Has the West gone mad?

There are some things that I study that almost make me feel like I am going insane. The propaganda in the West is far stronger than I had ever thought. This shines through with the issue of China. The Western media is so strong with the narrative that China is an evil, expansionist force that treats its citizens with disdain. This is as Orwellian as it gets. Not only is there no evidence that it is evil or expansionist, there is plenty of evidence that China treats its citizens far better than the West treats its own. But this story could not be told in the Western media. Not only can anything positive about China be expressed on Western media, but there is no opportunity for a balanced view. This is one of a few areas in which I explore and come to realise that there really are some strong forces at play, keeping the public from understanding the truth. If I am some unemployed dude with a laptop and I can figure this out, it is a wonder that more people haven’t. It’s a wonder that the propaganda model is so effective. It’s incredible.

The other point in time that I came to this realisation that there are strong forces at play, keeping the masses from understanding the truth was when I learned about how the economy really works for a country with a sovereign currency. By reading The Deficit Myth by Stephanie Kelton, I began to realise that, if a country with a sovereign currency like Australia wanted to run at optimum productivity, there is nothing stopping it. Any competent economic manager, given enough power, could turn Australia into a productivity powerhouse compared to how it now operates. This would be fantastic for Australia’s working class. In this situation, they would all have a job and they would all receive a decent wage with a decent amount of disposable income. In this way, the economy would improve drastically. But who wouldn’t this ideal scenario be good for in the short-term? Those in power.

There are these forces that keep the working class from finding out the truth – the main two being the education system and the media. I do believe that if enough people were to properly understand how these things worked, the status quo simply wouldn’t be allowed to operate. The incompetent leaders would be voted out at the next election or would never have been elected in the first place.

We wouldn’t have essential industries like aged care privatised and subject to the free market. We wouldn’t have mining, oil and gas cartels exploiting our natural resources. We would have a population that could think critically, that could see through all of the distractions that corporations provide us with.

With a critically thinking population, there would be far more opportunity for unions to gain power in corporations. Eventually, given that everyone is critically educated, I am convinced that cooperatives would be formed rather than corporations. Democracy would finally come to the workplace.

The media wouldn’t be as incompetent as it is today. It would look incredibly different. Rather than being subject to the forces of the biggest corporations, lobby groups and government bodies, the media could finally be independent. Laws would soon be passed such that the legacy methods of providing the news would be long gone.

All of this is idealistic. All of this seems an extremely long way away. But the purpose of this piece was to discuss why we can’t have all of these things. And the reason for that is these corporations. These corporate tyrannies are incentivised to keep the population stupid, obedient and distracted. And they are succeeding. They are succeeding to an alarming extent. It’s at a point now where I am not sure that even the leaders themselves are aware of what is going on. Perhaps they are just products of the system. If this was the case, rather than their being willing agents, you would think it easier to change things. But the system is self-insulating. The one who questions the narrative is automatically an outcast, a traitor or a crazy conspiracy theorist.

And so, I am brought back to the case of China. In particular, the case of Xinjiang. With seemingly the entire Western world convinced that China is evil, that a cultural genocide is taking place, and I am really not convinced. I guess I will keep searching for evidence, and try to prove to myself that the West hasn’t gone completely insane.