One of the hallmarks of a totalitarian political regime is control of
the media. In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed into law the
Telecommunications Act of 1996. This law, which was bought and paid for
by corporate media lobbies, allowed big corporations to acquire and
consolidate media outlets nationwide.
The 1996 law lifted the limit on the number of television and radio
stations any one corporation could own. In 2003, the FCC voted to lift
the ban on cross-ownership of newspapers and full-power broadcast
stations that serviced the same community. This was the final nail in
the coffin of free and competitive media and news-reporting in the U.S.
The 1996 Clinton law followed by the lifting of the cross-ownership
ban enabled Corporate America to increase their monopoly on the flow of
information in the U.S. and around the world. Now six corporations
control well over 90% of all media in the U.S.: NewsCorp, Disney,
Viacom, Time Warner, CBS and Comcast.
“Wall Street slips on and geopolitical worries” (Reuters headline).
What does the Trump/Obama wiretapping squabble have to do with whether
the stock market goes up or down? It has nothing to do with whether or
not corporations can produce goods and services profitably. Too be sure
the accusation of wiretapping and the possibility that the accusation is
accurate is troublesome in and of itself. But it has nothing to do
with the fact that the stock market is currently the most overvalued in
U.S. history.
The headlines, however, reflect the degree to which all media
reporting in the U.S. is now under the control of Corporate America – a
Corporate America that has assumed control of the political process and
has become Orwell’s Big Brother .
Most people associate the term “fascism” with an authoritarian and
nationalistic political system. But it’s much more than that. Mussolini
described “fascism” as the merger between Corporations and Government.
The political system in the U.S. can easily be considered “fascist,” as
Corporate America and Wall Street have used billions of dollars to take
over the entire political process including all of the mainstream
outlets of communication and news reporting.
The result is directly reflected in the nature of the 2016
presidential and congressional elections. The content of any news
reporting is now a product of the material fed through the broadcast and
print communication outlets controlled by six corporate monoliths and
the Too Big To Fail banks that finance the system.
A good friend and colleague of the Shadow of Truth, John Titus, once
quipped with regard to the public’s consumption and acceptance of
anything reported as news, “put it on CNN and it’s true.” This statement
succinctly summarizes the propaganda which supports the process by
which the Government seeks to control the views and perceptions of the
public at large. In today’s Shadow of Truth podcast, we toss around
that fact that the United States has become a Goebellsian “playground”
and George Orwell’s nightmare:
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Dave Kranzler spent many years working in various Wall Street jobs. After business school, he traded junk bonds for a large bank. He has an MBA from the University of Chicago, with a concentration in accounting and finance, and graduated Oberlin College with majors in Economics and English. Dave has nearly thirty years of experience in studying, researching, analyzing and investing in the financial markets. Currently he co-manages a precious metals and mining stock investment fund in Denver and publishes the Mining Stock and Short Seller Journals. Contact Dave at dkranzler62@gmail.com.
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The author is not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by Sprott Money Ltd. The views and opinions expressed in this material are those of the author or guest speaker, are subject to change and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of Sprott Money Ltd. Sprott Money does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, timeliness and reliability of the information or any results from its use.
