I found this chapter to be pretty interesting as the media has a massive influence on society. I have for a while now placed myself in the propagandist view of American media and agree with the Chomsky and Herman's description of American propaganda in that "the US media [does] not function in the manner of the propaganda system of a totalitarian state" and that it has become a "system so powerful as to be internalized largely without awareness." Most people do not know that since 2011, 90% of the media in the US is owned by 6 companies while just 30 years ago, back in 1983, it was 50 companies controlling 90% of media. This rapid consolidation of business also consolidates points of views and stories that the media finds..."interesting" enough to broadcast.
I was fortunate enough in high school to have some teachers that were't exactly for the mainstream and helped open the eyes of seniors before they graduated whether they wanted to believe it or not. Thats the beauty of facts, whether you believe in it or not, its still true. They started me on my path to really question what we are told and to investigate things that interested me. I had never really watched mainstream media to begin with, but ever since the mist started to clear for me, I have taken media with a grain of salt and have come across alternative new sources and sources of news based outside of the US.
The questions posed at the end of the "propaganda" section have crossed my mind before but never to much thought so I liked that they were brought up, even if they were not discussed much. For some reason I always think back to chapter 4 in this book when it discusses King Leopold of Belgium and his "benevolent" organisation to help Africa. It reminds me of the whole Kony story that went viral really quickly earlier this year and how skeptical I was of it because of how fast it blew up. After doing some research I was fairly convinced the whole situation was purely to go in and extract newly discovered oil in the region.
The final chapter of the book I found to be very informative in going through the different political movements and their leaders. Its interesting to see the variation in structure and problems even within the movements where discrimination is brought forth on group members whether on purposefully or not. I find myself aligning with groups that aren't very hierarchical and definitely not secular - transparency is vital in any sort of organization.
It's nice to learn that single-issue groups rarely stay single issue and that echoes today in the Occupy Movement as causes are combining to form basically super groups with solidarity worldwide. People around the world are able to connect with each other in ways that were never possible before because of social networks and those on the ground reporting what is happening. I believe strongly in nonviolent resistance but it is sometimes difficult to see how that can change anything at times. This belief was validated, however, in the chapter when it discussed how violent revolutions almost never succeed unless those resisting have the sympathy of the majority of those who are not resisting.
MLK said it greatly with his quote "[w]hat is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive and that love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love."
