What if . . .

[MAW1082]

What if the media is controlled by groups whose power / economic base is critically supported by the United States government . . .

What if a group of powerfully / wealthy elite corporations controlled the vast majority of what most of the population watched and read . . .

As Thomas Jefferson wrote of the greatest threats to liberty and freedom:

"Commercial monopolies and the ?pseudo aristoi? (pseudo aristocracy) in the form of extremely wealthy individuals and overly powerful corporations."

Could this be present in the United States? What if it is?

 

[Crimson]

Originally posted by: MAW1082
What if the media is controlled by groups whose power / economic base is critically supported by the United States government . . .

What if a group of powerfully / wealthy elite corporations controlled the vast majority of what most of the population watched and read . . .

As Thomas Jefferson wrote of the greatest threats to liberty and freedom:

"Commercial monopolies and the ?pseudo aristoi? (pseudo aristocracy) in the form of extremely wealthy individuals and overly powerful corporations."

Could this be present in the United States? What if it is?

What if the leftist elite controlled the media... oh wait..

 

[Painman]

The media is controlled by a cabal of plutocrats. Keep on drinking their carefully formulated Kool-Aid.

 

[Dissipate]

You will almost never hear a big media outlet say anything against the IRS, the Federal Reserve or any other big government entity/agency. Is this by chance? Not on your life, and this isn't a big conspiracy theory.

My theory is that everything you see on TV is filtered because the FCC is pulling the strings. Let's say Fox News had a report on the economic impact and devestation of the Fed's inflationary policies. The next day the FCC is going to be a knockin' with fines on made up violations, or the government will just turn up the heat in other ways.

As long as the government controls the medium, the information will be filtered. Therefore, the Internet can and does provide a lot more insightful twists on the news; insights that just will not be seen on cable TV.

 

[Painman]

Crimson blames the liberals, I blame the plutocracy, Dissipate blames the government. All within the first three replies to the OP.

It's a wrap, folks

 

[Moonbeam]

What if the government and the wealthy were interchangeable and government was passing laws favorable to the wealthy and the wealthy were supplying the money to get reelected. What a mess that would be.

 

[biostud]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
What if the government and the wealthy were interchangeable and government was passing laws favorable to the wealthy and the wealthy were supplying the money to get reelected. What a mess that would be.

LOL

 

[Ldir]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
What if the government and the wealthy were interchangeable and government was passing laws favorable to the wealthy and the wealthy were supplying the money to get reelected. What a mess that would be.

What if they wanted to see how far they could push it. We might get a smirking simian as president.

 

[cquark]

Since the tremendous consolidation of recent decades, American media is obviously controlled by the wealthy elite. However, there's no need for conspiracy. They publish the news that supports their views simply by being lazy most of the time, by republishing government and corporate press releases instead of investing time and money into serious investigative reporting, which not only requires more effort but which also has the downside that they might get sued by the entities they're investigating (especially in the UK, where truth is no defence against a libel charge.)

 

[GrGr]

Originally posted by: biostud666

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
What if the government and the wealthy were interchangeable and government was passing laws favorable to the wealthy and the wealthy were supplying the money to get reelected. What a mess that would be.

LOL

Shocking :shocked:

 

[XZeroII]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
What if the government and the wealthy were interchangeable and government was passing laws favorable to the wealthy and the wealthy were supplying the money to get reelected. What a mess that would be.

wow. An insightful comment made by Moonbeam. This could be the start of something truly scary...

 

[Train]

how exactly are the "Wealthy Elite" "Critically Supported" by the Govt? the richest people in the US pay the highest % of taxes, so isnt your claim kind of contradictory to the truth?

Not to mention a lot of extremely wealthy americans are highy vocal of thier opposition the the Govt, this doesnt support your claim either.

on a side note, the name "Wealthy Elite" in itself is the same as saying "the Disgusting poor" or maybe the "Lazy Poor", lets not use slanted labels shall we?

Yes, I can see past your crafty use of adjectives

 

[Red Dawn]

Being Elitist is a tough job but somebodies got to do it!

 

[Bumrush99]

People fail to realize that the media and government agree on most major issues!! The differences between the Democratic party and the Repulican party are miniscule. Within the realm of public and fiscal issues they agree on most things. Granted they do have differences on "peripheral issues" such as abortion and gun control, but for the most part they operate within a sphere of issues with almost total agreement. 3rd party viewpoints that reside outside the core sphere have no chance of success.

