The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > Article Comments > The Assault on the public > Comments

The Assault on the public : Comments

By Marko Beljac, published 14/5/2013

Just about everything with the word “public” in front of it is under attack.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. Page 2
  4. All
I find Marko's piece interesting, but I find this graph even more interesting http://markhumphrys.com/Bitmaps/world.gdp.pc.3.gif.

Classical liberalism really only got going in the late 18th century, and since then growth has taken off astronomically. The modern world, and modern man, with all his benefits is built on the belief that he is better off determining his future for himself than she is being told what to do by some government or overlord.
Posted by GrahamY, Tuesday, 14 May 2013 8:54:38 PM
Find out more about this user Visit this user's webpage Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Never mind that TV as a 24/7 propaganda machine for the religion of unbridled whats-in-it-for-me religion of consumerist (with its credo of I Shop Therefore I Am)now rules the entire world.
Which is to say that it is easily the most powerful culturally formative influence in the world. It has also created a "culture" which is completely indifferent to the well being of either human beings and Earthkind altogether.
How it works, its all pervasive influence especially on the minds of its target audience (babies, toddlers and youngsters), and more importantly the names and inter-locking connections of neo-psychotic right-wing think tanks that finance it are all described in the book This Little Kiddy Went To Market by Sharon Beder. Sharon is of course not very popular at the IPA.

Meanwhile of course what we now call our "culture" is essentially a combination of the totalitarian scenarios described in both 1984 and Brave New World.

The modern dreadfully sane everyman of consumer societry is a propagandized individual, participating in illusions and, effectively, self-destructing.

The modern everyman uis being created by the corporate power system of the world, because it is in the interests of that power system for there to be consumer egos who are entirely self-involved, and necessarily STUPEFIED.

At present, a "culture" of total war, a culture of death, is ruling, while the people are engrossed in consumerism.

Welcome to the collective psychotic nightmare created by the 24/7 propaganda of the right-wing tanks (which now rule the entire world).
Posted by Daffy Duck, Wednesday, 15 May 2013 9:04:13 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
It is not "Public" that is under attack, it is the capture of the the Public by the "Professional Progressives" for purpose of personal benefit that is. Exemplified by their ABC, once venerable charities polluted (only the Salvoes get my money now), schools pontificating on Global Warming (err climate chang; um, just give me the tax money, oops that failed). "Public" has been corrupted and correctly is being treated as such.
Posted by McCackie, Wednesday, 15 May 2013 9:37:27 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Apart from its fatuous attempt to establish an argument based on word association, this article follows a depressingly familiar model:

1. Concoct a straw man of “neoliberalism” manufactured from half-truths, exaggerations and the wackier outpourings of the University of Chicago, without reference to what mainstream self-described neoliberals (like Brad de Long) actually think.

2. Assert than this is now the dominant economic paradigm, as if there were no significant differences between the economic views of, say, Ken Henry or Saul Eslake, and Gary Becker

3. Conclude that, because neoliberalism is hostile to public services and neoliberalism is the dominant paradigm, public services have been under attack - without bothering to check the actual evidence
Posted by Rhian, Wednesday, 15 May 2013 11:17:06 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Never mind that both here in the land of Oz and world-wide too, commercial media, especially TV, overwhelmingly determines everything that the usual dreadfully sane every person sitting-in-front-of-the-TV(idiot)- box thinks and does. What to buy, what movies to see, what to get excited about (especially the latest razza-matazz electronic toy). And of course who to hate (just like in Brave New World and 1984)

By comparison the real influence of public media, such as the ABC and what remains of it in the USA, is almost marginal.

Meanwhile three of my favorite truth-telling authors.

Derrick Jensen - especially his The Culture of Make Believe

Chris Hedges - especially The Empire of Illusions: The End of Literacy & the Triumph of the Spectacle (stay tuned to your TV to catch and watch it - such as the now-time Shock & Awe destruction of Baghdad in full colour)

Although his work is somewhat dense with to many long paragaphs Henry Giroux - all of his work http://www.henryagiroux.com

And of course genuinely conservative magazines. Conservative because they promote the only truly humanizing culture/paradigm of Small Is Beautiful, Orion Magazine, and Resurgence Magazine.
Posted by Daffy Duck, Wednesday, 15 May 2013 11:31:29 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. Page 2
  4. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy