This article was written by Brandon Smith and first published at PersonalLiberty.com.
Editor’s Comment: Reverse psychology at its finest. The clumsy “fake news” meme is being used to target the alternative media… but if Brandon Smith is right, covertly, it will really build up the “victim” outsiders and allow them new media powers, and “mainstream” levels of exposures. That primacy will come at a cost though – first, the principles of the liberty/truth/patriot movement will be severely watered down and misrepresented; and second, this crowd will be blamed for catastrophic failures that elite insiders have been waiting to dump in a new wave of economic destruction.
Nearly everyone has argued, rightly, that this collapse is inevitable, but Brandon adds the additional twist that there is an intent to demonize populism, nationalism and related groups in a way that would be scarring and lasting, to give a recurring lesson of the errors of our way for many years to come. In a future regime of tight establishment call, this era could be looked back upon as a ‘Hunger Games,’ a collective memory-punishment to breed out lasting rebellion and resentment.
What do you think? Will “fake news” shut down independent reporting and dissent online, or will it blowback on corporate media as free expression on the Internet proves unstoppable?
What is the real purpose behind the ‘fake news’ attack?
by Brandon Smith
Here is the first problem with modern political discourse — too many people want to “win” arguments instead of getting to the greater truth of the matter. Discussions become brinkmanship. Opponents launch into immediate attacks instead of simply asking valid questions. They assert immediately that their position is the only valid position without verification. When confronted with rational responses and ample evidence, they dismiss everything instead of pondering what you have handed them. After this line is crossed, there is no point in continuing the debate. It will go on forever.
This is one of the great tragedies of the Saul Alinsky method of political confrontation; it has bred entire generations of people who now believe that there is no objective truth. They think everything is relative. Because of this belief, they assume that there is no wrong or right side, no wrong or right goal. Instead, there are only goals that are more right than the goals of others. Everything boils down to a “lesser of two evils” mentality, and the ends therefore justify the means. Using dishonest measures to win the fight becomes acceptable.
In the end, ideological combat actually prevents people from learning rather than helping them get to the root of the issue. We live in a world where truth is superfluous to the overall narrative. The only thing that is important is destroying your rivals.
A classic strategy of dishonest debate and disinformation is to use every method possible to avoid confronting your ideological opponents legitimate arguments and to attack him personally. If you can’t beat him on fair ground using reason and evidence, then why not undermine his character so that the public will be influenced to avoid listening to him at all. This is sometimes called “inoculation.”
At first glance, this is what the entire “fake news” meme supported by the mainstream media seems to be about.
The MSM has proven itself utterly ineffective against the rise of the alternative media. And as I have explained in recent articles, there is a very good and obvious reason for this. The alternative media is the closest thing to a “free market” of ideas that the world has had in a very long time. Before web media, the public was strictly limited to a handful of corporate outlets that dictated information flow with an iron fist. If you wanted to learn anything beyond the mainstream narrative, you had to data mine at the library in an infinitely slower fashion, or try to personally seek out people who represented sources and witnesses.
Today, data mining happens at light speed. Facts and evidence are uncovered in real time. Video interviews and transcripts can be achieved as quickly as a phone call. They can be examined and witnesses can be cited without traveling across the country. The prevalence of visual media also makes it difficult for witnesses to lie about their original claims later down the road.
Beyond this, the alternative media offers something the masses have rarely ever had — choice. People can now look at all sides of an issue and all available evidence and decide for themselves what conclusions make the most sense. The mainstream media has only ever offered one side, with highly regulated information and cherry-picked evidence.
The mainstream media’s purpose has never been to convey the unfettered “news.” Rather, their purpose has always been to manipulate public opinion, and we saw this revealed undeniably during the 2016 election as Wikileaks exposed journalist after journalist using their position of public trust as a weapon to influence the election outcome.
Instead of admitting wrongdoing after this embarrassment, the MSM has decided to double down and escalate the accusation that the alternative media is “fake news.” Meaning, the MSM wants people to believe that we are liars and amateurs, that they are the “professionals,” and that the public should ignore everything the alternative media has to say from now on. I have to point out, though, that the narrative of mainstream news versus “fake news” seems a little thin to me. Meaning, I believe there is more going on here than the MSM simply trying to save itself.
