Caleb Maupin
New Eastern Outlook
5 March 2018
Its a rare condition this day and age, to read any good news on a newspaper page…
Political Fallout of a Potential Crash?
New Eastern Outlook
5 March 2018
The understanding that the American
press, both TV and print media, thrives on negativity is deeply embedded
in the culture, so much so that the theme music to the popular 1990s
American TV sit-com “Family Matters” began with the couplet:
Its a rare condition this day and age, to read any good news on a newspaper page…
The US media is a for-profit industry.
TV outlets depend on advertising revenue, the value of which depends on
ratings. The drive of mainstream American TV news networks is to
increase ratings, and make profits. Bad news, scandal, and
sensationalism is a way to do that.
However, the commercially-owned
mainstream American press has always had another role: crafting public
opinion. A huge amount of US government funds are devoted to handling
and managing the media. The government and the political establishment
is deeply worried about making sure that the US public thinks in ways
that are conducive to their overall goals and strategies. The CIA’s
project mockingbird, and the cozy relationship between reporters,
newspaper owners, and various Presidential administrations is the most
blatant example. US Military intelligence agencies have sponsored over
1,800 hollywood films. School textbooks in California and Texas have
their academic standards set in a highly politicized process.
So, with the understanding that
negativity and sensationalism are US media’s focus, while it also serves
a political purpose as a public relations wing of the American elite, a
recent trend in US mainstream mass media should be quite disturbing,
when carefully analyzed.
The US media, long known for its
negativity intended to grab ratings, is suddenly printing articles,
publishing widely circulated books, and featuring commentators all
echoing the message: “Don’t worry, everything is going to be OK.”
This uncharacteristic behavior of
American media almost perfectly fits the stereotypical portrayal of
government propaganda in supposedly “totalitarian states.” Many
dystopian science fiction films feature some dark, high tech police
state where the controlled press harps on with the message: “Things are
going very well, don’t worry, just obey.”
A dull “everything is OK, calm down”
message is suddenly being put forth in an American media that has
nothing to gain from it in terms of ratings or newspaper sales. A
lengthy article in the Wall Street Journal Weekend Review by Harvard
Psychology Professor Steven Pinker criticized both the political
left-wing and right-wing in the USA for their pessimism, and argued in
terms of “the big picture” across centuries, that the western liberal
democratic capitalist system has proved itself to be very successful.
Meanwhile, on February 20th, Public
Affairs Books has released a text by Gregg Easterbrook entitled “Its
Better Than It Looks.” The book has been widely reviewed by the US
press. The text assures us that we need to be more positive in our
assessment of world events. National Public Radio described the book’s
message: “Between threats of nuclear war, devastating natural disasters,
violence and political division at home, it might feel like things are
really bad right now. But not necessarily so, says Gregg Easterbrook. He
argues that by a lot of important measures, the United States and the
world are on an upward trajectory.”
Similar messages have been dancing
across American TV screens and radio waves in recent weeks, in a pattern
that any careful observer would find peculiar.
A Growing Economic Bubble
Meanwhile, economic news continues to be
selectively reported. For example, retail stores across the USA are
closing. While US media was previously reporting on the decline of
suburban malls and the elimination of retail jobs, suddenly the press is
reporting about a rise in retail profits, and hope for the retail
sector.
However, all the reports saying that the
retail sector is doing well admit that the increase in retail purchases
is not taking place at stores, but rather in online sales. The glowing
reports about an increase in retail spending all point toward facts that
have no bearing on saving the jobs of retail workers, as stores
continue to close down. Despite all the talk of a retail boom (on the
internet), stores continue to close across the USA, the latest being
H&M clothing which closed scores of outlets across the country.
Thousands of retail workers have lost their jobs.
Household debt is at record levels, and a
lot of purchasing now taking place in the retail market is being done
with credit cards. Furthermore, student debt is rising, and with a
number of students unable to repay their debt. The student debt markets
now face a specter of a potential crash.
Positive numbers on the stock market are
certainly a good economic indicator, however, as the stock numbers
rise, the population is not seeing an overall rise in its spending
power. If Wall Street and Main Street are not rising together, a rise on
the stock market simply indicates that the gap between the
financialized, fictional Wall Street Casino, and the actual economy is
getting larger.
