SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
It's hard to know when dealing with the mainstream media at what point simple propaganda passes over into sheer idiocy. Case in point: yesterday's Washington Post. A piece by Neil Irwin, "Why We're Gloomier Than The Economy," puzzles about the fact that Americans' collective attitude toward the economy is so negative.
He notes that consumer confidence is at its lowest level in almost 30 years but then flogs the standard repertoire of government statistics to suggest that the economy is, in fact, fine. Official inflation is relatively low. Official unemployment is relatively low. Official GDP is growing. What's the problem? The intimation is that the pall of gloom hanging over things is really just a bunch of crybabies who can't hack it today's dynamic world.
We can't know for sure if Irwin is simply carrying water for his corporate masters, trying to paint lipstick on a pig that, embarrassingly, persists in going "oink." If he were, he'd be among worthies, what with Ben Bernanke, Henry Paulson, and even Big George himself regularly opining how the economy is "fundamentally sound," on "solid footing," and with its perennially recurrent crises perennially "contained." This is the "perception-is-reality" school of propaganda at its most condescending.
Or, Irwin and the Post may actually believe, like Voltaire's Dr. Pangloss, that "things are perfect and getting better all the time," that a swelling tide of prosperity is lifting the economy to new heights, buoying the vast middle class to that elevated plateau of nouveau riche gentility that Bush used to tout (but doesn't any more) in his "ownership society" speeches. Perhaps he is of that Thomas Friedman/David Brooks billionaire/millionaire ilk of noblesse oblige declaimers who feel that the proper, orderly response to a little financial headwind is to discreetly let go one of the downstairs maids or pastry chefs.
Whatever the cause of Irwin's misapprehension, it is worthwhile cataloging -- for him, for the Post, and for all the rest of the ranks of oblivious officialdom -- just some of the reasons mainstream Americans are so gloomy about the economy. Readers are asked to understand the space limitations that compel only a partial and suggestive rendering. So, to wit:
As I said, this is just a partial and suggestive list of problems facing consumers who are vastly overextended and facing a desperate, dramatically poorer future. They may not see them all. They may not understand every one. But they get the drift.
At the same time, people see the Federal Reserve bailing out failed investment banks, committing openly to bail out any others arbitrarily deemed "too big to fail," lending commercial banks money at less than 1% so they can re-lend it to maxed-out credit card holders at 27%. They see stratospheric increases in incomes for the already obscenely bloated and the disparity in wealth distribution reaching its highest levels since before 1929.
They see the trillions of dollars fawningly lavished on weapons makers and pharmaceutical manufacturers, all at their expense, and the billions of dollars sloshed through the political system every year, all to keep these good times rolling -- at least for the Neil Irwins and the Washington Posts of the world.
People aren't stupid, though the lapdogs of power must continually try to convince them that they are. There is a palpable gloom about the economy. It's real. It's deep. It's growing. The only question is whether the mainstream media, owned by the very beneficiaries of the calamity they themselves helped construct, can deflect attention from it artfully enough and blame for it long enough to throw the next election to the Republicans so they can do it all over again. It's your choice.
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Robert Freeman is the Founder and Executive Director of The Global Uplift Project, a leading provider of educational infrastructure for the developing world. He is the author of The Best One Hour History series whose titles include World War I, The Cold War, The Vietnam War, and many others.
It's hard to know when dealing with the mainstream media at what point simple propaganda passes over into sheer idiocy. Case in point: yesterday's Washington Post. A piece by Neil Irwin, "Why We're Gloomier Than The Economy," puzzles about the fact that Americans' collective attitude toward the economy is so negative.
He notes that consumer confidence is at its lowest level in almost 30 years but then flogs the standard repertoire of government statistics to suggest that the economy is, in fact, fine. Official inflation is relatively low. Official unemployment is relatively low. Official GDP is growing. What's the problem? The intimation is that the pall of gloom hanging over things is really just a bunch of crybabies who can't hack it today's dynamic world.
We can't know for sure if Irwin is simply carrying water for his corporate masters, trying to paint lipstick on a pig that, embarrassingly, persists in going "oink." If he were, he'd be among worthies, what with Ben Bernanke, Henry Paulson, and even Big George himself regularly opining how the economy is "fundamentally sound," on "solid footing," and with its perennially recurrent crises perennially "contained." This is the "perception-is-reality" school of propaganda at its most condescending.
Or, Irwin and the Post may actually believe, like Voltaire's Dr. Pangloss, that "things are perfect and getting better all the time," that a swelling tide of prosperity is lifting the economy to new heights, buoying the vast middle class to that elevated plateau of nouveau riche gentility that Bush used to tout (but doesn't any more) in his "ownership society" speeches. Perhaps he is of that Thomas Friedman/David Brooks billionaire/millionaire ilk of noblesse oblige declaimers who feel that the proper, orderly response to a little financial headwind is to discreetly let go one of the downstairs maids or pastry chefs.
