Tuesday, August 19, 2003Prop-agendaBrian Eno, musical pioneer and producer for such acts as David Bowie, Talking Heads & U2, writes a fascinating essay on propaganda in Sunday's Observer. What occurs to me . . . is that the new American approach to social control is so much more sophisticated and pervasive that it really deserves a new name. It isn't just propaganda any more, it's 'prop-agenda '. It's not so much the control of what we think, but the control of what we think about. (emphasis added) When our governments want to sell us a course of action, they do it by making sure it's the only thing on the agenda, the only thing everyone's talking about. And they pre-load the ensuing discussion with highly selected images, devious and prejudicial language, dubious linkages, weak or false 'intelligence' and selected 'leaks'. It's all about framing the debate. Setting the parameters within which a topic can be debated. Anything outside of those established barriers is either dismissed or simply not allowed. That's real control. That's what allows the Bush administration to do what they want to do, because they're setting the trems of the debate. And the media and other groups are allowing them to do it. Any issue or question outside of those boundaries is simply pushed aside. But if we can break open those boundaries, we can set the terms ourselves. And then they'll have to at least address our demands. Update: In his essay, Eno mentions a book Weapons of Mass Deception by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber. I haven't read it yet, but it comes highly recommended from several sources. You can read an except here and here. Thanks, Jason for the article. posted by chris at 10:50 PM ------------------ |
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