While the Media Focused on Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson, the “King of Pop,” recently passed away from a reported cardiac arrest. Personally, as someone who grew up listening to his music, I am saddened by his death. I also feel great sorrow for his family and the children he has left behind. However, as I reflect on the memory of the fleeting diversion that his music provided I can think of no lasting or positive influence that his music has had on my life. In addition, while I am now a witness to the subsequent media feeding frenzy over his death I am left feeling sorrowful about the public’s cult-like worship of a media superstar, while at the very same moment the destruction of our families, marriages, and our preciously held freedoms goes unnoticed. How could such an individual and other media darlings have garnered so much of the public’s attention while, in the halls of our national capital, deliberations about the death of our freedoms and future prosperity are nearly concluded. The resultant loss of freedom and liberty combined with the destruction of our children’s futures will mean much more to the lives of ordinary people than the life or death of Michael Jackson. Yet, where is the outcry? Where are the lamentations heard? Where are the candle-light vigils seen?
I have often wondered and lamented why most people are not able or willing to see what is plainly visible to me and others. After much contemplation, I think the reasons for this are mainly two-fold. For one, the American public has their eyes diverted and their vision distorted. Their attention is no longer focused on the most important things that will really affect their lives. It was not long ago that the lives of celebrities held little sway in the lives of ordinary Americans. Unfortunately, with the advent of television and government-media complex our focus on the real issues of life, liberty, and happiness has been lost. In a recent report from Nielsen Media Research it was noted that the average American watches 151 hours of television a month. This is about 5 hours a day. The researchers also noted that there are more televisions in American households than there are occupants. By contrast, the average American between ages 15-34 only spends about 10 minutes a day reading. (1) What has this meant for our republic? The results have been catastrophic. The average American knows less about current events, world history, basic economics, governmental systems, and the constitution than they know about the latest gossip about Britney Spears or the fashion trends on the red carpet.
As bad as this situation is, worse is what we are learning from all the time we spend watching television, most of which has not been good for freedom and liberty. In fact, it is no secret that the television media is largely composed of supporters of the Democratic Party and a liberal, even socialist, agenda. Just recently I watched a video from the producers of several Fox programs highlighting how they were purposefully including climate change items into their most popular television shows in order to promote a green agenda. (2) As a result of this and other efforts from the media propaganda machine over the past decades many programs and ideas which were once thought of as illegal, illegitimate, and unhealthy are now falsely accepted as normal or even desirable. These include, among others, federal income taxes, the Federal Reserve, fiat money, firearm legislation, the fairness doctrine, and the Patriot Act. More recently, with the help of the media, support for President Obama’s initiatives to remove our sovereignty via his climate change and universal health care bills have garnished increased support. The results of these efforts is that the government now legislates and controls almost every aspect of our lives including immunizations, taxes, marriage, automobiles, manufacturing, the doctor-patient relationship, and what you can cook fries with. Soon it may include controlling our so-called ‘carbon footprint’ and dictating our health care plan. It is therefore no longer a surprise to view the apathy and ignorance of the public. They are being fed from the trough of disinformation and filth.
The second reason for the apathy of the American public is that they falsely believe that they are just as free as they have always been. This belief is permitted to perpetuate due to the public’s own laziness and ignorance.
Aldous Huxley puts it well in the book Brave New World Revisited published in 1958:
“It is perfectly possible for a man to be out of prison, and yet not free — to be under no physical constraint and yet to be a psychological captive, compelled to think, feel and act as the representatives of the national state, or of some private interest within the nation, wants him to think, feel and act.
“The nature of psychological compulsion is such that those who act under constraint remain under the impression that they are acting on their own initiative. The victim of mind-manipulation does not know that he is a victim. To him the walls of his prison are invisible, and he believes himself to be free. That he is not free is apparent only to other people. His servitude is strictly objective.”
Additionally, former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ezra T. Benson said: “If America is destroyed, it may be by Americans who salute the flag, sing the national anthem, march in patriotic parades, cheer Fourth of July speakers — normally good Americans, but Americans who fail to comprehend what is required to keep our country strong and free, Americans who have been lulled away into a false security.” (3)
In other words, ordinary patriotic freedom-loving Americans have become so comfortable within their own invisible prison walls that they have forgotten what it was like to live under the skies of freedom. It is up to us to help regular Americans recognize the restrictive walls that encircle them. We need to realign their vision by educating them about the basic principles of the constitution, freedom, sound money, and self-responsibility. Then, and only then, will supporters of liberty have enough sway to elect sufficient representatives to turn the tide.
References:
1. Freemen Institute. Brain Dead. April 4, 2009.
2. Infowars. Fox Admits to Planting Political Brainwashing in Popular TV shows. March 6, 2009.
3. General Conference Report. A Time of Crisis. April, 1968.
Copyright � 2009 Campaign for Liberty
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