War against "1984"

by system failure

I’ve been  thinking lately the phrase of the French philosopher Alain Badiou, that we observe the crisis as a spectacle, and I realize that he was quite right.  In Greece, while everyone is suffering from the consequences of the crisis, some more than others, we still watch the crisis through the TV sets as a matter which is not related to us.

This is, probably, the greatest achievement of the systemic establishment, apart from the fact that it exploits the multilevel conflict interests of a middle class which eats its own flesh, in a peculiar internal-class civil war. Because this establishment, managed to make us watch its mouthpieces, through the devices of propaganda that everyone has at home, at the same time that many of our fellow citizens are driven to suicide, victims on its altar, in order to maintain its power and prevail totally.

Although we experiencing perhaps the biggest systemic propaganda through the mainstream media since the Greek junta, most Greeks continue to get information through the TV news of the biggest TV channels and the biggest newspapers. And the craziest thing is that, as the Greek writer Nikos Kotzias said, most Greeks reproduce the news of the mainstream media while not believe them!

Well, this is a case in which reality exceed imagination. I bet that Rod Serling, the creator of the famous series “The Twilight Zone” couldn’t imagine such a scenario. And neither George Orwell could probably ever imagine, that one day, people would have the devices which describe in his famous book “1984” inside their houses, but they would press the button on their own will, due to their brain addiction, without actually anyone to enforce them to do it. That through the propaganda and the psychological terror, people would elect governments-servants of the systemic establishment through false democratic processes, leading themselves to deeper poverty and enslavement. That people would even reproduce the propaganda, although they would stop believe to the mouthpieces speaking through the devices.

The golden boys of “journalism” still richly rewarded, at the same time that most of the Greeks are suffering from the cruel austerity measures and cuts inside this economic crisis. Well, it is not strange since they are actually well-paid bank executives.  Societies are under occupation. “1984” is here and now, but it is worse than fantasy, because it prevails sneakily, societies agree to prevail.

But the “regime” managed something even worse, to make us play the game more and more on its own terms. As much as we hate bankers, golden boys and speculators, which passed the “bill” to the middle class working people and pensioners, while they are still making money through this crisis, we have learned to talk through numbers, as the mainstream economists of the “new economy” - the loyal soldiers of the regime - dictate. We are about to become specialists in economics, through the brainwashing which the regime’s mouthpieces launch daily. The regime is trying to create societies of pragmatists which, through a cynical pseudo-rationalism, will be ready to suicide for “a better future”. This is why anyone who dares to speak about people, poverty and misery, becomes almost quaint, and the systemic journalists treat him often with a covered irony, because these well-paid executives dictate to speak with their language, with numbers and data, in the stilted discussion TV shows.

But people who demonstrate in streets, are also trying to defend their rights and request more things with terms that belong to this regime. As long as the middle class is self-destructed, as long as requests more benefits with terms that belong to the neoliberal regime, the regime will prevail and impose its terms more and more, trapping societies inside a vicious circle of cultural degeneration.

Surprisingly, I heard the concerns of Badiou and Kotzias through interviews and appearances on television. Because the  device  of propaganda has sometimes good things to see and hear.

Surprisingly, I support that we must watch the news of the well-paid top journalists and their stilted discussion shows, not to reproduce what they say of course, but to train our brain to expose their lies, exaggerations and contradictions. The latest big lie, is the crowing of the mainstream media about the new deal regarding the Greek debt. They are talking about a new haircut that will make the Greek debt viable. We all remember what they were telling a few months ago, during the first haircut. The bank-occupied media were crowing then as they do now. And what happened? Rise of unemployment , new cuts, more taxes for the middle class, higher debt and deficit. The haircut was applied only for the Greek universities, hospitals, social security funds, and Greek banks, while the foreign creditors were rescued and made more money. Well, of course the Greek banks finally rescued with new bailout packages at the expense of taxpayers (Greek and European taxpayers), because they are controlled from the big superbanks that control the global economy. And all these happened in the name of securing the deposits, which is another big lie. Well, we all know now what will happen again for one more time despite the triumphalism of the mainstream media.

It doesn’t have to be too smart someone to expose their lies. We just have to bring back the common sense and critical thought. Because through critical thought, which in our days is nearly dead, we will realize that this cynical pragmatism is madness, that this pseudo-rationalism is actually irrational. Only this way we can start the war against today’s“1984”.