Why Are We The Good Guys?: Reclaiming Your Mind From The Delusions Of Propaganda

Why Are We The Good Guys?: Reclaiming Your Mind From The Delusions Of Propaganda

by David Cromwell
Why Are We The Good Guys?: Reclaiming Your Mind From The Delusions Of Propaganda

Why Are We The Good Guys?: Reclaiming Your Mind From The Delusions Of Propaganda

by David Cromwell

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Overview

One of the unspoken assumptions of the Western world is that we are great defenders of human rights,
a free press and the benefits of market economics. Mistakes might be made along the way, perhaps even
tragic errors of judgement such as the 2003 invasion of Iraq. But the prevailing view is that the West is
essentially a force for good in the wider world. Why Are We The Good Guys? is a provocative challenge
of this false ideology. David Cromwell digs beneath standard accounts of crucial issues such as foreign
policy, climate change and the constant struggle between state-corporate power and genuine democracy.
The powerful evidence-based analysis of current affairs is leavened by some of the formative experiences
that led the author to question the basic myth of Western benevolence: from schoolroom
experiments in democracy, exposure to radical ideas at home, and a mercy mission while at sea;
to an unexpected encounter with former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, the struggles to publish
hard-hitting journalism, and the founding of Media Lens in 2001.
,

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781780993652
Publisher: Collective Ink
Publication date: 09/16/2012
Pages: 329
Product dimensions: 5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

David Cromwell lives in Southampton and works full-time as co-editor of Media Lens, a UK-based media analysis website, which he co-founded in 2001. In 2007, Media Lens received the Gandhi Foundation International Peace Award. David is also the co-founder of the Crisis Forum which he set up with a colleague at the University of Southampton. David has a PhD (1987) in solar physics from the University of Glasgow. Following postdoctoral research in Boulder, Colorado, and a four-year stint working for Shell in the Netherlands, David returned to the UK in 1993. In 2010, he left his research position at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, to work full-time on Media Lens.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements xii

1 The Golden Ride of State Violence 1

Two Classroom Experiments 5

A Shock to the System 11

The Marshall Plan: Myth and Actuality 12

Bad News from the Middle East 15

The BBC Ponders Another Moral Issue 21

Helen 'The Hidden' Boaden 22

'A Brilliant Act of Hypnosis' 26

2 Shoring up the Edifice of Benign Power 28

The Origins of Media Lens 28

The Unreporting of the West's Genocide in Iraq 33

The Propaganda Model and the Price of Iraq 35

Burying Unpeople and Inconvenient Facts 39

A Strange Encounter with the Former Foreign Secretary 41

When Untruths Prevail, Catastrophes May Ensue 45

"The Price Has Been Worth It,' Once Again 48

3 How to Cover Your Tracks After Promoting War 54

All the Apocryphal Stories Fit to Print 54

The Observer: 'Yes, We Read the Paper, Old Friend' 56

ITN: Nothing to Apologise For 60

Independent on Sunday: A True Guardian of Power 64

Head of BBC TV News: 'Always Happy to Debate' 68

Don't Look at Us - Look at Them! 73

The Masquerade of Media Balance 76

4 Promoting Public Ignorance 79

The Chains of Seduction 79

'We See Further into the Future' 82

'A Load of Cobblers' 86

Balance Sheets, Death and Silence 89

'Public Opinion of No Value' 92

'Fantasy Land' 94

Burying the Cable 96

The BBC 'Notes' Privately That There Are Dissenting Views 100

5 Global Climate Crime 104

Dancing with a Fossil Fuel Dinosaur 104

Climate out of Control 110

'Guarding the Mythology of 'Failure to Act' 113

Who's Holding Us Back? 117

'A Death Sentence for Africa' 120

'A Crime of Global Proportions' 121

The Eightfold Nay: The Great Unmentionables of Climate Coverage 123

6 Power's Assault on Democracy 127

The Invisible Corporate Shadow 127

'Good People Work for Corporations, Too' 129

Poverty and the 'Defence' Budget 134

The Power Inquiry and Gaping Holes in Media Coverage 138

Public Interests Would Mean 'Disaster' for Elites 142

7 Endless Echoes 149

Racing the Enemy 151

The Real Meaning of the Potsdam Proclamation 153

Crucial Questions About Truman Left Unanswered 156

'Deeply Flawed' Casualty Claims 158

What Compelled the Japanese Surrender? 160

The Nuclear Hammer Still Above Our Heads 164

8 The Madness of the Global Economy 167

A Sprinkling of Stardust Covering Ugly Realities 167

The Masters of the Universe Cling to Power 170

Boom and Bust 174

Official Fraud and Propaganda 177

The Neoliberal Nightmare 178

'Most of Us Get These Things out of Our System When We Are Students': A Tangle with the Economics Editor of The Sunday Times 181

'You Sanctimonious Nitwit': Financial Times Chief Economics Commentator Unhappy with Debating in Public 183

'Dealing with the World as it is'? Jousting with Independent Economics Commentator 185

The Latest 'Success Stories' of Capitalism 186

'A Large Statistical Glitch' 189

The Failure of Professional Journalism 192

9 Beyond Indifference 194

Authentic Existence and the 'Outsider Problem' 194

Spring Bloom and a Burst Appendix 196

Indifference Arising from Clutching Desire 198

Contemplating Death 199

The Unanswered Question: What Would Nietzsche's Superman Actually Do? 201

Total Compassion, Not Total Indifference 203

Transforming Suffering into Freedom 206

'Go Ahead, Make My Day!' 207

Letting Go of Old Bad Habits by Focusing on Others 211

10 Freedom at Last? 213

Regulating the University Mind 214

The Disciplined Professional 217

Predatory Urges, Plastic Brains and Empowerment 220

The Multidimensional Human Being 224

Escaping Our Hardwiring 225

'This is a Damn Good Show Tonight!' 227

'Just War' or Just Another War? 230

'A Saint is Less Dangerous than a Rebel' 232

Time to Wake Up 234

Notes 239

Bibliography 288

Index 299

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