Kennedy’s current health crisis (I recommend clicking the link above to hear the surreal screed). But truth be known, I was once a shock jock myself at WOBC(*). On the day the space shuttle blew up I played “Pigs In Outer Space” by the Muppets. Ouch.
It scares the shit out of me that the most popular radio talk-show hosts are all foaming-at-the-mouth, ultra-bigoted blabbermongers whom only North Korea or the Nazis could love.
But like it or not, Savage is the third-most popular radio-talk show host in this country behind Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Nobody from the other side is represented or promoted well enough by the big right-wing-owned radio networks to compete. That’s one of the ways they mindfuck the country into being so dumb they vote for people like George Bush, Mitt Romney and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The real issue here is why aren’t the big candidates calling for media reform? Once upon a time there was a law on the books called the Fairness Doctrine, and it said that if somebody like Savage or Limbaugh or that skull woman Ann Coulter said something completely fucked up and dishonest on the air, somebody else was allowed to come on the air and reply to them without being told to shut up every 15 seconds by a power clown like Bill O’Reilly. That law was on the books for 50 years but was allowed to expire in the late ’80s when a Democratic-controlled congress failed to override President Reagan’s veto of the law.
(*) WOBC is still a great, far out radio station. You can listen to live streaming from its Web site.
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Do you have an hour? Sit back and put your seat-belt on, Naomi Wolf deconstructs the steps towards a fascist state. This has everything to do with media because media are responsible for diseminating the big lie. To quote the master propagandist himself, Joseph Goebels:
If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the state can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie … The truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the state.
Take her very seriously. To read her cliff notes version, click here.
Normally I don’t like to intrude upon our peaceful little world with news I consider dire and dangerous. But once again I hear the war drums pounding and I feel that I cannot remain silent on the matter. Chris Hedges, who has written one of the best explanations about why people go to war, War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning, has been doing some fine reporting. He discards the notion that journalists are objective, and has put his training and experience of reporting from war zones to great use and benefit to all of us. So you really should read his articles at TruthDig.com, and especially the one quoted below. He talks about war as a dangerously flawed and outdated communications tool. Sadly it seems Iran is next on the list of violently insane obsessions. Sometimes I want to cry. I hope some of you out there are brilliant enough to figure out how to put a stop to this madness. Truthdig - Reports - The Next Quagmire:
But we live in an age where dialogue is dismissed and empathy is suspect. We prefer the illusion that we can dictate events through force. It hasn’t worked well in Iraq. It hasn’t worked well in Afghanistan. And it won’t work in Iran. But those who once tried to reach out and understand, who developed expertise to explain the world to us and ourselves to the world, no longer have a voice in the new imperial project. We are instead governed and informed by moral and intellectual trolls.
**
We have rendered the nation deaf and dumb. We no longer have the capacity for empathy. We prefer to amuse ourselves with trivia and gossip that pass for news rather than understand. We are blinded by our military prowess. We believe that huge explosions and death are an effective form of communication. And the rest of the world is learning to speak our language.
These high-tech evangelicals could be straight out of sci-fi. Except they are real, and they know how to use media against media. Like a Maoist opera on steroids, BattleCry might be marching on your doorstep soon. Should we be scared? The strange thing is that I nave taught media literacy to fundamentalists, which shows me that anyone can use media criticism as a weapon. In this case it is in the hands of a Christian youth army that looks and sounds cool if you don’t have the critical capacity to see beyond the style of the message to truly understand its content. I don’t understand why Right Wingers are so scared of so-called “Islamo-fascists” when there is a slick Taliban right in their own backyard. America watch out.
An afterthought: I’m aware that often what we oppose is really a way of expelling our inner demons. I have no doubt that is why I have focused my attention on media. The danger is whether we truly process these inner monsters, or use our activism as a kind of penance as we continue to hurt and destroy people, as has been the case of many fundamentalists of all persuasions, including media activists. Also, when I see these kids feeling genuine love, I believe it is real. But rather than take ownership of it, they attribute it to an outside force. This is why they claim allegiance to a cross, and not a circle.