Call me a “conspiracy theorist,” but the elitist controlled mainstream media does little to help itself through this strategy. Think about it; the MSM is already clearly dying if one looks at the ever shrinking size of their audience and the loss of younger viewers and readers. They have been deteriorating for years, while the alternative media has been exploding in influence. The promotion of the fake news meme requires these mainstream media outlets to actually list which sources they believe represent fake news. This is what the Washington Post did with their promotion of liberal professor Melissa Zimdar’s list.
So, forgive me if I am making too much of a leap here, but it seems that this tactic will only bring more web traffic to the sites listed, because the list does not really include any specific examples of “fake news” trespasses. People who are curious will be compelled to then visit the alternative sites to see what all the fuss is about. Perhaps many of them will find something they like, rather than something they hate. To me, the entire set-up of the fake news meme hurts the mainstream news more than it helps them.
The next major story linked to fake news has been the assertion by some in government (including the CIA) that the alternative media is actually a front for Russian propaganda. I predicted this development two years ago in my article When War Erupts Patriots Will Be Accused Of Aiding “The Enemy.”
In that article, I argued that a war is being engineered between Eastern and Western powers (Russia and China vs. the U.S. and parts of Europe), and that this war will likely be an economic war. I also point out that such a conflict might be used by the elites in the West to rout out the alternative media as agents of Russian propaganda. Here’s a quote:
“Another aspect of this plan, I believe, involves the hijacking of the image of the liberty movement. The liberty movement is essentially the most dangerous unknown element on the elite’s global chessboard. In fact, because we understand that international financiers and central bankers are the real enemy, we have the ability to leave the chessboard entirely and play by our own rules. Widespread economic or military conflict provides an opportunity to neutralize liberty activists who might turn revolutionary.
Recently, I came across an article from The Atlantic titled Russia And The Menace Of Unreality. Now, some alternative analysts would read this article and immediately shrug it off as yet another attempt by the Western media machine to propagandize against Russia. Though their motivations are genuine, these analysts would be cementing the delusion that Russia is the “good guy” and the U.S. is the ever present “bad guy.” The Atlantic piece is a far more intricate manipulation than they would be giving credit for.”
“…This was not as pressing an issue two years ago, when conflict with Russia was a ridiculous notion for many people. But today, conflict with Russia, at the very least on an economic scale, is an inevitability. If you read in full the linked Atlantic article, the narrative that is being constructed is clear — the establishment hopes to rewrite the history and image of the liberty movement by painting us as dupes radicalized by Russian propaganda, rather than being the originators of our own grassroots movement with our own philosophy and methodology. Through this, they take away our ownership of our own cause.”
It would appear that everything I warned about two years ago is now happening. That said, I would amend my original viewpoint to include a new dynamic.
The coming economic war will be based on a false paradigm — the false East/West paradigm. Over the years I have outlined in great detail the evidence that Eastern nations are just as controlled by banking elites and globalist interests as Western nations, including evidence that Vladimir Putin is an avid supporter of the International Monetary Fund’s push for a single global currency system using the Special Drawing Rights basket as a bridge. He is also now suddenly a supporter of the UN’s climate change and carbon taxation agenda.
I consistently warned analysts within the liberty movement to be careful about cheerleading too much for Russia and Putin, not only because he is controlled opposition, but because eventually we would be caught up in a media war that would label us as enemy conspirators. Remaining (rightly) critical of Putin was the best way to avoid being labeled as a member of the “fake news,” or a purveyor of Russian propaganda.
It was my original belief that the elitist media would use the alternative media’s love affair with Putin as a means to undermine our credibility. However, today I would say that the opposite is taking place.
Confusing? Yes. But look at it this way; with the predominantly leftist mainstream media dying in an irreversible way, no amount of whining about “fake news” is going to save them. The rise of the “populists” is at hand, and as I have warned for the past year, this is by design. Just as conservative anti-establishment movements are rising in geopolitical influence, so to is the anti-establishment media. We are sort of a package deal.
My belief is that conservative movements and the alternative media are being allowed into a position of cultural authority. The globalists are stepping out of the way (for now) as we grow in power. They are doing this in preparation for the final stage of an economic collapse they have been gestating since at least 2008. They are doing this because their goal is to set us up as scapegoats for a global disaster that will be remembered for centuries to come. I was able to predict the success of the Brexit Referendum and Donald Trump’s election win based on this theory and I believe it will continue to prove itself.
