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from the no-one's-leaving-until-we-have-unanimous-agreement dept.
The rise of populism has rattled the global political establishment. Brexit came as a shock, as did the victory of Donald Trump. Much head-scratching has resulted as leaders seek to work out why large chunks of their electorates are so cross.
...
The answer seems pretty simple. Populism is the result of economic failure. The 10 years since the financial crisis have shown that the system of economic governance which has held sway for the past four decades is broken. Some call this approach neoliberalism. Perhaps a better description would be unpopulism.Unpopulism meant tilting the balance of power in the workplace in favour of management and treating people like wage slaves. Unpopulism was rigged to ensure that the fruits of growth went to the few not to the many. Unpopulism decreed that those responsible for the global financial crisis got away with it while those who were innocent bore the brunt of austerity.
2017 Davos says: The 99% should just try harder.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by meustrus on Wednesday March 29 2017, @01:07PM (12 children)
Well at least you're drawing a distinction between newspapers and TV news. I really wish the term "fake news" didn't exist though. It implies outright lies when the reality is something more like corporate-controlled politically-correct propaganda. The point being that it cuts liberals as much as it cuts conservatives, serving mainly to make big industry (the real American dictators) look good.
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Arik on Wednesday March 29 2017, @01:23PM (11 children)
Don't kid yourself that there isn't a LOT of outright lying going on.
But sure, it's all backed up by a slightly softer system where saying the right thing gets you attaboys and moves your career along and asking tough questions or reporting real news does the opposite. So people are quite conditioned to only see what they are supposed to see.
But either way the mainstream news at this point is dominated by fake news. They're no better than the People's Daily or the old Pravda.
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” -- Upton Sinclair
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by meustrus on Wednesday March 29 2017, @01:38PM (10 children)
But the whole point is that the reporters themselves believe what they're saying. If they themselves were outright lying, we could tell, other reporters would call them out, and the whole publication would be discredited. Instead, they are really peddling half-truths. They aren't lies per se; they're actually a lot more dangerous.
That's what the term "fake news" obscures: that there is enough truth mixed in to make reality indistinguishable from fiction. In addition to the unfortunate political charge that blames the left or right instead of the real perpetrators.
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Arik on Wednesday March 29 2017, @01:51PM (5 children)
I've detected them flat out lying many times over the years, and particularly in the past year they seem to be to the point where they don't even try to hide it so much as justify it in many cases.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Wednesday March 29 2017, @03:37PM (4 children)
Why should they hide it? Even if caught in those lies there are no consequences.
The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Arik on Wednesday March 29 2017, @06:41PM (3 children)
So they don't feel the need to hide it anymore. They're so completely in touch with their paymasters, and out of touch with the rest of the country, they don't even seem to realize the response they are provoking.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday March 29 2017, @09:30PM (2 children)
I dunno. I'm certain I'm detecting a frisson of fear. They know something very bad is coming. It's why the billionaires and other thieves are building themselves bunkers everywhere. It's gonna be really, really funny to see the look on the faces of the Wall Street execs at the helipad off lower Manhattan when they realize their chopper pilots ditched them to fly their own families to the bunkers to hunker down with the families of the butlers, maids, and chauffeurs. I mean, there's gonna be a lot of crazy, heinous shit happening in the middle of the collapse, but that will be one very bright spot.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 29 2017, @11:40PM
No worries for Elon Musk. He's building tunnels.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 30 2017, @03:43PM
It would be interesting to find out the location of the bunkers. I rather like the idea of packing the air intakes full of dog shit.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 29 2017, @05:40PM
you're on crack. they are lying whores. bought and paid for. every time, they skew the story in favor of their masters, the state and corps. why are you trying to act like they are well meaning people. they are degenerate scum ruining the country/world. not many things more vile than msm. even local news whores are disgusting. they need to be attacked not covered for.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Wednesday March 29 2017, @05:55PM (2 children)
Don't let them off the hook that easily. They know damned well that telling the right series of half-truths leaves an overall impression that is a lie. Most of us learned that very well at an early age after trying to half-truth ourselves out of trouble.
(Score: 2) by meustrus on Wednesday March 29 2017, @07:30PM (1 child)
You miss my meaning. Telling half-truths is worse than telling outright lies, because the doublethink involved makes it harder to detect falsehood.
My framing is not an attempt to let anybody "off the hook". It's not about who is morally wrong or right. It's about understanding the real problem better. If you believe they are telling outright lies and are doing so willingly, then the solution is to fire them and only listen to honest people. But if you understand that they believe they are being honest, that they have been convinced they are doing good and not doing evil, then replacing them won't help. The replacements will do exactly the same for exactly the same reasons.
We must accept that the reasons and methods are bigger than any one person. We must accept that there isn't anybody we can fire and replace to solve the problem. We must accept that attempts to create good and true news sources will be co-opted by these same forces, often becoming worse than what we were trying to replace.
If we don't accept this, then we are merely prey. We will become mouthpieces for the same so-called fake news we tried to escape.
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
(Score: 1) by Arik on Wednesday March 29 2017, @08:08PM
Which is why I never believe anything the MSM tells me without confirmation from other sources these days. I rather think they may be lying more often than not.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?