Open Culture: An Animated Introduction to Noam Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent and How the Media Creates the Illusion of Democracy

Instead, Chomsky argues in Manufacturing Consent—his 1988 critique of “the political economy of the mass media” with Edward S. Herman—that the mass media sells us the idea that we have political agency. Their “primary function… in the United States is to mobilize support for the special interests that dominate the government and the private sector.” Those interests may have changed or evolved quite a bit since 1988, but the mechanisms of what Chomsky and Herman identify as “effective and powerful ideological institutions that carry out a system-supportive propaganda function” might function in the age of Twitter just as they did in one dominated by network and cable news.

Those mechanisms largely divide into what the authors called the “Five Filters.” The video at the top of the post, narrated by Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman, provides a quick introduction to the five, in a jarring animated sequence that’s part Monty Python, part Residents video. See the five filters listed below in brief, with excerpts from Goodman’s commentary: [...]

Chomsky and Herman’s book offers a surgical analysis of the ways corporate mass media “manufactures consent” for a status quo the majority of people do not actually want. Yet for all of the recent agonizing over mass media failure and complicity, we don’t often hear references to Manufacturing Consent these days. This may have something to do with the book’s dated examples, or it may testify to Chomsky’s marginalization in mainstream political discourse, though he would be the first to note that his voice has not been suppressed.

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CrashCourse: Creation from the Void: Crash Course Mythology #2

Today on Crash Course Mythology we’re starting in on creation stories. This week, we’ll focus on the creation of the universe out of nothing, or Ex Nihlio creation. Basically, a god decides to make a universe out of nothing. We’ll look at the Genesis story (which has nothing to do with Peter Gabriel or Phil Collins), a Mayan creation tale, a Kono story of the beginning, and we’ll even look at the Big Bang.

Nautilus Magazine: Evil Triumphs in These Multiverses, and God Is Powerless

The challenge that the multiverse poses for the idea of an all-good, all-powerful God is often focused on fine-tuning. If there are infinite universes, then we don’t need a fine tuner to explain why the conditions of our universe are perfect for life, so the argument goes. But some kinds of multiverse pose a more direct threat. The many-worlds interpretation of quantum physicist Hugh Everett III and the modal realism of cosmologist Max Tegmark include worlds that no sane, good God would ever tolerate. The theories are very different, but each predicts the existence of worlds filled with horror and misery. [...]

But in the 1950s, Everett proposed a bold alternative. His theory has no collapses, but instead holds that all the parts of these combined—or “superposed”—states occur as parts of equally real but relatively isolated worlds. There are some complete copies of the universe in which the coin lands heads, and in others tails. And this applies to all other physical states—not just flipping coins. There are some universes where you make the train and get to work on time, and others where you don’t, and so on. These slight differences create multiple overlapping universes, all branching off from some initial state in a great world-tree.[...]

Even if the pruning argument doesn’t work, there is another reason to think that the many-worlds interpretation doesn’t pose a serious threat to belief in God. Everett’s multiverse is just a much expanded physical world like this one, and finding we were in it would be like finding we were in a world with many more inhabited planets, some the amplified versions of the worst parts of our planet and others the amplified versions of the best parts. And so, even the worst parts of an Everettian multiverse are just particularly ugly versions of planet Earth. If an afterlife helps to explain our seemingly pointless suffering, then it would help explain the seemingly pointless suffering in even the worst of these Everett worlds, if we suppose that everyone in every branch, shows up in an afterlife.

 

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Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell: Do Robots Deserve Rights? What if Machines Become Conscious?

What shall we do once machines become conscious? Do we need to grant them rights?

Politico: The populists haven’t won yet

But there is mounting evidence that Europe’s nationalist, xenophobic and populist fringe is finding it more difficult to attract voters. As campaign slogans collide with reality, many on the Continent who might once have cast a protest vote are rethinking their decisions as both countries struggle with political chaos and uncertainty. Their gripe with the political establishment may still be quite real, but their inclination to punish it through the ballot box has dampened.[...]

The far right has also lost its monopoly on fiery rhetoric and tough political agendas, most noticeably on the issue of migration, where both discourse and policy have markedly hardened. From Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s ultimatum — “Act normal or leave!” — to tightened asylum policies in Germany, the political mainstream has scrambled to placate the anxieties and disaffection that fueled voters’ shift to the right. And this pandering to nationalist impulses seems to be working — at least in the short term. [...]

Facing down the populist challenge will demand soul-searching, vigilance and savvy — both from governments and opposition benches. Most importantly, it will take all the political sobriety European citizens can muster as they enter the voting booths. The good news is that these political reflexes are kicking in. This will likely be a disappointing year for Europe’s far right.

