Perhaps no scientific theory since that of evolution has incited such widespread antipathy as that of global warming. The scientific consensus stands that the Earth's temperature is rising, that polar ice caps are melting and that a substantial risk is being posed to our civilization as we speak. Although the debate is ongoing regarding just how much humans are contributing to the acceleration of this process, there is very little, if any, dissent among the members of the scientific community that such an occurence is taking place. Among ordinary Americans there has been fierce skepticism regarding the findings of the scientific community, particularly among those Americans who readily accept sound bites from talk radio and other media. What is useful to remember is that should a consensus be reached in regards to just how much humans are contributing to global warming, it is not improbable that regulations could be insituted that would hamper the free reign of corporations in regards to the environment itself. Seeing a potential loss of profit owing to these strictures, it is not unreasonable that they would seek to influence the general public through a great deal of disinformation, thus securing popular support for unbridled expansion across the globe. In order to achieve this, it is important to demonize science as the enemy of the working man, the opponent of liberty and the collective pseudo-scholarship of those antithetical to liberty. Thus, global warming is a conspiracy fostered by ineffectual eggheads with the sole purpose of taking away your rights to consumerism, scientists form an elite who seek to subordinate you, they look down on you and other real Americans, unlike multinational corporations who understand the values of real Americans! Global warming is a hoax designed to enslave you, therefore it is important that you see eye to eye with those champions of liberty known as the oil industry and other righteous stewards of the land!
Another activity that has met with resistance by right-wing radio and other venues is that of soccer. Soccer, a sport no less or more masculine than baseball, basketball, swimming or track, has been villified more than once as a "sissy sport," an activity unworthy of American men. In addition to this curious indictment are other grave accusations, one being that it is a "socialist" sport (because collectivism is anathema to real sports such as hockey, basketball, baseball, American football, etc.) and even worse, "European" (it's always important to associate it with that continent that has never fought a war in its existence and has contributed nothing whatsoever to our development as a society, right?). The accusations are ludicrous, for soccer is a multi-million dollar industry the world over where players are granted opportunities based on merit; in addition, the categorization of the entire continent of Europe as a landmass wholly populated by the effeminate is equally nonsensical yet these "truths" become even more entrenched thanks to our popular media. One would ponder, of course, why the villification of a mere sport? Well, one must consider that soccer, unlike American football, basketball and baseball does not lend itself to commercial breaks as do the aforementioned sports with their various lacunae within a single game. Sports are hugely profitable to advertisers who must be able to incorporate their messages within that time frame, something that is not feasible with soccer, therefore it is important that soccer be presented as something alien and hostile to the values of real Americans who are easy to influence if one can appeal to xenophobia and fear of having their masculinity fragmented.
Perhaps no finding from the scientific community is as stridently opposed as the theory of evolution. Far from advancing as a society, we appear to be regressing from the days of the 1926 Scopes' Monkey Trial with too few Clarence Darrows among us. Why the fervent opposition to something that is supported by hypothesis after hypothesis, fossil records, the overwhelming majority of credentialed scientists? Well, the answer is simple: organized religion, particularly fundamentalist Christianity. One continuum we see in our modern society is the role of the church as a powerful entity with an enormous impact politically and socially. The accumulated wealth of Christian denominations, particularly in the United States, is staggering. Evolution is an affront to the power structure of an organization predicated upon acceptance of Biblical literalism. To lead the believers, a.k.a., the source of their financial might, astray through science represents a tangible threat, thus the campaign against years of scientific research.
Finally, earning its place among evolution, global warming, soccer and other matters that could threaten the reign of the dominant is, of course, universal health care. The for-profit healthcare industry of the United States is a financial collosus unwilling to see its profit margin dented by a government-run competitor. As a result, it is essential that a competitor be villified from as many media outlets as possible. The easiest way to accomplish this is to capitalize upon widespread ignorance of the outside world. It is not difficult to find anecdotal stories from the countries most similar to the United States, e.g., Canada and the United Kingdom. As a result, an individual who cannot tell you the name of the Canadian P.M., the nation's capital, into what subdivisions the nation is divided or any element of its history can suddenly feel as though he were an expert upon the health-care system above the 49th Parallel thanks to a broadcaster's story of what happened to his third cousin's best friend's aunt's sister when she went for treatment at a hospital in Whitehorse. Bearing in mind how unlikely the average listener is to consult almanacs, statistics from the World Health Organization or the OECD, one can perpetuate the myth that universal health care has been an absolute disaster in every country in which it has been established keeping in mind that the inert will only consider Britain and Canada and not consider South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Israel, Bahamas, Barbados, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Malta, Greece, Cyprus, Denmark, Spain and others.
It is of vital important that in order to keep a status quo that has proven profitable one must engage in a form of brainwashing through mass entertainment, a category under which most of what passes for political punditry of the modern age could fall. One must consider, however, just how difficult brainwashing is when there is scarcely a brain to wash.
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