The media serves the same purpose of our government. Yes they may slanted one way or the other, but at the end of the day the media validates what the government does. Our political system is set up to ensure that big corporations and rich individuals succeed by creating a consumer market with a huge middle class that can spend.

 

[Moonbeam]

Originally posted by: Bumrush99
People fail to realize that the media and government agree on most major issues!! The differences between the Democratic party and the Repulican party are miniscule. Within the realm of public and fiscal issues they agree on most things. Granted they do have differences on "peripheral issues" such as abortion and gun control, but for the most part they operate within a sphere of issues with almost total agreement. 3rd party viewpoints that reside outside the core sphere have no chance of success.

The media serves the same purpose of our government. Yes they may slanted one way or the other, but at the end of the day the media validates what the government does. Our political system is set up to ensure that big corporations and rich individuals succeed by creating a consumer market with a huge middle class that can spend.

Somebody gave you a bum steer if you think globalization means any interest in the American middle class. They can go f themselves; there are much bigger fish to fry.

 

[Infohawk]

Originally posted by: Crimson

What if the leftist elite controlled the media... oh wait..

Do you have any evidence the leftist elite control the media?

 

[Bumrush99]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam

Originally posted by: Bumrush99
People fail to realize that the media and government agree on most major issues!! The differences between the Democratic party and the Repulican party are miniscule. Within the realm of public and fiscal issues they agree on most things. Granted they do have differences on "peripheral issues" such as abortion and gun control, but for the most part they operate within a sphere of issues with almost total agreement. 3rd party viewpoints that reside outside the core sphere have no chance of success.

The media serves the same purpose of our government. Yes they may slanted one way or the other, but at the end of the day the media validates what the government does. Our political system is set up to ensure that big corporations and rich individuals succeed by creating a consumer market with a huge middle class that can spend.

Somebody gave you a bum steer if you think globalization means any interest in the American middle class. They can go f themselves; there are much bigger fish to fry.

Please explain, don't mean to be rude I don't get what your trying to say.

 

[MAW1082]

How do you think the content distributed by media outlets owned by large corporations is affected by that corporation's other businesses or ties to the government.

For example, do you think the fact that NBC is owned by General Electric (GE) has any general effects on the content of the network?

What is the relationship between the government and companies like General Electric? Does GE receive government subsidies or industrial contracts? Does GE lobby to get certain bills passed in the House or Senate?

What are we reading or seeing in the news today? Where do these viewpoints come from?
I would certainly tend to disagree with Crimson's assumption, although I do not really think he even agrees with his own words.

 

[Corn]

Originally posted by: Bumrush99

Originally posted by: Moonbeam

Originally posted by: Bumrush99
People fail to realize that the media and government agree on most major issues!! The differences between the Democratic party and the Repulican party are miniscule. Within the realm of public and fiscal issues they agree on most things. Granted they do have differences on "peripheral issues" such as abortion and gun control, but for the most part they operate within a sphere of issues with almost total agreement. 3rd party viewpoints that reside outside the core sphere have no chance of success.

The media serves the same purpose of our government. Yes they may slanted one way or the other, but at the end of the day the media validates what the government does. Our political system is set up to ensure that big corporations and rich individuals succeed by creating a consumer market with a huge middle class that can spend.

Somebody gave you a bum steer if you think globalization means any interest in the American middle class. They can go f themselves; there are much bigger fish to fry.

Please explain, don't mean to be rude I don't get what your trying to say.

Unfortunately Moonie's limited economic understanding causes him to be unable to grasp the concept that people need money to buy what the rich folks are selling.

.......do not attempt to change him, please. He's so cute thinking that the rich favor making everyone poor. Because, you know, economic collapse is a good investment opportunity for us rich folk. Yeah, that's the ticket!!!!

 

[Bumrush99]

Originally posted by: Corn

Originally posted by: Bumrush99

Originally posted by: Moonbeam

Originally posted by: Bumrush99
People fail to realize that the media and government agree on most major issues!! The differences between the Democratic party and the Repulican party are miniscule. Within the realm of public and fiscal issues they agree on most things. Granted they do have differences on "peripheral issues" such as abortion and gun control, but for the most part they operate within a sphere of issues with almost total agreement. 3rd party viewpoints that reside outside the core sphere have no chance of success.

