"Well, that is a perfect parallel. 'After bread, the need of the people is knowledge,' said Danton. Knowledge is now a monopoly, and comes through to the citizens in thin and selected streams, exactly as bread might come through to a besieged city. Men must wish to know what is happening, whoever has the privilege of telling them. They must listen to the messenger, even if he is a liar. They must listen to the liar, even if he is a bore. The official journalist for some time past has been both a bore and a liar; but it was impossible until lately to neglect his sheets of news altogether. Lately the capitalist Press really has begun to be neglected; because its bad journalism was overpowering and appalling. Lately we have really begun to find out that capitalism cannot write, just as it cannot fight, or pray, or marry, or make a joke, or do any other stricken human thing. But this discovery has been quite recent. The capitalist newspaper was never actually unread until it was actually unreadable." — G.K. Chesterton, A Utopia of Usurers
Crapitalism weaponizes the market place of ideas. It sells some comfort for the price of total control. It gives away some information for the price of printing truth. It is willing to let its slaves have faster internet if it secures a faster way to control the internet/s on/off switch. It is willing to give its citizens a morsel of news in order to buy time to complete the newsfactory where the details are manufactured. Every headline is now made on an assembly line and comes hot off the press like a newly minted novelty tee.
The news is now boring because it is made by boars and the pigs are fine with slop.
No comments:
Post a Comment