Whatever the cause of Irwin's misapprehension, it is worthwhile cataloging -- for him, for the Post, and for all the rest of the ranks of oblivious officialdom -- just some of the reasons mainstream Americans are so gloomy about the economy. Readers are asked to understand the space limitations that compel only a partial and suggestive rendering. So, to wit:
As I said, this is just a partial and suggestive list of problems facing consumers who are vastly overextended and facing a desperate, dramatically poorer future. They may not see them all. They may not understand every one. But they get the drift.
At the same time, people see the Federal Reserve bailing out failed investment banks, committing openly to bail out any others arbitrarily deemed "too big to fail," lending commercial banks money at less than 1% so they can re-lend it to maxed-out credit card holders at 27%. They see stratospheric increases in incomes for the already obscenely bloated and the disparity in wealth distribution reaching its highest levels since before 1929.
They see the trillions of dollars fawningly lavished on weapons makers and pharmaceutical manufacturers, all at their expense, and the billions of dollars sloshed through the political system every year, all to keep these good times rolling -- at least for the Neil Irwins and the Washington Posts of the world.
People aren't stupid, though the lapdogs of power must continually try to convince them that they are. There is a palpable gloom about the economy. It's real. It's deep. It's growing. The only question is whether the mainstream media, owned by the very beneficiaries of the calamity they themselves helped construct, can deflect attention from it artfully enough and blame for it long enough to throw the next election to the Republicans so they can do it all over again. It's your choice.
Robert Freeman is the Founder and Executive Director of The Global Uplift Project, a leading provider of educational infrastructure for the developing world. He is the author of The Best One Hour History series whose titles include World War I, The Cold War, The Vietnam War, and many others.
It's hard to know when dealing with the mainstream media at what point simple propaganda passes over into sheer idiocy. Case in point: yesterday's Washington Post. A piece by Neil Irwin, "Why We're Gloomier Than The Economy," puzzles about the fact that Americans' collective attitude toward the economy is so negative.
He notes that consumer confidence is at its lowest level in almost 30 years but then flogs the standard repertoire of government statistics to suggest that the economy is, in fact, fine. Official inflation is relatively low. Official unemployment is relatively low. Official GDP is growing. What's the problem? The intimation is that the pall of gloom hanging over things is really just a bunch of crybabies who can't hack it today's dynamic world.
We can't know for sure if Irwin is simply carrying water for his corporate masters, trying to paint lipstick on a pig that, embarrassingly, persists in going "oink." If he were, he'd be among worthies, what with Ben Bernanke, Henry Paulson, and even Big George himself regularly opining how the economy is "fundamentally sound," on "solid footing," and with its perennially recurrent crises perennially "contained." This is the "perception-is-reality" school of propaganda at its most condescending.
Or, Irwin and the Post may actually believe, like Voltaire's Dr. Pangloss, that "things are perfect and getting better all the time," that a swelling tide of prosperity is lifting the economy to new heights, buoying the vast middle class to that elevated plateau of nouveau riche gentility that Bush used to tout (but doesn't any more) in his "ownership society" speeches. Perhaps he is of that Thomas Friedman/David Brooks billionaire/millionaire ilk of noblesse oblige declaimers who feel that the proper, orderly response to a little financial headwind is to discreetly let go one of the downstairs maids or pastry chefs.
Whatever the cause of Irwin's misapprehension, it is worthwhile cataloging -- for him, for the Post, and for all the rest of the ranks of oblivious officialdom -- just some of the reasons mainstream Americans are so gloomy about the economy. Readers are asked to understand the space limitations that compel only a partial and suggestive rendering. So, to wit:
As I said, this is just a partial and suggestive list of problems facing consumers who are vastly overextended and facing a desperate, dramatically poorer future. They may not see them all. They may not understand every one. But they get the drift.
At the same time, people see the Federal Reserve bailing out failed investment banks, committing openly to bail out any others arbitrarily deemed "too big to fail," lending commercial banks money at less than 1% so they can re-lend it to maxed-out credit card holders at 27%. They see stratospheric increases in incomes for the already obscenely bloated and the disparity in wealth distribution reaching its highest levels since before 1929.
They see the trillions of dollars fawningly lavished on weapons makers and pharmaceutical manufacturers, all at their expense, and the billions of dollars sloshed through the political system every year, all to keep these good times rolling -- at least for the Neil Irwins and the Washington Posts of the world.
People aren't stupid, though the lapdogs of power must continually try to convince them that they are. There is a palpable gloom about the economy. It's real. It's deep. It's growing. The only question is whether the mainstream media, owned by the very beneficiaries of the calamity they themselves helped construct, can deflect attention from it artfully enough and blame for it long enough to throw the next election to the Republicans so they can do it all over again. It's your choice.