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The Atlantic: A New Test for South Korea's Young Democracy

In a ruling on Friday, the eight justices of South Korea’s Constitutional Court rejected four of the five impeachment charges against President Park Geun-hye. But they were unanimous on the fifth, which was enough for her to have to go. By giving her best friend Choi Soon-sil access to confidential documents and by forcing some conglomerates to donate to Choi’s sports and cultural foundations, Park had violated the Constitution, the justices said. “President Park impaired the spirit of democracy and the rule of law,” Acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi said, her court building ringed by riot police behind a wall of police buses that held back supporters of the embattled president. “Her violations of the Constitution and the law are a betrayal of the people’s trust and cannot be tolerated.” [....]

 The Koreans have become a very egalitarian people, thanks to a harsh history. For centuries, they endured the rigors of a caste system under which people could be punished for crimes like giving their children too elevated-sounding names. In those days, bureaucratic elites passed the day smoking, napping, writing poetry, and having people tortured. So complete was the upheaval brought about by Japan’s colonial takeover in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that the master builders of modern South Korea, like its military dictators and the founders of Hyundai, Daewoo, Samsung, and the others, came from groups once considered scum—the soldier and the merchant. [...]

Compared to many countries, South Korea is fiercely democratic. But South Koreans want to be better. After each election, the winner is allowed to act like a short-term monarch and everyone blessed with a connection looks for advantage. By the end of the fourth year, the stench of favor is too much, and approval ratings plunge so low that the outgoing president is considered a liability by his own party’s next candidate. Of the five democratically elected presidents before Park, one was jailed, another committed suicide to avoid a prosecution investigation, and the other three saw their family members go to jail. Now, Park is the first to actually be tossed out.

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The Washington Post: ‘Little Picasso’ draws admiration in squalid Serbian camp

The 10-year-old from Afghanistan, who is stranded in Serbia together with his parents and two younger brothers, has earned his nickname for two reasons: he knows how to draw and he loves Pablo Picasso.[...]

His talent has earned Nouri the status of a local celebrity. He recently met U.S. actor Mandy Patinkin, who works with refugees with the International Rescue Committee, and who has urged President Donald Trump to be more welcoming to people displaced from war-torn countries.

“Merkel maybe can do something to open the border,” Nouri said in English, which he has learned over the year since he fled war and poverty in his home country.

Nouri also likes to draw portraits of his family and friends, fairytale castles, nature or anything else that comes to mind. Painting, he said, has helped during the flight.

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PetaPixel: Photos of Russia’s Gorgeous Soviet Era Metro Stations

While researching locations for a series on Russian Palace Architecture, photographer David Burdeny discovered beauty in an unexpected place: the metro. Russia’s Stalin-era metro stations stunned Burdeny, leaving him no choice but to photograph them for his 2014-2015 series RUSSIA: A Bright Future. 

Burdeny’s photographs, captured by special permit in the middle of the night when nobody else was allowed inside, reveal some of the most beautiful Barque and Rococo interiors you’ll find anywhere in Europe. “Nothing has changed in them since there were built,” Burdeny tells PetaPixel. “Being devoid of any and all advertising there’s no present day clues about what era you are really in.”

It took months of back and forth with the proper authorities to get access to the stations at night. “Each session was limited to a 1/2 hour,” explains Burdeny, and since the stations still serve as active bomb shelters, he was restricted by the military regarding what he could and could not photograph. 

That was hardly a problem though. The central hallways were frequently the most beautiful piece of architecture, and Burdeny’s only regret is not getting to spend more time there.

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Deutsche Welle: Opinion: Russia makes smart move for Eurovision

Russians have a long history as masters of that archetypal game of strategy, chess. And now they have again shown how strategically adept they are with their decision on who should represent them at the Eurovision Song Contest, taking place in May in Kyiv. At the 11th hour, it was reported that 27-year-old Yulia Samoilova and her "Flame is Burning" would be Russia's entry for the 2017 competition. She is a pretty young woman with blonde hair and a bright smile. And she has been bound to a wheelchair since childhood.

It would be cynical and unacceptable to boo this singer, even though the boos would be meant not for her, but for her country: The Tolmachevy Sisters bore the brunt of boos in the 2014 contest in Copenhagen as a result of Russia's homophobic laws, and a more limited booing was directed at Polina Gagarina in 2015 as a consequence of Russia's aggressive moves against Ukraine. But Russia's 2016 contestant, Sergey Lazarev, was spared such a reaction in Stockholm, with his perfect 3D show that made him one of the favorites that year. And then the unexpected happened, a true sensation.[...]

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which produces Eurovision, cannot accept a travel ban against Samoilova. Kyiv would be well advised to permit her entry. Anything else would only serve those in Russia and elsewhere looking to act against Ukraine. Kyiv should let cooler heads prevail and let the show go on. That would be the wisest move in this particular game of chess.

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