Comments on: Words as Weapons: Communication in an Age of Illiteracy http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/02/words-as-weapons-communication-in-an-age-of-illiteracy/ a radical newsletter in the struggle for peace and social justice Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:07:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: dan e http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/02/words-as-weapons-communication-in-an-age-of-illiteracy/#comment-64392 dan e Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:14:09 +0000 http://dissidentvoice.org/?p=14113#comment-64392 Richard Mellon Scaife, heir to the Andrew Mellon fortune via mother Sarah Mellon. Well I thought the article was not too bad as a "first approximation"; it did identify a lot of current symptoms/abuses. But I agree he missed, or maybe just stopped short not wanting to overload the reader's understanding?-- he did miss the essential point, which is "who controls the loudspeaker" and how loud is it. Without the amplification provided by our Zionist-controlled Capitalist Media Complex, Limbaugh would be just another crackpot raving into his beerglass. Amplification and Constant Repitition. As Joe Goebbels put it in his Diaries, "I never try to change anybody's mind. What I do is reinforce existing prejudices in an entertaining way". Limbaugh may be the most "entertaining" of the crackpots, or was until Palin came along? But if it wasn't Rush it would be another "talent": the decisive factor is still who controls the PA. Richard Mellon Scaife, heir to the Andrew Mellon fortune via mother Sarah Mellon.

Well I thought the article was not too bad as a “first approximation”; it did identify a lot of current symptoms/abuses. But I agree he missed, or maybe just stopped short not wanting to overload the reader’s understanding?– he did miss the essential point, which is “who controls the loudspeaker” and how loud is it.

Without the amplification provided by our Zionist-controlled Capitalist Media Complex, Limbaugh would be just another crackpot raving into his beerglass.
Amplification and Constant Repitition. As Joe Goebbels put it in his Diaries, “I never try to change anybody’s mind. What I do is reinforce existing prejudices in an entertaining way”. Limbaugh may be the most “entertaining” of the crackpots, or was until Palin came along? But if it wasn’t Rush it would be another “talent”: the decisive factor is still who controls the PA.

]]> By: Deadbeat http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/02/words-as-weapons-communication-in-an-age-of-illiteracy/#comment-64346 Deadbeat Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:21:55 +0000 http://dissidentvoice.org/?p=14113#comment-64346 kanomi writes ... <i>This article analyzes one symptom, remains locked in the divisive “left-right” dialectic, and does not look to deeper causes.</i> kanomi hones in on the weakness of the authors analysis. It is locked into a "left-right" focus and doesn't look into for example racism and capitalism as the driving forces in how the political discourse has degraded. Lack of education is one aspect, however the consolidation of the airwaves is another. The gains of the Civil Right movement lead to a racist backlash by the "white working class" who had no desire to alter their supremacist beliefs. And lets not forget the right-wing billionaires like Richard Schafe (sp?) who used their fortunes to fund the backlash. Also let's not let the Liberals off the hook while their are associated with the Civil Right movement used their influence to limit the gains and goals of the movement and especially keep all movement constrained to Capitalism. Kanomi is correct. That this article is lacking a radical analysis. kanomi writes …

This article analyzes one symptom, remains locked in the divisive “left-right” dialectic, and does not look to deeper causes.

kanomi hones in on the weakness of the authors analysis. It is locked into a “left-right” focus and doesn’t look into for example racism and capitalism as the driving forces in how the political discourse has degraded. Lack of education is one aspect, however the consolidation of the airwaves is another. The gains of the Civil Right movement lead to a racist backlash by the “white working class” who had no desire to alter their supremacist beliefs. And lets not forget the right-wing billionaires like Richard Schafe (sp?) who used their fortunes to fund the backlash. Also let’s not let the Liberals off the hook while their are associated with the Civil Right movement used their influence to limit the gains and goals of the movement and especially keep all movement constrained to Capitalism.

Kanomi is correct. That this article is lacking a radical analysis.

]]> By: kanomi http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/02/words-as-weapons-communication-in-an-age-of-illiteracy/#comment-64344 kanomi Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:27:55 +0000 http://dissidentvoice.org/?p=14113#comment-64344 Why are so many people sub-literate? Why do they lack the critical skills to think for themselves, to avoid being led around by whatever rhetorical flourishes some psychopath can muster? And for that matter, why is even the rhetoric of the raconteurs now written on a less than fifth grade level? Because education is abysmal, it is broken, and it was deliberately mangled and destroyed in order to turn a nation of citizens proud of their freedoms into a rot-brained mass of obedient workers and quivering consumers, beholden to a corporate police state. This article analyzes one symptom, remains locked in the divisive "left-right" dialectic, and does not look to deeper causes. Why are so many people sub-literate? Why do they lack the critical skills to think for themselves, to avoid being led around by whatever rhetorical flourishes some psychopath can muster? And for that matter, why is even the rhetoric of the raconteurs now written on a less than fifth grade level?