The globalists know that at this stage the fake news meme will only help us, rather than hurt us. That is to say, the elites are throwing the leftist media to the wolves and the Russian propaganda claims will only make the MSM look more ridiculous. The globalists see the writing on the wall — in fact, with the level of web analytics at their disposal, they can read and predict shifts in social consciousness before almost anyone else is aware of them.
Instead of trying to obstruct us or fight us directly, I believe the elites plan to co-opt us or co-opt our image. That is to say, they will let us grow in apparent influence, trigger a crisis and either use certain alternative outlets as the new mainstream, or simply paint all of us as complicit in the failures of conservative governments and nationalism.
The end game here is to destroy the underlying principles of liberty movements; to make future generations reel in horror at the very mention of conservatives and national sovereignty. The elites are playing a very complex strategy of fourth-generation warfare. Nothing you see is exactly what it seems. The fake news label is not meant to disrupt the alternative media. In fact it will help us rise to a position in which we can be blamed for negative global influence.
Many people will say I am reading too much into the situation, or that I am giving the elites “too much credit,” or attributing too much “omnipotence” to their position. They will probably reference the recent passage of the Countering Disinformation And Propaganda Act and claim that this is clearly meant to take down the alternative media.
I would ask these people to consider a question, though — who will really have control over this legislation in the near future? If I am right, and Trump enters the White House in January with a Republican majority in Congress and the Senate, will it not be Trump that most benefits from the legal framework? How then will it serve to undermine the alternative and conservative media?
I predict, in fact, that conservatives are being given enough rope to hang themselves with. I predict that Trump will utilize this legislation to go after the mainstream media, not the alternative media, and that many conservatives will support him even though questions of constitutionality will increase. I believe the fake news meme will backfire and that the MSM will die off as a result.
I believe that this is all part of a carefully crafted narrative in which the right wing gains unprecedented political sway, only to be met with economic and social disaster. I believe that the game is far from over in the fight between globalists and sovereignty activists. I believe they cannot defeat us directly, so they now hope to defeat us indirectly, or, trick us into defeating ourselves. In reality, the game is just beginning.
This article was written by Brandon Smith and first published at PersonalLiberty.com. Visit his site Alt-Market.com and support his work.
The Aleppo Children are now being displayed and exploited by the treasonous psychopaths in the Corporate Media and the criminal psychopath controlled US Government, who planned the destruction of the entire Middle East and murdered these poor children in the first place. These demon psychopaths are not very creative, remember the “incubator babies” the Corporate Media and criminal US Government sold the dumbed down programmed indoctrinated drunken toxic dump American boot lickers in the first Gulf War under the ex-CIA Demon TREASONOUS psychopath George Herbert Waker Bush????
Ron Ahrens,
The West has been under complete mind control through false information, deception, drugs, and direct superssion by the Fascist Zionists. Hopefully soon the Western people start to wake up to a rude awakening and ship the Fascist Zionists back to Mars.
Then, the planet can start to have peace, harmony, and the Human Kind can start the healing process without the Fascist Zionists.
Stolz, easier said than done. I’d love to think the juden-controlled MSM will die off but I’m not holding my breath. But I agree the Zionists have to be disposed of to solve the world’s problems.
Hey, Remember the lamp shades , soap , and shin bones made into pencil boxes. And don’t forget the hair made into submarine men’s shirts to stop static electricity. Dose your hair stop static electricity ? Satans greatest weapon is the lie. And his children are well taught. And believed by the Cristian’s who have been told otherwise by God and Jesus. But don’t believe them . Believe your school books. And the tribe that ownes the media corporations. And the money changers that paid the audience to yell Crusify him. Paid protesters no. Could never happen. And. ((( they ))) are still at it today.
Important
http://www.naturalnews.com/2016-12-12-us-court-of-appeals-states-and-counties-can-ban-gmo-crops-despite-federal-laws.html
Moving forward to do this in our county
This is such an awesome quote:
“Believing something the CIA says is like trusting a meth addict with your car, and trusting the CIA when they’re working with the Washington Post is like trusting a meth addict with your car and leaving your kid in the back seat with the house keys and money for Taco Bell.”
