Where is Democracy?
Post by Cyril Jengo 1. from Freetown, Sierra Leone.
The reality of modern politics exposes the fact that it has been laid waste by powerful interests who can make and unmake leaders and dictate the shape and tone of public opinion. And this has been made plausible by the media moguls, that small set of family members who control the world press. Once they stand in your path... forget it! You're damned. Because they'd manipulate and manufacture public opinion polls that perpetually castigate you as the underdog in the system while caustically destroying your credibility and acceptability to the people.
Keeping the status quo politically, economically and socially 'correct' within the context of their own perceived world view characterizes their ideology and motive.
This control of world opinion is reflected in the spurned news outlets of Reuters, AFP, CNN, Fox News, ABC, Sky News, Washington Post and many others of their subsidiaries. The attempt by the Obama Administration to change Washington and its runaway Wall Street politics, while agreeable to many Americans during his campaign for President is being challenged and even ridiculed by hired intellectuals and journalists seeking favour from huge interests. These interests have their media or their connections to the media-moguls to mount concentrated and psychological attacks on the change Obama promised, twisting and misinterpreting landmark reforms like the health care overhaul, sweeping (although much diluted) reform of Wall Street and the stimulus package which successfully halted the collapse of the bedrock of liberal capitalism.
While these powerful interests should be grateful, they have instead decided to run the gauntlet unless political and economic conservatism are back on track in America. But as Obama has argued, these were the very policies that took America down the paths to sapping its military's energy in illegal wars and leading to the worst economic crisis since the so-called Great Depression.
America is not owned by the conservatives and ultra-rightists. America is a representation of unity in diversity - or so it was. America does not have first class citizens. I used to see America as having citizens of the nations. But alas!! Things are changing.
Could it be that the distortion of democracy in the cradle of modern democracy (the United States of America) spells the end of a moral nation and the birth of an immoral one???
We'd take a look into the horizon and may answer this authoritatively thereafter.
God Bless the World.
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Cyril Jengo I - B.A Hons, M.Phil (University of Sierra Leone) is a friend and a long time telecommunications professional and a contender for the Mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone. Cyril regularly writes and comments on African and World media issues.
Photo credit: http://waliberals.net
Ken Thumbi
The power brokers envisaged Obama as a person who can be easily manipulated from the background... They based their judgement on stereotypes - assuming Obama would be overwhelmed or would underperform.. only to find that he is a sterling performer with unshakable integrity.
Now they want to engineer his downfall.. using subtle psychological tricks.. one article at a time.
Whoever controls the media, controls the world! When did Mugabe become a repugnant tyrant? When did he become the the worst dictator who ever lived on earth? Mugabe became the devil whe messed with imperialist forces. Wazungu. Mugabe realized that his country's independence was a sham and that minority "settlers" (land grabbers/thieves) controlled most of Zimbabwe resources - relegating indigenous zimbabweans to poverty and dependence on handouts.
Ask anyone about Mugabe... Is he a HERO because he stood for TRUTH and JUSTICE or is he a tyrant because BBC, REUTERS and CNN say so?
The Mzungu version will prevail most of the time. Because Africans havent created a global media network to tell their version of the GLOBAL story. So if the "muzungu" says something then it must be true. Right?
:-)