Day 233: The Politics of Self Episode 3: A Critical Eye on the News

What is the news media? Who or what are the forces that determine what is news and what is not? What are the consequences of media/news monopoly? With the control and deception that is rampant in the Mass Media - How do you as an individual empower yourself to be able to make sense of what you see and hear in the News, without getting lost in the Hype?
Tune In to get the scoop on how to have A Critical Eye on the News:

Here's a couple nice Charts depicting Who owns the Media:
http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--ZbL5vLTv--/rvbsrgrseidxhnmogbee.jpg
http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--Tb_z5Fcz--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/lckoza8wfctpe7k9k1de.jpg

Suggestions for further Self Education:
Documentaries/Films:
Manufacturing Consent
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JEvxOdMWOU

Outfoxed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P74oHhU5MDk

The War you Don't See, by John Pilger
https://vimeo.com/67739294

The New Rulers of the World, John Pilger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfrL2DUtmXY

PROPAGANDA | FULL ENGLISH VERSION (2012)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NMr2VrhmFI

The Century of the Self
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7EwXmxpExw

Psywar
http://metanoia-films.org/psywar/

Books:
Public Opinion - Walter Lippman
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Opinion_(book)

Profit over People - Noam Chomsky
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profit_over_People

The New Rulers of the World (book) - John Pilger
http://johnpilger.com/books/the-new-rulers-of-the-world

LIVING INCOME GUARANTEED:

What is the Living Income Guaranteed? http://wp.me/P42l71-65

LIG by the Equal Life Foundation:
http://livingincomeguaranteed.wordpress.com/

LIG News: http://livingincome.me/

Media under the Living Income Guaranteed:
https://livingincomeguaranteed.wordpress.com/2013/07/05/sedition-and-media-under-living-income-guaranteed/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BasicIncomeGuaranteedByEqualLifeFoundation

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/livingincome

Twitter http://twitter.com/livingincome

Watch our Live Google Hangouts: http://www.youtube.com/livingincome

Equal Life Foundation: http://equallife.org

Presenting the Fundamental Human Rights by Equal Life Foundation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT8Sfq-pF3Y

Wordpress:  http://equallifefoundation.wordpress.com/

Twitter http://twitter.com/equallifefndn

Day 213: The Truth about 'Free Range' and Politics

So I was reading this post here by Fidelis: “Free Range" chicken not actually free range where it's pointed out that having the 'Free Range' label on your carton of eggs is essentially meaningless, because there is no set definition for what 'free range' actually means. But we will tend to 'fill in the blank' with what we think of when we hear 'free range' which is something like chickens running free in a pasture and having a nice life while laying nice eggs for us. But it has shown to not be the case, where you can see a picture of some 'free range' chickens in his blog, it is obviously nothing like that picture that comes up in your mind of chickens running free, happy and healthy.

What this shows is that we really need to specify these things, to make it explicit, so that there can be no cognitive disinformation taking advantage of our tendency to make assumptions. We need to make it clear what we'll accept and allow as a part of our reality and living. And within this, that everyone should be involved in this, in setting the standards essentially, of how we want this reality to be.

Because everywhere you look, it's a lack of standards that is allowing for many abusive things to exist in this world. Because we haven't stood up for what we accept and allow. For the most part, most of us take no action whatsoever in our political system. It's not something we learn about or how to participate in in our school system. Politics is presented as something boring and tedious and complicated, something that nobody wants to be involved in, especially in this day and age where attention spans are almost non-existent and our political system is insanely bogged down by bureaucracy and, well, 'politics'.

'Politics' which really should mean simply administration of a society but has come to mean “the practice and theory of influencing other people on a civic or individual level. More narrowly, it refers to achieving and exercising positions of governance” (from wikipedia) Essentially where it's become using tactics to influence and control society, instead of pure and simple administration.

And why would anyone want to get involved in it, when it isn't about actual administration, but more about flinging opinions and competing for interests at the expense or disregard of others? We've got quite a nasty spiteful thing going on with our two party system. I'm sure that has a lot to do with why so many 'hate politics' and don't want anything to do with it.

It is really strange though how we have come to generally view politics as the last thing we'd want anything to do with, when it's politics that shapes our very reality and world that we live in, which for the most part is not cool. The vast majority of humanity slaving away for no reason other than to make a very small amount of people unnecessarily wealthy. I guess it's because we have accepted ourselves as just not a part of that process, I mean, as children you generally don't have a say in anything, you're not allowed to make decisions, the parent is the one in control, in power, and so you learn to be subservient, and accepting of the idea that you just don't make the decisions.

But it's really just through our collective acceptance of this, that we're so 'powerless' within the system. That, and the fact that we are bombarded with all kinds of misinformation that makes it incredibly difficult to make heads or tails of just how to do things in this reality. But it's really not as difficult as it seems, if we stick to the basic principle of always working to benefit all life rather than harm it. It really is that simple, and from there decision making becomes a lot easier. For example, we all know basic things like our food shouldn't contain toxins, and that the functioning and quality of our ecosystem is necessary for our survival and quality of living. I mean, that's why we're buying 'free range' isn't it?

So it's time we start realizing that we do have power, and stand up for what matters in this reality, and use politics as the tool to literally shape our lives as we'd really like them to be, and sort out the issues in our reality that are making living a struggle and a hassle or even downright torture for the vast majority of the earth's population. We can sort this out, and it starts with each one of us, no longer giving in to the thoughts, beliefs and opinions that tell us that for some reason we don't want to utilize our power to create a world worth living in, where life can be a joy for everyone, where life is supported and we can really explore our true potential here in this physical reality.

The first step within this is to set the standard of our own Human Right to life support which is outlined within the Living Income Guaranteed proposal, to change the point of life from a struggle in a life and death gauntlet for survival, to support all of us so we can start to focus instead on the problems at hand instead of merely our own day to day survival.

Related articles

• Court over free range egg claims
• Out of Control: DAY 469
• We are the slaves of our Brain - Day 424
• The Haves and the Haves Not - Day 428