6 media “Buzz” words and their (Shocking) real meanings
“Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.”
Voltaire; Questions sur les miracles (1765)
“The Media”.
What an unpleasant taste it leaves in one’s mouth. Even just to mumble the word while you roll your eyes, it’s enough to make the ill-informed upset, the uninformed confused and properly informed utterly despondent.
The “Mainstream Media”, that is to say, a series of institutions owned and controlled by the extremely wealthy, managed and operated by socially indoctrinated and well-trained “contributors” who develop and organize content that distracts, diverts, misinform’s and indoctrinate’s the audience i.e. you, is not in the business of truth, and they utilize an array of mechanisms, often without purposeful intent due the their own level of indoctrination, that essentially lead to you being drastically misinformed.
A more cynical person might call it “lying”.
Whatever you think or don’t think about the media, it’s useful to understand that certain tool’s are used to condense concepts into bite sized vocabulary in order to , again, misinform and also to distract. The media may not be responsible for the genesis of such terms, this is usually the fantastic work of ridiculous economists or cynical politicians. Secret police and state sponsored terror agencies often us very “bland euphemisms” to disguise the horrific deeds they are doing. However, the media is the organ that then spoon feeds you this drivel with your morning Cheerios.
Below we are attempting to look at 6 often spouted “buzz” words and what they really mean. Hold on tight, this might be a bumpy ride….
6. “Globalization”
The definition
Globalization refers to increasing economic interdependence of national economies across the world through a rapid increase in cross-border movement of goods, service, technology and capital. This is technically the definition for “Economic Globalization” and this is what the media is often referring too.
The Unicorn and Butterfly Fantasy
The idea associated with the term Globalization, be it economic, political or cultural, is the international integration of various countries for the development and benefit of institutions in order to help people, normal people live more comfortable and productive lives full of all those little perks such as food, shelter and general piece of mind.
The Cold reality
Globalization, in this current form, has little to do with helping normal people all over the world, and everything to do with helping investors, financial institutions and sectors of focused state power such as the all-mighty corporation. Actual Trade means little. Globalization has made many rich people much more rich and made many poor people considerably more poor.
During the Clinton administration, analysts concluded that “Globalization of the World economy” will lead to a “widening economic divide” along with “deepening economic stagnation, political instability and cultural alienation”, hence unrest and violence amongst the “have-nots”.
Programs like NAFTA have successfully further empowered the wealthy while steadily hurting the average middle class citizen…in all three countries.
At the moment, Globalization has been designed to aid and support the goals of architects that designed the policy. These goals might hurt or help normal people, but that’s not a factor in their coming about. The powerful that run things actually do not take the rest of us into account when formulating polices and plans.
The Media Spin
This article from the NY times, discusses some potential downsides of Globalization, “sort of”. It addresses the watering down of cultures and the complexity of immigration issues etc. But no where does it address the economic realities of globalizing. Those realities are very instructive.
The article praises Globalization for the developments of economies yet, it never addresses where all those economic benefits end up? In the pockets of the already very rich and powerful. Very little of this money finds its way to the hands of the middle class/poor. The line dividing the two becomes more blurred with each passing year. Being middle class is no longer the guarantee of stability it once was.
This is the big joke. The media address all the aspects of Globalization that the people in charge don’t care about. The one aspect never addressed is the financial reality of it.
Manufacturing centers torn apart and displaced to poor countries for the price of that countries natural resources being stripped away to feed the vast appetites of unsustainable economic giants doomed to crumble.
For normal people, Globalization is not good.
5. Surgical Strikes
The Definition
A surgical strike is a military attack which results in, was intended to result in, or is claimed to have resulted in only damage to the intended legitimate military target
The Unicorn and butterfly fantasy
This is such a nasty, tricky little phrase, what-ever shit head politician that first spit this out of his/her mouth must be extremely pleased.
Let’s be honest? Can we be honest for a moment?
A “Surgical strike” is an ATTACK. A violent, aggressive assault on a target in a war-zone. The use of the word “Surgical” is a fantastic linguistic trick, bringing about images in one’s mind of mending, healing and cleanliness.
"Yes, that weapons manufacturing plant right there."
"Uh, the one next to the school and the Mosque?"
"No Captain, the one behind the hospital and the water treatment plant."
"Oh I see it sir. Requesting permission to surgically insert my beauty of a AGM-114 Hellfire missile sir."
