From Chapter Four - A New Paradigm is Forming
From the American perspective, one does not have to go back very far in history to recognize that the fundamental principles underlying our society have dramatically changed. The American spirit was once firm on the principles of personal liberty, property rights, free markets, and non-intervention. This is the spirit that attracted immigrants from all over the world to flock to American shores. Freedom was quite popular.
That spirit has been dulled over the past one hundred years and the principles underlying American society have shifted drastically.
Personal liberty was gradually traded for “the greater good for the greatest number” and the illusion of government provided security. Property rights gradually became subject to all manner of governmental rules and regulations. Free markets were destroyed by constant government intervention as America accepted the Keynesian/socialist notion that it was, and is, the role of government to centrally plan the economy.
But the future is calling and the paradigm is rapidly shifting. They won't mention this shift on the television or in the major publications, however, so those still mired in the 20th century way of thinking do not yet realize that it is happening. But if we look around our world we can quite clearly observe the shift in motion.
Look at the explosion of alternative media resources on the Internet. While estimates suggest that only five companies (Time Warner, News Corp, Viacom, Bertelsmann AG, Walt Disney) control more than three quarters of all major media properties (television, cinema, book publishers, magazines, newspapers), there is now a myriad of alternate media sources working diligently to provide unfiltered news and information. The Internet has allowed alternative media to flourish, and people are beginning to see that most mainstream ‘news’ is little more than state propaganda.
Look at the explosion of books and documentaries based on the principles of personal liberty and free markets. More and more people are waking up to the reality of what has happened over the past century and they are trying to spread the message as best they can.
The deterioration of popular support for the corrupt political system and the equally corrupt and enabling mass media is becoming too obvious for even the ideologically blind to ignore. Support for politicians is at an all-time low in modern history and people are starting to realize that it is the entire political system that is corrupt rather than one or the other political party. For example:
- Michelle Obama recently cancelled a speech she was scheduled to give at a Kansas high school after nearly 2,000 people signed a petition in protest of her appearance.
- Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently cancelled her scheduled speech at Rutgers University as faculty and students publically protested her appearance citing her “efforts to mislead the American people about the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.”
- Attorney General Eric Holder cancelled his speech at a police academy graduation due to protests asserting that he was an ironic choice given his “tactics of obfuscation and redirection of blame”.
- Former Vice President Dick Cheney had to cancel multiple appearances in Canada because it was “too dangerous” for him.
- Former President George W. Bush had to cancel a speech at a Jewish charity gala in Switzerland because he was worried about possible legal action against him for alleged torture.