Real economic growth involves the
financial sector getting stronger as the population gets richer along
with it. The USA hasn’t experienced real, sustainable financial growth
since the 1950s. “Jobless Recoveries” and other peculiar anomalies show
the extent to which Wall Street has insulated itself from the actual
conditions of the American people. The result has been the gap between
the financial and the real economy expanding for much longer than in the
natural boom-bust cycle, making downturns far larger and dramatic.
Artificial growth only lasts so long,
and these bubbles tend to burst. As Trump deregulates Wall Street, and
rolls back government oversight of the financial sector, all while
lowering taxes on corporations, another financial bubble is emerging.
The tone of the press, echoing the
mantra of “everything is alright” is oddly reminiscent of 2007 and 2008
as the US economy was moving toward catastrophe. Desperate attempts by
the press, politicians, and others to assure us that the economy is
fine, while urging us to keep spending money we do not have, should have
millions of Americans shouting “We’ve seen this movie before!”
Blaming Russia for Dissent
The happy song of the US media
accompanies another oddly totalitarian trend, the constant blaming of
discontent on foreign powers. In the aftermath of the school shooting in
Florida, Russia was blamed for allegedly fomenting what was already
probably the biggest political gap among the US public, the question of
gun ownership and the 2nd Amendment. Russia was accused of both opposing
and promoting gun ownership, in order to sew confusion among the
public.
Not only is the US media singing a happy
song, but it is now demanding, along with elected officials, that
everyone else do the same thing. Russia isn’t accused of putting out a
particular position, but rather of simply “sewing discord.” The message
behind the endless talk of “bots” and “trolls” is that it is disloyalty
and treason to hold dissident or negative assessments of the US
political or economic situation. Doing so is allegedly aiding the
Russians efforts to harm loyalty and confidence. The insinuation is that
all nay-saying and complaint can be traced, somehow, back to Moscow. In
order to be a good American, one is expected to simply repeat the
media’s upbeat and positive message.
Meanwhile, the US media is giving voice
to oddly pointed FBI announcements that Americans shouldn’t buy Chinese
cellphones, and should be suspicious of Chinese University students as
potential spies. While China is establishing strong economic ties with
France and other countries, the United States is imposing steel tariffs
and increasingly cutting itself off from the second largest economy in
the world.
At the UN Security Council, the USA and
its allies are desperately attempting to prevent the Syrian government
from reclaiming the city of Eastern Ghouta. This enclave of Islamic
extremists is very near the capital city of Damascus, which is densely
populated with pro-government Syrians, many of whom have fled from other
parts of the country.
Now that ISIS has been driven from
Syria, there is a real fear that the government could win the war, and
the longstanding US regime change operation could end in defeat.
As the US whistles a happy tune, and
accuses those who disagree at home of being Russian bots, those they
deem competitors on the global stage are getting stronger.
The Chinese state controlled machinery
of production is marching ahead. Oil prices, a key factor in securing
state revenue in Russia, Iran, Venezuela, Angola and Ecuador, are
rising.
Political Fallout of a Potential Crash?
If a new financial crisis erupts, as is
likely based on indicators, the political implications most likely would
mean the demise of the Trump administration. Trump would be voted out
of office in 2020, or perhaps even impeached, blamed for the
mismanagement that created the fallout.
However, the slim possibility remains
that Trump could make such a catastrophic economic situation work in his
favor. If Trump were to respond to a financial crash by swiftly pushing
his base of supporters into action, pushing forward his proposals for
infrastructure, and giving a free hand to his allies in the policing
agencies, as he often publicly advocates, the results could be a very
swift resolution of the crisis.
In the event of a financial crash, a
combination of street authoritarianism and economic arm-twisting, both
of which Trump clearly does not oppose, could ultimately let him come
out of the rubble looking like a savior. Trump could utilize a crash to
become a figure like France’s Louis Bonaparte and his “Party of Order”
who seized power in 1851.
Regardless of hypotheticals, the “don’t
be afraid, everything is alright” tone in American media is not a good
sign. It indicates that we should all be concerned about what will
happen in the coming months.
Meanwhile, the absence of China’s
concept of “win-win” relations in global trade, and human centered
development is deeply disturbing. In our high tech world, framing
international economic policies as a zero sum game cannot be be expected
to have fruitful results.
Caleb
Maupin is a political analyst and activist based in New York. He
studied political science at Baldwin-Wallace College and was inspired
and involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement, especially for the
online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.
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