Wednesday, November 26, 2008

popular capitalism vs popular revolution

Use of language in the media guides our thoughts and make us pick sides without us realising.

In industrial disputes why do employers always 'offer' settlements while employees 'demand' them? Why are there only 'hardliners' in unions, never bosses? why are Hamas an 'extremist group' while Likud are the 'governing political party'?

Compare the tales of two November elections.

When Barack Obama wins 53% of the popular vote and 58% of the states, the headlines call it a landslide.

When Hugo Chavez has 57% popularity and wins 77% of the states, the headlines call it a setback.

2 comments:

punkscience said...

Ah, yes. The elegance of manufacturing consent. A good yarn about this phenomenon can be found here:

http://www.medialens.org/alerts/08/081007_intellectual_cleansing_part2.php

Paul said...

excellent article, punkscience. thank you.