This is not fake news btw:
Just watched a video showing that the Russian and Iranian special forces simply wiped out the ISIS subhumans on the battle field. They simply killed them like the animals that they are ( no prisoners, just shot on spot). Oh boy, I guess we have many pissed off CIA, Mossad and Saudi parasites crying like hyenas.
SV
YEP!!!!!
Kill them all and let God sort them out. This is the only way to stop it!!!!
Sgt.
Trump says Merry Christmas to Christians.
Good News for Christians from the Trumpster.
Donald Trump Says ‘Merry Christmas’ Instead of ‘Happy Holidays’ A good 4 Min Video worth watching. Amazing how he tells it like it is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrTMPdaJLys
Amen!
Yep. A dead Islamic savage is the only good Islamic savage. Its disgraceful that our so called president obuthole has armed these scum muslims with our tax dollars and protected them. I do feel like I’m living in the friggin twilight zone.
Agreed, those government pricks arming these dickhead muzzy trash then sending our guys overseas to fight them, what a bunch of crap, obummer and most of congress needs a kick in the ass then a fucking 230g to the forehead, at least our rep Gabbard is trying to do something about it, but congress moves like government and is completely corrupt so most likely nothing will come of it, its time for some serious change, and if it takes force from the people to effect it so be it,
2A
That is the only real solution to this. I have to ask myself if I’m willing to die for my family’s future. The answer is yes.
The US govt. will have a hard time recruiting more isis now huh lol.
“We’ll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false.”
William Casey, former CIA Director
Genius, remember that Casey was killed at his home in the woods by ‘someone’ who knew him. Old retired spook knew too much.
Stolz, link to the video? I’d like to see that myself.
All news is told from one side. There are no two sides to any story, just ask the MSM.
Well I’m 1/2 from Missouri, and you have to SHOWE ME!
I’m not ALT-Right. I’m ALT-AMERICAN.
Look at the news today. What a joke!!! They tell us that (use a fake story) a giant mole was found in Nevada that was 10 ft. long, They have pictures and tell how if killed two miners. Sure it is a fake story and I would have to believe what they have told us, RIGHT. Wrong Show Me let me see it in the flesh. You see I live 1500 miles away. Where I’m coming from is DON’T believe anything they tell you unless you can prove it to be true. Remember it has been proven over and over again that a LIE can be told so many time it becomes the truth. Just ask Bill and Hitlery. So screw the MSM and believe only what you can see and touch. You have your own little world make the best of it, because the rest of the world doesn’t give a damn about you and your world. Your world is the only thing you can prove is true!
Who the heck is still watching any MSM fake News, or paying for Cable to wire Fake News into your home?
Not sure why we even care what they say, they are crumbling and going broke. You aren’t going to change the Lefties, and they believe everything the MSM says. SO lets not wake them up, and just let them stay dumbed down. When Jan 20th comes the GOP will run the table, The White House and both Houses of Congress. The draining the swamp of all these Liberal policies that are destroying America with be the new sucking sound like a septic hose on a tanker sucking out all the Shit.
It will feel like a breath of fresh air, bringing the American Dream back to life.
Keep your eyes to the skies, & you will see the truth.. It’s only obvious now..Keep preparing, cause it’s coming.
Each passing day that goes by … the MSM has made itself irrelevant on their own. I’ve been noticing as of lately, more and more people have realized that the MSM has been biased and out right perpetual lying on everything.
These “new” people that have awoken to this indoctrinated brainwashing have found themselves to places like SHTFplan and others.
I say: “Thank you MSM … for helping waking up a larger mass of people to your & Government wrong doings”.
The Alternative News … is becoming Mainstream, while Corporate News Networks … self-suicided themselves
We also need yo thank obuthole for being the #1 gun salesman in history. He may have increased the actual patriot fighting force by a % or 2. Thanks obuthole!
Menzo –
Nicely put
How unthoughtful of me not adding Osama Bin Obama as being an awesome 2nd Amendment salesman. This will be his Legacy … everything else he has done has been unpatriotic.
More and more each day the nation appears to be a drug addict on his way down to rock bottom. Then he can choose to live or die. That is not always the case. He can still die because his addition has consumed his body.
The financial collapse, which we all expect to happen, will do the same damage to the nation. Can we recover? Who knows. Again like everything else we have to wait and see. There are no solid solutions with information be unreliable as it is. Like the addict, even when he is offered a away to recovery, he will feel that he still wants his high. Our nation has been on one Hell of a High.