"Permission granted Captain, Fire and forget. Yee-Haw!"
The realities are considerably in contrast to the mental picture the phrase constructs.
The Media Spin
The NY Times and CNN are both notorious for the misuse and sad development of this term. Read more here.
The Cold Reality
“Surgical Strikes” are a clever play on words, and nothing else other than a bloody military assault.
This “incident”, some might say “murderous occurrence”, a Predator drone executed what might be called a “botched surgery” when it bombed a meeting of tribal elders, killing 41 people, in an attempt to assassinate one man, Ismail Khan, a Taliban general. The meeting was not a militant one, simply a standard meeting of elders in the region discussing business, Ismail Khan although a Taliban general, is also a village elder.
In the medical world, that get’s you a malpractice suit, a big one. In the world of American Politics, you get a cookie and a book signing tour.
It isn’t just America that loves its “Surgical strikes”, other countries, including Israel, keep it clean, medical and safe while killing untold thousands as well.
4. “Quantitative Easing”
The Definition
Quantitative easing (QE) is an unconventional monetary policy used by some central banks to stimulate their economy when conventional monetary policy has become ineffective.
The Unicorn and Butterfly Fantasy
By flooding banks with money, they can stimulate private lending, hence give the economy a boost. More private lending means more purchasing and investment.
The Cold Reality
How does the “Central bank” put more money into commercial banks in order to increase private lending? Oh, that’s simple, they just credit themselves money electronically, that they don’t have.
Confused reader: "Uh...come again?"
Yeah. They just go on the computer and add some zeroes to the balance of the “Central bank”, just because they can, then they go and buy bonds or other commercial assets from private banks and this then allows….
Confused reader: "But, they just give the central bank more money? Out of thin air? Can they do that? Is that possible? Is it safe?"
Sure it’s totally possible. Safe? If you mean is it something that will actually fix the economy? Well, the academic response is simple: the day you find a human vagina on your Unicorn; that will be the day QE helps the economy.
Essentially printing free money, based on nothing but the desperate whim of the Mad-man Ben Bernanke, is suicide. Injecting the financial sector with free money is a temporary fix that actually makes the impending crash much worse.
If you have passion for rhythmic gymnastics and have been preparing for the big competition all year, getting a bad case of the flu, or gout, could side line you. However, your trusted coach gives you a special injection, he calls it “Energy juice” but the pharmacist he didn’t get it from calls it “Smack”. For a short while, you feel great, full of energy and your practice sessions really improve. But then, as the “Energy juice” wears off, you feel WORSE THAN EVER, so your coach decides to give you EJ2, just like the American federal reserve has done with QE2 (The federal reserves version of Smack). It’s additional injection of smack to keep you going, while your insides rot away and the encroaching collapse, which will be far worse than your initial illness, rapidly approaches.
That is what Quantitative easing is. It’s shooting smack to keep on going when what you really need is chicken soup and a nap. You need a more sustainable lifestyle, not the constant growth of wildly dangerous and unpredictable decisions and risks.
The Media Spin
In this NY Times article, the merits of QE are discussed without ever making it clear to readers exactly what the hell is going to happen.
Statements like “If the government spends $500 billion to $2 trillion on quantitative easing, the securities purchases are expected to be spread out over months.” make it sound as though the Federal reserve is actually injecting money into the economy. This is completely misleading. If there IS NO MONEY then none can be “spent”.
The reality is that new money is being pulled out of thin air. What this does to normal people is it drastically lowers the purchasing power of their dollars and causes inflation.
Simply put, if you’re a tired bastard and have 10 apples, and you want to trade a few of those for some oranges, and the current going rate on fruity sales is one for one, then some maniac with an apple cart comes along and just starts giving out apples to people, flooding the market with apples, then your 10 apples are no longer as valuable. Now it takes two apples for you to get an orange.
The Federal Reserve is that maniac in an apple cart, a cart full of magical apples that just popped out of the sky. People can eat them, but they provide no nourishment. It is all an illusion that YOU, TIRED BASTARD WITH 10 real APPLES, will now suffer for.
What the Fed is praying will happen, is if they stuff enough make-believe money into the financial sectors already fat faces, something fantastic will occur.