The media serves the same purpose of our government. Yes they may slanted one way or the other, but at the end of the day the media validates what the government does. Our political system is set up to ensure that big corporations and rich individuals succeed by creating a consumer market with a huge middle class that can spend.

Somebody gave you a bum steer if you think globalization means any interest in the American middle class. They can go f themselves; there are much bigger fish to fry.

Please explain, don't mean to be rude I don't get what your trying to say.

Unfortunately Moonie's limited economic understanding causes him to be unable to grasp the concept that people need money to buy what the rich folks are selling.

.......do not attempt to change him, please. He's so cute thinking that the rich favor making everyone poor. Because, you know, economic collapse is a good investment opportunity for us rich folk. Yeah, that's the ticket!!!!

Funny thing being that not only is this apparent in the US but is also obvious globally! The push to make the world a big democracy is not rooted in our desire to provide human rights to everyone, its based on our desire to sell things everywhere! We wooo China because of the trade opportunities yet could care less about Cuba and will let them rot in hell cause cigar imports don't mean squat to us!

 

[Corn]

Well Bumrush, one thing to consider is that there isn't a whole lot of profit to be made in $20 cigars. Small ticket items don't interest us as much as $40,000 SUV's........

Now if only we could make everyone poor, why we'd sell even more SUV's.......just ask Moonie, he'll explain it fer ya.

 

[GrGr]

Originally posted by: Corn

Originally posted by: Bumrush99

Originally posted by: Moonbeam

Originally posted by: Bumrush99
People fail to realize that the media and government agree on most major issues!! The differences between the Democratic party and the Repulican party are miniscule. Within the realm of public and fiscal issues they agree on most things. Granted they do have differences on "peripheral issues" such as abortion and gun control, but for the most part they operate within a sphere of issues with almost total agreement. 3rd party viewpoints that reside outside the core sphere have no chance of success.

The media serves the same purpose of our government. Yes they may slanted one way or the other, but at the end of the day the media validates what the government does. Our political system is set up to ensure that big corporations and rich individuals succeed by creating a consumer market with a huge middle class that can spend.

Somebody gave you a bum steer if you think globalization means any interest in the American middle class. They can go f themselves; there are much bigger fish to fry.

Please explain, don't mean to be rude I don't get what your trying to say.

Unfortunately Moonie's limited economic understanding causes him to be unable to grasp the concept that people need money to buy what the rich folks are selling.

.......do not attempt to change him, please. He's so cute thinking that the rich favor making everyone poor. Because, you know, economic collapse is a good investment opportunity for us rich folk. Yeah, that's the ticket!!!!

The Mega Rich, being Mega Rich, know full well that for them to remain Mega Rich there have to be a sufficient number of Mega Poor. After all, if everybody is equally rich, then everybody is equally poor. And if there is one thing the Mega Rich hate it is the idea of their own poverty. (I'm of course speaking about financial wealth, I don't know about their morality but seeing how proficient many of them are at looting other (foreign) economies, not to speak about the US economy, for their own benefit, I have doubts about their, shall we say, "moral wealth".)

 

[DealMonkey]

Originally posted by: Corn
Well Bumrush, one thing to consider is that there isn't a whole lot of profit to be made in $20 cigars. Small ticket items don't interest us as much as $40,000 SUV's........

Now if only we could make everyone poor, why we'd sell even more SUV's.......just ask Moonie, he'll explain it fer ya.

We were a wealthy nation prior to the rise in globalization and corporate consolidation -- please explain yourself.

 

[DealMonkey]

Originally posted by: Train
how exactly are the "Wealthy Elite" "Critically Supported" by the Govt? the richest people in the US pay the highest % of taxes, so isnt your claim kind of contradictory to the truth?

Isn't the truth of the matter that the whole concept of the wealthiest paying the most taxes is really just a big myth? Sure, if you look at total Federal taxes paid by all individuals, the wealthiest x% pay a large chunk. But what percentage of their earnings are the wealthiest paying? That's the question that really matters.

And that's really just the tip of it. What about state taxes or social security taxes or sales taxes? How much as a percentage of their incomes, do the wealthiest x% pay?

Now those would be some interesting numbers.

 

[Train]

the wealthiest 1% of american citizens pay 34% of total taxes collected. These are stats from the 2001 IRS revenue taken from the IRS website, you can look it up at irs.gov, I would post an exact link to where I read it, but I plead the 5th on that one.