Saturday, February 25, 2017
RE TRUMP TALKING ABOUT FAKE NEWS WAR PROPAGANDA AND THE MEDIA
Another interesting chapter is that re The London Times, in Quigley's The Anglo-American Establishment .
People may think, and it seems to me that Quigley himself led them to believe in the book, that the program of the Milner Group, as it had been transformed from Rhodes' day, somehow came to an end with the failures of its program that resulted in WWII, failures for which not only did it not take responsibility politically, then or later, but for which it transferred ostensible responsibility to Germany. Many people in the English speaking world continue to hold this view, because it was part of political and media propaganda even leading up to WWII, that Germany, and no other, had been solely responsible for WWI. It was an article of faith for FDR; see Beschloss, The Conquerors.
Thinking this would be a big mistake. Clearly not only the post WWII political institutional world owed a great deal to the Milner Group's continuing influence on those who fashioned this post war liberal international economic order, but many of the non governmental and private entities set up under the auspices of the Milner group have carried on until today. It seems clear to me that the NYT is such an entity, a legacy of the Milner Group program and propaganda, and especially of Curtis' ideas. The CFR, and the journal Foreign Affairs, are direct lineal descendants.
These topics are anything but new. Since the development of mass media going back to mass printing, it has been used, along with manipulation of non media social and political features of society, to influence or bring about outcomes for or against a particular political objective or regime. There were real conspiracies, fake conspiracies, covert operations, overt influence, media use and abuse of all kinds, as well as straight diplomacy. Palmer's The Age of the Democratic Revolution has passages throughout recounting episodes of this kind, all over Europe and America, connected with actions for or against a particular regime or objective.
One can go back almost to the beginning, when Sophists were accused, rightly or wrongly, of making the worse argument appear the better.
These topics are anything but new. Since the development of mass media going back to mass printing, it has been used, along with manipulation of non media social and political features of society, to influence or bring about outcomes for or against a particular political objective or regime. There were real conspiracies, fake conspiracies, covert operations, overt influence, media use and abuse of all kinds, as well as straight diplomacy. Palmer's The Age of the Democratic Revolution has passages throughout recounting episodes of this kind, all over Europe and America, connected with actions for or against a particular regime or objective.
One can go back almost to the beginning, when Sophists were accused, rightly or wrongly, of making the worse argument appear the better.
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