There are two or three societal trends that are driving us in an increasingly deep center-right posture (…) One of them is the power of the computer chip. Do you know how many people’s principal source of income is eBay? Seven hundred thousand (…) So the power of the computer has made it possible for people to gain greater control over their lives. It’s given people a greater chance to run their own business, become a sole proprietor or an entrepreneur. As a result, it has made us more
market-oriented, and that equals making you more center-right in your politics.
Hmmmmm…
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Yes, well it was bound to happen. The liberals have declared war on Easter! Good thing we don’t have more important things to think about, like say, World War IV?
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So I was being snarky when I posted on a wingnut’s case to nuke the moon. As I explained in that post, crossing the “insane” threshold is a political and military strategy to make people believe you will do anything to rule the world. After all, when logic fails, why not scare the shit out of people? So what follows is very serious and is not done in the spirit of trying scare but to make sure we understand the grave situation we are in and that as many citizens as possible understand what could potentially happen in the very near future concerning Bush’s desires to use nukes. Hopefully this is just a worst-case scenario and is simply alarming to make the point that there needs to be a cogent response to what appears to be a rather scary mentality at work.
You can read here the AP article on Iran’s enrichment program and reader comments at the Huffington Post.
The following interview with Jorge Hirsch, a professor of Physics at the University of California, on the recent news that Bush plans to nuke Iran should be considered as just one opinion among many. I encourage people to inform themselves as much as possible, and do what ever is possible to create a space for a peaceful resolution to the current situation. (Please send alternatives and I’ll post them.)
“I believe there is a high probability of war with Iran because key people in the administration desperately want it, but I don’t believe it is inevitable. I hope there will be a sufficiently large public outburst of opposition, eg thanks to Hersh’s and other’s revelations, to make it impossible. The dire situation in Iraq of course is making it more difficult, and I hope there will be strong voices in the administration and influential republicans that will recognize the likely disastrous consequences and oppose it. Or perhaps influential old-timers like Bush Sr. and Scowcroft will be able to dissuade President Bush.”
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Who said all culture jammers are lefties? (Discuss amongst yourselves.) Here’s a T-shirt company unafraid to use our tactics against us, and I love it! Sure they are distasteful, but they are funny in the same way that “Let’s kill ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out” is funny. But seriously folks, they are spot on with the Che thing. Rather than checking facts at the door, people should reconsider this Che craze. Did you know that Che had his political enemies shot? Just because the most beautiful boy in the world played him in a movie with sepia tones doesn’t mean we should see things through the same crimson glasses. Che is corporate rebellion!
Here’s the crappy thing about our culture today: I can’t tell anymore if I’m a total sucker. Is this another Yes Men prank?
The campaign is called, “nuke the moon.” Strange thing is, there is some rationality to this irrationality. The argument is that if the US as a superpower acts totally crazy, then no one can predict what it will do and fear its insane, random application of power (sound familiar?). If you have read any Chomski, you will know that this is a real military strategy practiced today. But it doesn’t always work. Think Iraq.
Anyhow, read at your own peril. This poor blogger really hates hippies way too much.
“My idea is to nuke the moon; just say we thought we saw moon people or something. There is no one actually there to kill (unless we time it poorly) and everyone in the world could see the results. And all the other countries would exclaim,’Holy @$#%! They are nuking the moon! America has gone insane! I better go eat at McDonalds before they think I don’t like them.’
But why stop there. We’ve got like tons of national parks; we surely wouldn’t miss just one if we nuked it. Our excuse will be that we heard a drug dealer was hiding there. Then the foreign nations would be like, ‘Sacre bleu! These Americans are nuking themselves! Surely they will think nothing of bombing us! Let’s adapt their vapid culture as our own so they might consider us one of them.’”
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Bridging media literacy with ecoliteracy, written by Antonio Lopez, an old school dharma punk and media educator. Occasionally he shoots from the lip, bloviates, misspells and can be tangential.
Yes, well it was bound to happen. The liberals have 
Who said all culture jammers are lefties? (Discuss amongst yourselves.) Here’s a T-shirt company unafraid to use our tactics against us, and I love it! Sure they are distasteful, but they are funny in the same way that “Let’s kill ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out” is funny. But seriously folks, they are spot on with the Che thing. Rather than checking facts at the door, people should reconsider this Che craze. Did you know that Che had his political enemies shot? Just because the 
Here’s the crappy thing about our culture today: I can’t tell anymore if I’m a total sucker. Is this another 