As SGT Dale said,
“You have your own little world make the best of it, because the rest of the world doesn’t give a damn about you and your world. Your world is the only thing you can prove is true!’
One of the most difficult things to do is determine if anyone in the news is telling the truth. Why control one side of the story, if you can control all sides of the story? It’s called full spectrum dominance. Controlling even the opposition is just devious.
Stolz:
That’s knarly!!
The author asked several good questions. But I’m going to go round about.
What I think the (((MSM))) are doing is clever. The top dogs who run things, not the reporters, have planned to get everyone away from the big screen TV and on individual screens. They want us isolated. They will play games with the alt right, but eventually they plan to infiltrate and control it completely, all the time having us believe they were revolutionary. You can see this in the alt right already.
I’ld like to veer off into “pizza”. I think the gov and cia are the brain child behind the pizza business. By using such common words, they make us all potential criminal suspects. From now on anyone ordering pizza, hotdogs, or chicken will be having to explain themselves. I heard someone ask why the drag queen said he was taking his pizza to go. So what? That means nothing. It is normal to say that at a pizza restaurant. But now, cleverly, the gov has turned ordinary conversation into pedophile code. Even if the gov didn’t start this pedo code, they can and will use it to squash the alt right or any group that challenges their J*w Supremist Power.
Interestingly, Sigmund Freud’s grandson, Clement, is or was involved in the child abduction case in Portugal, by way of Podesta stayed at the house in Portugal at the time of the kidnapping. Clement Freud was a convicted pedophile (according to reliable sources).
I recently read an article in “the Jerusalem Post” by Steve Linde “World’s Fifty Most Influential J*ws”. Lucian (not Lucifer or Lucis) Freud is named as the most influential J*w in the World, not counting some sports player that is actually rated number one.
Another person of interest to me is a woman hailed as the richest in the Middle East. She owns the bank. Really. Her name is Shari Arison.
But back to the Freuds. I think these people need a shrink (just kidding). Lucian is an artist. His artwork sold at Christies for 33 million. 33 is a Masonic Number, as Jesus died at the age of 33. That makes Lucian Freud the highest paid artist in the history of Christie Art.
That seems like a good way to launder money. But, of course, it is just my suspicious mind, I have no evidence. He might be a really, really great artist. Really.
__well I digress, but the point here, I guess, is that the swamp is deep, and the creatures have been in it for ever. I hope we can all learn to just get along someday. Freedom of the Press, and all our freedoms, will have to be appreciated and held close to the breast. Others have died for freedom. We owe it to them, and to ourselves, to remain vigilant; as Thomas Jefferson told us.
__
__
the article says
“We live in a world where truth is superfluous to the overall narrative. The only thing that is important is destroying your rivals.”, is a right on, description of our MSM, most Democrats, and the GOPe.
America’s immediate problem is not 165 million Russians or 1.3 billion Chinese, it is 65 million Americans( Hillary supporters) and the MSM. The rest of America is stuck with these animals in our midst. We should first prepare for the worst, and then fight to prevent the worst from happening. Supporting independent sites like this, and killing the MSM with boycotts of advertisers and non-viewership would be a real good start.
Fake news is espionage, sedition, subversion and can be treasonous.
If jihadists start a war here, we will be feeding the bodies of mujahedeen to our pigs
What is the truth? In WW2 was Germany fighting the communists.?Did we help the communists? Did we help the Bolshavik communists rape and enslave half of Europe? We destroyed Japan ? Are the Japanese the most decent Asians on the planet? Were they so different back them ? But they attacked Pearl Harbor . After we embargoed them as we did Germany. If a country embargoed us we would blow the crap out of them. But the rape of Nanking . Told to us by the MSM . They would never lie? And we’re the Jap. Germans the main competitors of the English American tribal leaders? And unconditional surrender means our tribal leaders own them and lease it back to them forever? O no they gave it all back? Do you actually believe that? But the Batone death march . Atrocities are committed by officers on both sides. We were boiling their heads in fifty gallon drums and selling the skulls. When the truth is found to be lies . And all the joy inside you dies. The American people are handicapped by the inability to comprehend the amount of evil of our own?
I almost seems that the bad guys do evil. And the good guys watch?