10.31.13
Gemini version available ♊︎The Fourth Estate (Media) Absolutely Vital for Bringing/Restoring Justice
Joe Lieberman, Neoliberalist
Summary: Why the press — a free and independent press for that matter — is so vital in exposing corrupt and/or abusive figures of authority
HERE in the UK we are known for prosperity but also for poverty. We have some of the worst economic disparity, by some measures the second worst in the West (second to the United States). The problem is being further acknowledged right now [1] by The Guardian, over two years after we had riots, even right here in Manchester. This undeniable economic disparity was definitely among the causes.
“Revolution” is no longer a scary word for some [1], not even former New York Times journalists. This does not mean forceful or violent revolution but an “Invisible Revolution” that’s based and hinged upon exposing corrupt power structures. This “Invisible Revolution” is actually becoming more visible when those in power want to crush it by hounding [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] and spying on journalists (the fourth estate, not to be confused with anti-media propaganda called "Fifth Estate"). I have personally seen — even my relatively short lifetime so far — how the media crushed people in power who had abused their power against powerless citizens who can barely afford a lawyer. Sometimes the media (not corporate media but investigative media) acts a deterrence and silent regulator; people who abuse power or engage in corruption dread the thought of becoming the centre of a attention, embroiled in a scandal in the national or international press; it can destroy their entire career and they know it. This is why we absolutely need to defend the media — the real media, i.e. one that’s not funded by corporations to covertly drive their separate agenda and distract from genuine media.
“We need to name and shame these politicians, which is something that Professor Lessig does very well these days.”The New York Times has a new article (behind paywall or requirement of surveillance by real ID) [3] which shows how politicians get bribed by banks to vote for banks’ interests. We need to name and shame these politicians, which is something that Professor Lessig does very well these days. What we have right now (more so in the US than in the UK) is “neoliberalism” [4], which puts all the political power in the hands of corporations (and those who run them, the plutocrats).
One way to fight all this is to deprive the banks — the facilitators of disparity and the people who bribe politicians — of their power. It can really be accomplished by choosing alternative bartering methods that can prove to be rather rewarding [5] (the banks and their politicians are trying to ban those currencies using new laws, as expected). We need to support sites like Wikileaks using alternatives currencies because, as we came to discover 3 years ago, an illegal financial embargo can be used against them given enough pressure from politicians like Joe Lieberman (who are of course working with the banks, using them for sanctions/vendetta). Centralisation of power and money is something which needs to be dodged. Alternative currencies, alternative media, etc. are becoming ever more vital. We also need an alternative to the Internet, an NSA-free alternative. █
Related/contextual items from the news:
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UK child poverty survey exposes ‘grinding reality’ of cold, damp homes
Children’s Society finds more than half of UK’s 3m poor children complain of cold and 76% often worry about family finances
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Our Invisible Revolution
By the time ruling elites are openly defied, there has already been a nearly total loss of faith in the ideas—in our case free market capitalism and globalization—that sustain the structures of the ruling elites. And once enough people get it, a process that can take years, “the slow, quiet, and peaceful social evolution becomes quick, militant, and violent,” as Berkman wrote. “Evolution becomes revolution.”
[...]
Ruling elites, once the ideas that justify their existence are dead, resort to force.
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“House aides, when asked why Democrats would vote for this [sell out to Wall Street] even though the…”
“”House aides, when asked why Democrats would vote for this [sell out to Wall Street] even though the Obama administration opposes it, offered a political explanation. Republicans have enough votes to pass it themselves, so vulnerable House Democrats might as well join them, and collect industry money for their campaigns.””
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Neoliberalism: Government In The Service Of Corporations, Not People
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Man buys $27 of bitcoin, forgets about them, finds they’re now worth $886k
Bought in 2009, currency’s rise in value saw small investment turn into enough to buy an apartment in a wealthy area of Oslo
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