============================================================================ Date: Mon, 01 May 2000 16:30:30 -0700 From: frank scott <•••@••.•••> MIME-Version: 1.0 To: •••@••.••• Subject: Re: cj#1088> re: Elian, police states, propaganda, Cuba This is not my take (exactly) but is closer to what I feel...the scenario outlined by rkm is one frequently followed, but I believe it has nothing to do with this case. In fact, it gets danherously close to leading us to helplessness, thinking that everything, without exception, is part of a scenario which has been thoroughly planned in advance, only to make us even greater dupes than we have been....not healthy! Maybe this isn't , either , but it is more widely shared, and again, closer to the truth - I think... fs Next Time, I Want to See His Finger on the Trigger: Michael Moore Release: Sunday, April 30, 2000 I have only one criticism of Janet Reno and the raid the INS conducted in Miami the morning before Easter. The gun wasn't big enough. I looked at that now-famous photograph of the INS agent with the 9mm automatic in his hand as he demanded that Elian Gonzales be turned over, and I thought, "This guy is in a bunker full of crazed kidnappers who believe that Flipper is a member of the Holy Trinity, and all he has to defend himself and the boy is that dinky little gun?" The media, though, did not ask my question. It took off on its latest witchhunt. One commentator after another deplored "the use of force." Politicians called the INS agents "storm troopers." Anchormen spoke of the "horror" and "terror" in little Elian's face as he was "snatched" ... ============== Dear Frank, Thanks for your message. Lots of food for thought. And as usual, you do a great job of helping me illustrate my points. You say you don't think my argument applied to this case, but you give no reasons why, so we can let that rest. But once again, I would suggest focusing on the bottom line of the transaction - which outcome, in the long term, is the most significant? Hint: it is rarely the outcome which receives the most coverage. In the Kosovo scenario, for example, all the coverage-concern was about ethnic conflict. As we all know, ethnic conflict in Kosovo is now much worse than it ever was under Serbia. The bottom line in that case was the destruction of Serbia, and that received relatively little coverage during or since. The bottom line with Elian is the fact that well-meaning people like yourself and this Michael Moore have become supporters of stronger police methods. Let me ask you a question... Suppose you were in a position of power, and you wanted to move the country toward becoming a police state. What kinds of strategems do you think would be effective? Selling drugs and arms to L.A. street gangs might be a good scheme, creating situations which obviously require helicopter swat teams etc. But of course they've already thought of that one. In fact, they seem to be pursuing every tactic in parallel. With the Elian case, they seem to have hit a gold mine. I'm intrigued by your comment: ...it gets dangerously close to leading us to helplessness, thinking that everything, without exception, is part of a scenario which has been thoroughly planned in advance, only to make us even greater dupes than we have been....not healthy! Well, they plan what they plan, and they control what they control. This certainly doesn't include "everything, without exception", but it does include nearly everything that gets a lot of media coverage. You've got to understand that the media is an awesome tool with which to control public opionion. And control of public opinion is absolutely essential to keeping our society running the way it does. The empire has two primary things it needs to control: the globe (economically and geopolitically), and us (psychologically and politically). Most of us are somewhat savvy about the trickery and conniving that the regime engages in with international affairs, but we don't always realize that we ourselves are also on the front lines. The Western public, particularly the American public, has the power to disrupt the system in a way no 'pariah' dicator or upstart third-world country ever could. Keeping the public under control is a _core task of imperial management, and the regime would be insanely stupid not to apply the media systematically to that task. One of the things the media can do on a regular basis (but not _too often) is to get everyone riled up about something. It could be OJ, or Clinton's sex life, or Elian, or whatever. It is during such 'riling sessions' that the biggest shifts in public attitudes can be brought about, or that the biggest actions can be taken under cover of the riled sentiment. Just as a film studio can only produce and distribute five or six major titles a year, so is the regime limited in the number of 'opinion reform' projects it can carry out each year. This is not a resource they would want to squander. The relevant question, when one of these episodes comes along, is not "Do they control everything?". The relevant question is: "Why are they riling us up this time?". There is always a bottom line payoff for the them, that's simply how the system is being used; that's their modus operandi. If you aren't aware of that, then I can see why you'd find it suspicious that each time something comes up in the media, someone comes up with a theory about why yet-again there's a secret agenda. It would seem like too much of a coincidence. But once you are aware of the pattern, the whole things becomes more transparent and obvious each time you see it go by. You can see them using the same tricks, and refining them. And you can usually tell where things are heading fairly early in the game. If someone's stereo goes missing from their car, you can be fairly certain a thief was at work. The fact that this is true every time is not a bizarre coincidence. It's simply the nature of disappearing stereos. Similarly for media circuses. Let's look at your last remark again: ...it gets dangerously close to leading us to helplessness, thinking that everything, without exception, is part of a scenario which has been thoroughly planned in advance, only to make us even greater dupes than we have been....not healthy! If you don't understand how the system works, then you are in effect politically helpless, whether you realize it or not. If you deny evidence because it threatens to make you _feel helpless, then you are choosing to accept false comfort in place of actual empowerment. That is what an ostrich allegedly does. I know it's scary, but if you really want to change the system, you have to face up to the reality of what opposes us. The dragon is awesome, but only by going into the cave can you learn its vulnerabilities. The current regime is powerful but it is not omnipotent. It has fatal vulnerabilities. You must be willing to acknowledge and understand the nature of the power before you can perceive the vulnerabilities. all the best, rkm ============================================================================ Richard K Moore Wexford, Ireland Citizens for a Democratic Renaissance email: •••@••.••• CDR website: http://cyberjournal.org cyberjournal archive: http://members.xoom.com/centrexnews/ book in progress: http://cyberjournal.org/cdr/gri.html A community will evolve only when the people control their means of communication. -- Frantz Fanon Capitalism is not the same as free enterprise - it is a very specialized ideology which holds the accumulation of wealth as the only economic value, and which demands that such economics dominate all other societal values. -- rkm Permission for non-commercial republishing hereby granted - BUT include and observe all restrictions, copyrights, credits, and notices - including this one. ============================================================================ .