Thread by @jungsocialist, The Entertainment Industry, the Pentagon, and the Lies We're ToldA THREAD: I'm [...]

The Entertainment Industry, the Pentagon, and the Lies We're Told

A THREAD:

I'm watching season 4 of House of Cards. The central arc so far is that Russia is in a debt crisis. Petrov, the (thinly veiled) Putin stand-in, leverages oil production to receive favorable bail-out terms. Curious, I looked up Russia's debt-to-GDP ratio. 12.2%. The US's? 106.9%.

In 2015, when the season was filmed, Russia's stood at 13.6% and the United States was at 105.3% This kind of deliberate distortion of reality is not an isolated incident in House of Cards, or in any media produced in the US.

Often times political shows are portrayed as "realistic" and "gritty". This gives them an air of authenticity. They show the "dirty" side of US politics, but none of its true horrors. Even when the politicians are in the wrong, there is always enough ambiguity to let them slide.

When the masses of people are shown we're portrayed as easily duped, incapable of independent thought, and completely passive. Rarely, when an organization that is made up of the people gets shown they are almost always ineffective, insincere, and/or corrupt.

If there is a domestic crisis shown "savvy" political operators always strike a deal that resolves it. Sure some arms get twisted, and yeah maybe some demands get sold down the river but that's just politics! Sometimes "tough" decisions need to be made.

One of those frequent "tough" decisions is military strikes. There's usually a "terrorist leader" who will be able to flee unless the US kills him. See! They "have to" do it. Any civilians who might die? Well, he uses them as shields! Their deaths are "tragic" but "necessary".

When it comes to our foreign "adversaries" they're always shown as aggressive, irrational, and greedy. Covetous of the US's position in the world they'll stop at nothing to undermine us. As displayed above, these shows rarely engage with the real interests these countries have.

You may be asking me, "June why does all of this matter? It's just entertainment!" Well it matters because these shows are being broadcasted to hundreds of millions of people. And no matter how much you & I might like to believe otherwise, all our perspectives are affected by it.

It is an intentional and collaborative campaign of propaganda by the capitalist media companies and the capitalist state to mislead and misinform the public. It promotes xenophobia & apathy in engaging with political life. Why spend the effort to join when you can just watch it?

Between 1911 and 2017 the Pentagon "consulted" on 800 feature films and 1100 television shows. 900 of which aired after 2005. In exchange for this consultation, the Pentagon gets the right to edit scripts. Even with the FOIA the public is unable to determine what has been edited.

When it comes to House of Cards the connections between the show and the state apparatus are even more blatant. Beau Williams, an original writer, is a former aide to Chuck Schumer, Hillary Clinton, and Howard Dean (former Chair of the DNC).

In one of the "Putin" episodes Tony Blinken, former Deputy Secretary of State and currently Biden's nominee for Secretary of State was personally thanked for his "consultation" in the credits. Numerous other "DC insiders" were tasked over the years to help "get it right".

All of this may drive you to despair, but we can fight it! The 1st step to combatting this propaganda is to know you are being misled. The 2nd step is to inform yourself so you know fact from fiction. The 3rd step is to tell anyone who will listen. The 4th step is to organize.

The only way to combat the organization & discipline of the capitalist class, of the oppressors, is for the working class, the oppressed to organize & build discipline ourselves. To both know the truth and act to spread it. Their advantages are only temporary & can be overcome!

If history proves to us anything, it is that a dedicated group of people with clear sight, a plan, and the will to see it through, with the masses of the poor & oppressed at their backs, are capable of anything! Especially that which the ruling class says is impossible!

ANTI-IMPERIALIST AND/OR SOCIALIST MEDIA: https://www.liberationnews.org/ @pslweb
https://www.breakthroughnews.org/ @BTnewsroom
https://thegrayzone.com/ @TheGrayzoneNews
https://www.stitcher.com/show/by-any-means-necessary @bamnecessary
https://soundcloud.com/thesocialistprogram @TheSocProgram
https://revolutionaryleftradio.libsyn.com/ @RevLeftRadio

CONT:
https://redmenace.libsyn.com/ @Red_Menace_Pod
https://www.eastpodcast.com/ @east_podcast
https://podtail.com/en/podcast/proles-of-the-minyan/ @the_minyan
https://liberationschool.org/ @pslweb

SOURCES FOR THE THREAD:
Russia Debt-to-GDP: https://tradingeconomics.com/russia/government-debt-to-gdp
US Debt-to-GDP: https://tradingeconomics.com/russia/government-debt-to-gdp
Pentagon & CIA "Consulting": https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/hollywood-cia-washington-dc-films-fbi-24-intervening-close-relationship-a7918191.html
Beau Williams: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Cards_(American_TV_series)#Conception
Tony Blinken: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/wp/2015/03/19/deputy-secretary-of-state-tony-blinken-house-of-cards-consultant/
DC Insiders: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/reliable-source/wp/2017/06/08/the-washington-insiders-who-help-house-of-cards-get-it-right/

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