Why are there so many statists and communists here on this list now?

[Andy Lopata]

On Friday, May 2, 2003, at 11:18  AM, Matt Beland wrote:
>>
>> You're dangerously close to sounding like those
>> cranks who claim they're being patriotic by attacking the Dixie Chicks
>> for
>> their speech.

Friday, May 02, 2003 11:58 AM, Tim May wrote:
>And as in that debate, where "free speech" is tossed around a lot,
>nothing in the Dixie Chicks case has involved freedom of speech in any
>way whatsoever. Think about it.

Of course the Dixie Chicks controversy does not implicate Constitutional
freedom of speech.  The government is not restricting the DC's speech (i.e.
not throwing them in jail or censoring them).

However, the ever consolidating corporate media (in conjunction with the
powers that be in Washington) very effectively limits and contains the scope
of debate about national and international issues.  See Manufacturing
Consent (Chomsky/Herman)
http://www.commoncouragepress.com/chomsky_consent.html.  The DCs got in hot
water because they dared to step outside the narrow range of permissible
debate in the mainstream infotainment industry.  Sure there was plenty of
debate about the war, but the media treats different views in very different
ways.  The DCs are held out as opponents of the war to show who stupid
opposing the war was - they are just country singers - what the hell do they
know about global politics.  And the infotainment industry (news included)
ignores the multitude of articulate, intelligent speakers who could
forcefully explain the numerous reasons the war was immoral, unjust, and not
in the interest of the U.S.  The treatment is subtle, but very effective.

Why is this restriction on speech and debate any less insidious than statist
control?  Why is capitalist self-censorship better than state-controlled
explicit censorship?

I subscribe to this list for a number of reasons.  One of them is because of
the potential crypto has for destabilizing capitalist/monopolist and state
control over information and expression (e.g. Freenet).

-Andy Lopata
from the People's Republic of Eugene.