Dollar-power drives “dirty jobs” for private interests.
(EUGENE, Ore.) - Despite driving governmental reform probabilities to new and transformative heights, “the vote” of Nov. 4th revealed once again the real rot now ravaging our democracy.
Heavily increased destructive, damaging, dangerously unprincipled, unethical and malicious political advertising now panders to the very worst psychological factors in communications directly shaping public opinion.
Those perverse applications of positive knowledge are distorting (some think perverting) what should be an essential and ethical democratic pattern and protocol for any responsible citizen understandings.
These malign methods for manipulation have become so pervasive and persuasive that even the worldwide Internet --most recently noted for rapidly growing usage by an aroused public -- is being irrevocably damaged: Too many users now echo the highly negative and distinctly personal attack-patterns learned from the political ads --even affecting dialog demonstrating distinctly “un-civilities”.
In the more-radical rants, some few even resort to precisely the same coded language which seeks current devastating violent action, to assure continuance of our notorious defiance of Constitutional opportunity for all, regardless of skin color or other racial differentiation.
Few dare write that revolting word “assassinate”. But there is no way to miss the meaning malignly achieved behind the facade of synonym or anonymity.
In the long run that may prove itself even more dangerous to democracy than the ongoing perversions of our vaunted “free press” American “exceptionalism”.
Yet the dollar-power applied via billings among these many media-institution members is a very-public record of horrendous costs, clearly concentrating far too dangerous political-speech potency in “whomever hath the most dough.”
That characteristic is as comforting and protective for the corporate world as is anonymity and synonym safety (as “behind a tree”), for individuals involved in parallel paths of destructive attack on honest, open democratic dialog, as clearly intended by our Founders.
That same public record --of billions in tax-free contributed dollars paid to the “free press” channels involved, at taxpayer-subsidized loss-- is the most telling and truthful proof of a spoiled press rotting in place.
This revolting “revolution” has been recorded from many of our mainstream news media “balance-sheets”, both print-and-broadcast, over the past several elections. The huge profits are serving to protect those corporate accounts from the current economic debacle and its reflection in Wall St. reduction of share-values.
Those incoming political-ad payments have been multiplying in massive amounts over that crucial time. But owner-corporations are still spinning the many millions of dollars-received into the black hole of falling revenues from regular ads.
That sickening “drop-in-revenue“ is being used to justify “slash/and/burn” treatment still cutting away professional staff desperately-needed to fulfill their badly-neglected “free press” responsibilities.
The inevitable commercial record thus irrefutably demonstrates how “the black arts of persuasion” are put to work to distort and pervert what our Founders fully and freely and openly sought to achieve for us.
Originally honestly intended to facilitate and strengthen very democratic development of trade and commerce --heart and soul of America’s early small-town and small-farm foundations-- advertising has now become a comprehensive corporate weapon.
It is openly now utilized to shape, control and manipulate our society directly and strongly simply for “profit uber alles”. Constantly and rapidly- increasing consumption a s its primary goal.
The direct dollar-results are always relentlessly sought, even when those directly responsible realize all too well what damages irrevocably result for democracy.
Denigration of working and middle-class American life circumstances --and for the mere human beings irrevocably damaged-- are considered irrelevant and undemanded by those whose own private interests are at stake.
The erring members of our media profession truly fail in the unavoidably practical process in which they must professionally engage: The complex task of providing fully detailed informative reporting of event, circumstance, and essential “surround” to our responsible citizenry.
“Falling flat-on-face” is the professional consensus, now sadly reported, in some depth, by reliable observers of the national media scene; and academically examined deeply in our professional journals.
Our Founding Fathers clearly felt the most essential element for democracy’s success was understanding by well-informed citizens of decisions-demanded from them.
The essential element they discovered was “the free consent of those to be governed” for the pattern of that prominent, life-shaping power potent in every day, every way: ANY form of governance whatsoever.
That was WHY they wrote that controlling very First Amendment, providing radical (even Revolutionary) freedom for dialog and probing discussion, with working room for rational and reasonable dissent so clearly demanded.
Nowhere, in either the Constitution or Bill of Rights, did the Founders concentrate and confine that essential flow for shaping choice rationally, reasonably --and rapidly !-- to the Congress.
That special protection for the press -- facilitating access to the powers-that-be inevitably controlling all realistic action-- was provided with the well-understood proviso of equally special responsibility: To so conduct operations for comprehensive (and sometimes courageous) “coverage” that the providential foundation-facts for all citizens became near-automatic process and unvarying professional protocol.
They very clearly meant “free-and-public speech” to be shared and, wisely, devoted to common learnings.
That would thus provide essential development of realistic meaning for each and every citizen-- by very definition unavoidably held both accountable and responsible for all consequences.
That’s WHY what one now shares with others via the Internet or in print and broadcast channels is so plainly hurtful and harming for our democracy if used irresponsibly, aimed at other-group damage via political pandering, rather than devoted to positive learning-outcome.
The Founders clearly intended special protection for “a free press” to secure precisely the steady flow of essential informative dialog facilitating further-probing discussion which we now find so strikingly missing in our own modern day.
That’s WHY it is now becoming paramount to protect, preserve and strengthen, wherever possible, the broad new sharing/learning possibilities conferred on us by fundamentally important new communications methods and mechanisms, such as e-mail and the Internet.
We shoot ourselves in very vulnerable parts of our now-fragmented, under-attack democracy when we demean our own most personal and persuasive efforts via open, honest, democratic dialog.
Opportunity and access to channels designed and devoted to making that sharing-learning a reality, these days, are few-and-far/between.
We owe it to ourselves, as well as our beloved nation, to rise above the easy-out way of cavil and complaint. We now need to concentrate open sharing and mutual learning, while abandoning UN-civility, in all channels to which we now turn for our truly American “rights of free and unhampered speech”.
We must understand that those First Amendment rights come strongly embossed and engraved “on the other side” with accountability and responsibility as their inset and extremely deep American markings.
Henry Clay Ruark is the one of, if not the most experienced, working reporter in the state of Oregon, and possibly the entire Northwest. Hank has been at it since the 1930's, working as a newspaper staff writer, reporter and photographer for organizations on the east coast like the Bangor Maine Daily News.Today he writes Op-Ed's for Salem-News.com with words that deliver his message with much consideration for the youngest, underprivileged and otherwise unrepresented people.
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