Thanks Rob, I particularly liked your line about the plausibility of "Israeli fantasies of murdered babies and mass rapes on October 7th." Just this week I had cause to research past examples of "baby-killers" being used as war propaganda: Cromwell used it against the Irish in the Rebellion of 1641, the Ottoman Turks were accused it in the Batak massacre of 1876, the Germans were accused of it by the US in WWI, the US used it again against Iraq in 1990 (incubator babies), and Netanyahu is using it against the Palestinians now as he references the Amalekites and God's command to kill every man, woman, child and the livestock. One has to wonder if this bad-faith use of language will continue to work or if it will eventually become recognized as a tired lie.
Thank you for the comment Bryan. My take is that the instrumental use-value of bad-faith language tends to be contextual. If a population has already been conditioned to think the worst of another population--- e.g. the Americans towards the Russians post-Russiagate, it is easy to fill-in-the-blanks of psychological dread with improbable twaddle.
Having spoken with Israelis in the US, I was stunned to being speaking with modern Western bourgeois one minute and the Grand Dragon of the KKK when it came to Palestinians the next. The hatred was so visceral and unreasoned that no truth regarding the lives of the Palestinians is going to get past it.
Your answer is instructive. My quest is to understand how human nature can be enlightened, which I think can be accomplished, in part, by having a culturally accepted applied-epistemology taught in k-12. Not teaching a common epistemology leaves society in a Tower of Babel type situation where we are all talking to each other in the absence of any ground rules so that constructive discussion cannot take place. The result is, as you point out, an emotionally driven predisposition to believe outside the parameters of physical evidence. I think that if we taught our youth the relationship between psychology/self-discovery and language use, it would go a long way towards addressing that predisposition, which is the goal of my second book, The New English Class, and the subject of my current project. The problem, of course, is that when you teach enlightenment, there is an inverse negative impact on the value of manipulative advertising/narrative-control. Big fan, thanks again.
I agree, that is the only hope we have. I keep thinking how successful was the project of neoliberalism - the question is, of course, why? The sad part (for me) is a realisation how the Left (whatever that stands for it these days) was co-opted into this project. Your work gives me hope!
When I saw your title...my first thought was: not sure if that is the worst option. Leaving in it right now is much worse. But of course your article was not about the end but about daring to think differently. I keep thinking about how we have stripped our children of the capacity to think differently. This is another task that the new world needs to tackle. Thank you!
Thank you for the comment Lubica. I still think there's hope for humanity, but we had better figure things out very quickly. Unfortunately, in the US at any rate, the people in charge don't want anything to be figured out.
Top notch, Rob. Always look forward to your synopses and have never been disappointed. That these pricks pulled most of this off over the course of my lifetime (post-WW II) utilizing propaganda as effectively as they have only serves to disgust me further for having fallen for it for far too long, especially after what Vietnam exposed. But that's what happens when the Owners have it all---from the education system to the complete means of communication---at and for their disposal.
The Internet: while we still have it as much as we do. "Last call!"
Well written and enjoyable article! I'd like to add that not only has the real GDP growth rate within the US fallen since their system began to come into place, its even fallen globally over time! Which point in the BS direction vis a vis their "charity" for the world argument regarding deindustrialization.
Thanks Rob, I particularly liked your line about the plausibility of "Israeli fantasies of murdered babies and mass rapes on October 7th." Just this week I had cause to research past examples of "baby-killers" being used as war propaganda: Cromwell used it against the Irish in the Rebellion of 1641, the Ottoman Turks were accused it in the Batak massacre of 1876, the Germans were accused of it by the US in WWI, the US used it again against Iraq in 1990 (incubator babies), and Netanyahu is using it against the Palestinians now as he references the Amalekites and God's command to kill every man, woman, child and the livestock. One has to wonder if this bad-faith use of language will continue to work or if it will eventually become recognized as a tired lie.
Thank you for the comment Bryan. My take is that the instrumental use-value of bad-faith language tends to be contextual. If a population has already been conditioned to think the worst of another population--- e.g. the Americans towards the Russians post-Russiagate, it is easy to fill-in-the-blanks of psychological dread with improbable twaddle.
Having spoken with Israelis in the US, I was stunned to being speaking with modern Western bourgeois one minute and the Grand Dragon of the KKK when it came to Palestinians the next. The hatred was so visceral and unreasoned that no truth regarding the lives of the Palestinians is going to get past it.
Thanks again for the history.
Your answer is instructive. My quest is to understand how human nature can be enlightened, which I think can be accomplished, in part, by having a culturally accepted applied-epistemology taught in k-12. Not teaching a common epistemology leaves society in a Tower of Babel type situation where we are all talking to each other in the absence of any ground rules so that constructive discussion cannot take place. The result is, as you point out, an emotionally driven predisposition to believe outside the parameters of physical evidence. I think that if we taught our youth the relationship between psychology/self-discovery and language use, it would go a long way towards addressing that predisposition, which is the goal of my second book, The New English Class, and the subject of my current project. The problem, of course, is that when you teach enlightenment, there is an inverse negative impact on the value of manipulative advertising/narrative-control. Big fan, thanks again.
I agree, that is the only hope we have. I keep thinking how successful was the project of neoliberalism - the question is, of course, why? The sad part (for me) is a realisation how the Left (whatever that stands for it these days) was co-opted into this project. Your work gives me hope!
When I saw your title...my first thought was: not sure if that is the worst option. Leaving in it right now is much worse. But of course your article was not about the end but about daring to think differently. I keep thinking about how we have stripped our children of the capacity to think differently. This is another task that the new world needs to tackle. Thank you!
Thank you for the comment Lubica. I still think there's hope for humanity, but we had better figure things out very quickly. Unfortunately, in the US at any rate, the people in charge don't want anything to be figured out.
Top notch, Rob. Always look forward to your synopses and have never been disappointed. That these pricks pulled most of this off over the course of my lifetime (post-WW II) utilizing propaganda as effectively as they have only serves to disgust me further for having fallen for it for far too long, especially after what Vietnam exposed. But that's what happens when the Owners have it all---from the education system to the complete means of communication---at and for their disposal.
The Internet: while we still have it as much as we do. "Last call!"
Well written and enjoyable article! I'd like to add that not only has the real GDP growth rate within the US fallen since their system began to come into place, its even fallen globally over time! Which point in the BS direction vis a vis their "charity" for the world argument regarding deindustrialization.
Excellent point. Thanks for the comment.