3. R2P
The Definition
The responsibility to protect (RtoP or R2P) is a norm or set of principles based on the idea that sovereignty is not a privilege, but a responsibility. RtoP focuses on preventing and halting four crimes: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing.
The Unicorn and Butterfly Fantasy
A state or government, has a responsibility, a moral obligation even, to make sure it’s citizens are safe and if this state cannot insure that, then the international community has the obligation and right, to intervene in other states affairs in order to extinguish any of the four offences mentioned in the definition of R2P.
A great and noble concept. A progression in humanities commitment to one another and a leap forward in international relations.
The Cold Reality
R2P, like so many things before it, is simply another flashy bit of legalese and trickery allowing strong nations bent on imperialistic fantasies to strong-arm other countries whenever they want to, but have yet to construct a decent enough excuse.
To fully understand the depths of the cynicism surrounding this concept and it’s usage, it’s instructive to look briefly at one of the leading figures of the R2P movement, former Australian prime minister Gareth Evans.
In 1989, Evans signed a treaty with his counter part in Indonesia Ali Alatas for Australian rights to the great oil reserves in “the Indonesian Province of East Timor.” This treaty, which offered absolutely nothing to the people whose oil was being stolen, was said by Evans to be the first legal agreement recognizing Indonesia’s right to the land and it’s resources in the invaded and decimated East Timor.
When confronted by international members of the press and asked how he could support such a treaty, a treaty that effectively gave a total pardon to the genocidal like invasion of East Timor supported hardily by the USA, the UK and Australia, Evans explained that “There is no binding legal obligation not to recognize the acquisition of territory that was acquired by force,” then adding succinctly “the world is a pretty unfair place, littered with the examples of acquisition by force.”
This is the man who has been the figure-head for the R2P movement.
We can only scratch our heads and wonder how anyone can feel Evans is being somewhat disingenuous.
While R2P has already been brought onto the excuse table in light of hostile action in Libya, it is very instructive to turn our gaze to another people who should have been helped years ago according to this doctrine: The Palestinians. Yet Israel aggression continues in the West Bank unchecked by the powers that be in the middle east or the west and is tacitly supported by both the US and UK governments.
We can see again that the concept of R2P is there once again not to protect or assist the normal starving people of the world, but is simply another tool designed by particular architects with their own motives clearly in position, front and center.
The Media Spin
Again, another news article singing the high praises of our Responsibility to protect and what a “fine city on a hill” we all live in. Funny, I see no mention of the developing violence in the West bank in this high-flying article about how great we all are.
Read Part 2 Here.
Gaijinass 
Nice set of posts…as depressing as they were. And they were.
If ignorance is bliss, and it is, then we’ll have to learn to be content with our functional melancholy’s.
How about “smart bombs?”
An oxymoron if ever there was one. Much like our much tooted “Ballistic missile defense system” that doesn’t work or like our “Star wars program” which also didn’t work or the ridiculous and unnecessary science project I know you are all too aware of the “F-35 joint strike fighter”.
Stop making weapons and start making green energy. The fucking oil is running out. We cannot make more of it. Fix the nearly collapsed and dangerous economy. Give us a government form of health care that isn’t a total abortion on a skateboard. Stop making reality T.V. shows. I have a comprehensive list here.
great post…. so speaking of the economy, i just got done finishing up a BA in econ- complete BULLSHIT. its funny, to them globalization and free trade are nearly all good and beneficial to both parties (and for both parties citizens). its such a joke…. and ur mention of quantitative easing, i shit u not, i asked a professor “hey wont this have…you know… negative long term consequences?” his answer,”IN THE LONG RUN WE’RE ALL DEAD”
sighhhhhhhhh
Well, I guess you know huh? It’s all circling the drain….it will end sooner rather than later. Unsustainable economies are called that for a reason.
The billderburg group own the federal reserve. America has owed this group for nearly 50 years. It’s a fact these people have all the money they want. They also have all the power they want. From what I can tell, an this is my opinion, if you have all the wealth, all the power.(look for anyone not clued up, I’m talking about the top of the tree here. The guys who control the whole western world) is the next desire for those who have everything, control. But is that really such a attractive thing…unless you stalin, these men would mostly be middle class, one or two working class. Look I don’t know but wealth and power have been theres for a long time. What motivates them now.
The “billderburg group” is a massive over simplification that people who have no real idea what is transpiring cling to, because it’s easy to remember and even easier to abuse.