Because education is abysmal, it is broken, and it was deliberately mangled and destroyed in order to turn a nation of citizens proud of their freedoms into a rot-brained mass of obedient workers and quivering consumers, beholden to a corporate police state.

This article analyzes one symptom, remains locked in the divisive “left-right” dialectic, and does not look to deeper causes.

]]> By: bozh http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/02/words-as-weapons-communication-in-an-age-of-illiteracy/#comment-64343 bozh Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:15:33 +0000 http://dissidentvoice.org/?p=14113#comment-64343 estoban, People make mistakes. In an idyllic society, people around a person who made a mistake [serious or less serious] wld or shld say: U can know only so much;however, we together can know more. And we as group of people will always make mistakes. So, please for your and our sake and peace of mind don't call or deem self a loser. It makes lot more sense to say: U made mistake[s], rather than saying: Look, u'r stupid! yes, my agenda had been for the last 40 yrs to use language in a more sane way! Can u understand BHO? I can't! As to why i do not know what's he talking ab, perhaps some other time? tnx estoban,
People make mistakes. In an idyllic society, people around a person who made a mistake [serious or less serious] wld or shld say: U can know only so much;however, we together can know more. And we as group of people will always make mistakes.
So, please for your and our sake and peace of mind don’t call or deem self a loser.
It makes lot more sense to say: U made mistake[s], rather than saying: Look, u’r stupid!
yes, my agenda had been for the last 40 yrs to use language in a more sane way!
Can u understand BHO? I can’t! As to why i do not know what’s he talking ab, perhaps some other time? tnx

]]> By: Estoban http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/02/words-as-weapons-communication-in-an-age-of-illiteracy/#comment-64331 Estoban Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:36:33 +0000 http://dissidentvoice.org/?p=14113#comment-64331 How peculiar it is to replace words that have been used for hundreds of years with new words that totally change the meaning of the original words. It almost seems agenda driven and certainly leads to less understanding in discourse. How peculiar it is to replace words that have been used for hundreds of years with new words that totally change the meaning of the original words. It almost seems agenda driven and certainly leads to less understanding in discourse.

]]> By: bozh http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/02/words-as-weapons-communication-in-an-age-of-illiteracy/#comment-64326 bozh Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:32:56 +0000 http://dissidentvoice.org/?p=14113#comment-64326 Some societies have no words like stupid: they have concluded that neither the gods nor nature makes stupid, arrogant, stubborn, etc. people. These labels were invented by some people. They can hurt; yet provide not a sliver of knowledge. However, even all labels deceive unless one is aware of the fact that they come after facts. If one posits facts or descriptions first, and then calls names, no harm is done! Eg, one can say: s/he stole a loaf of bread; thus, s/he's a thief. However, it wld be better to say that one theft doesn't make one a thief. And if one steals a preparation H, bankers, pols, priests steal much, much more. As no one cld get as rich as they do unless they rob the rest of us- quite 'legally', i may add. So we are surrounded by people who steal, murder, torture , oppress, abuse, etc. But only devil wld forgive one who wld steal a slice of bread, but a pol, priest, banker will not ever! Welcome back to urnanshe's days of 5.8k yrs ago. Basicly nothing had changed! Thanks for ur patience in reading this nonsense; nonsense, u know to whom! Some societies have no words like stupid: they have concluded that neither the gods nor nature makes stupid, arrogant, stubborn, etc. people.
These labels were invented by some people. They can hurt; yet provide not a sliver of knowledge.
However, even all labels deceive unless one is aware of the fact that they come after facts.
If one posits facts or descriptions first, and then calls names, no harm is done!
Eg, one can say: s/he stole a loaf of bread; thus, s/he’s a thief. However, it wld be better to say that one theft doesn’t make one a thief.
And if one steals a preparation H, bankers, pols, priests steal much, much more. As no one cld get as rich as they do unless they rob the rest of us- quite ‘legally’, i may add.
So we are surrounded by people who steal, murder, torture , oppress, abuse, etc.
But only devil wld forgive one who wld steal a slice of bread, but a pol, priest, banker will not ever! Welcome back to urnanshe’s days of 5.8k yrs ago.
Basicly nothing had changed! Thanks for ur patience in reading this nonsense; nonsense, u know to whom!

]]>