COASTAL POST
(415)868 1600 FAX (415) 868 0502
P.O. Box 31
Bolinas CA 94924
http://www.coastalpost.com
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November 1999
Mediacratic Politics
"Anybody who sees increases in cable rates, phone
rates, mergers and lack of competition clearly knows that the
special interests are protected in Washington and the public interest
is submerged."
Republican John McCain may foam at the mouth on military matters, but
his honest appraisal of our system makes him unique in the fund raising
contest called a presidential race.The recent $115 billion Wall
Street-media deal, the largest in history if it goes through , may
soon mean even higher long distance rates. But the pattern of massive
monopolies dominating the political economy is an old one. This latest
capital caper merely highlights the increasing speed and size of the
process. As bad as its affect on our economic life is its affect on our
political life.
Major candidates for public office have long been creations of finance
and media. For the most part, our mind managers treat money and image
far more seriously than issues and ideas. The current Gush-Bore bazaar
has more to do with how the two leading ciphers look , sound and fund
raise, than what they stand for or against. This is nothing new, but it
gets worse as the domination of the political economy tends toward
smaller groups, and larger financial entities.
With fewer people and organizations making decisions about global issues
that often affect billions of people, the reality of democracy seems as
remote as knowledge of the origin of the universe. Of course, major
candidates usually profess direct relationships with whatever it is that
created the universe, a spiritual force most of them seem to think has a
penis. But the mystery of the origins of life may offer more promise of
solution than the mysteries of achieving democracy in a world dominated
by an anti-democratic system of political economics.
The major information systems have always been privately owned, and
profit accumulation has always taken precedence over public service, but
never as devastatingly as in the present . The situation in media is no
different than in other industries, only more serious in that control of
what the public sees, hears and ultimately thinks, is in the hands of
the same interests who gain from all that is dangerous and corrupt in
the global system.
News of the economy’s affect on the natural and social environment must
be gleaned from alternative sources, and they are always under severe
financial stress. Major media is filled with rationalizations of
pollution and war, tales of celebrity gossip, and news of the inane and
the insane . What passes for news and commentary is often even dumber
and less relevant than the lowest common denominator media shows about
celebrity divorce, or people who have sex with their furniture. These at
least have entertainment value to those who wish to escape reality. It
is when there is a supposed report on reality that the worst job is
done.
Globalization is really laying waste to the natural environment, while
financially mortgaging the future of humanity. If all debt were removed
from the casino economy, we would be in a chaotic depression. Of the
two trillion dollars a day gambled in foreign currency and exchange
markets, more than 95% is pure speculation, having nothing to do with
creating products or trading tangible goods and services. How much of
this is discussed, or even mentioned by major media? The domination of
information flow creates intellectual pollution the way the domination
of manufacturing flow creates environmental pollution.
The sewage we drink and the foul air we breathe are perversely
balanced by the distorted words and pictures entering our minds.
Corporate capital rules not only by its control of the manufacturing
process , but by its greater control of the information process. Thus,
we see, hear and think about celebrities, shopping , kinky people,
shopping, scandals, and more shopping.The scandal of media politics
dominated by money and the economic destruction of social and natural
systems is almost exclusively dealt with by poor, low circulation
alternative media .
The already obscene financial process of politics threatens to get
even worse, with some forecasting a total expenditure of more than three
billion dollars by the time next November rolls around. For what? A host
of Intellectual non-entities , who are always the major candidates for
high office, plus a few even dimmer bulbs among the low lights who will
be there simply because they are rich or famous.
There may be a few serious minds involved, but they will have to fight
for notice from major media, which will parrot whatever the chosen
leaders say and treat them as serious candidates. Why? Simply because
they are rich or famous , but also because they represent absolutely no
threat to the established order of things.
Mediacrats teach us that democracy and market forces are one and the
same, that our ability to choose a product is like the ability to choose
a candidate. But buying commodities has nothing to do with democracy,
except in its perverse market form. Rich people can afford to buy more
commodities than the great majority, and they can buy more power in the
political marketplace, to the disadvantage of the disorganized mass.
Market forces make destruction of air, water, land and people, free and
profitable for corporate capital. But this damage is expensive to the
public sectors which must either pay for and clean up the mess, or be
buried in it. That process is reinforced by the continued
domination of our minds and our politics. This financial election may
be the most expensive in our history. If the Mediacrats are allowed to
maintain their control much longer, it will cost humanity more than just
money.
frank scott
http://www.marin.cc.ca.us/~frank
email: [log in to unmask]
225 laurel place, san rafael ca. 94901
(415)457 2415 fax(415)457 4791
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