POL 4310 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: North American Free Trade Agreement, George Lakoff, Rein
25 Jul 2018
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Donald Gutstein: Not a Conspiracy Theory Notes
Introduction:
-Introduces the corruption that occurred during the 2008 Financial Crisis
-Dozens of business backed think tanks in the US and Canada have been beating the drum for
deregulated markets, lower taxes for the wealthy and for the weak, ineffective government.
-It’s not about what is right for consumers, its all about ever increasing return on shareholders.
-Think tanks have evolved into an especially effective mechanism for publishing and
promoting the profit at any cost message that what is good for business is good for the
consumers.
-Media should acts as watchdogs.
-What does democracy mean in a world of instant, biased and manipulated information?
-The constant misleading of the mainstream market, limits our ability and obligation to govern
ourselves.
-Business propaganda has been infinitely more successful the progressive or oppositional
propaganda in changing out attitudes and beliefs.
-Democratic debate has become hijacked by corporate propaganda. Wealthy businessmen have
created conservative think tanks which dominate public policy discussion.
-The media’s unwillingness to hold the powerful accountable, Americans and Canadians have
become a blind mass that is subjected to the will of elite organizations.
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Chapter 1:
-Alex Carey’s three developments of great political importance: (1) Growth of democracy,
growth of corporate power and the growth of corporate propgadjaa as a means of procoporate
power against democracy.
-The growth of democracy means the expansion of voting rights and the right of workers to
organize in unions in the early part of the century, and the establishment of social and
economic rights after WW2. Corporate power is the rapid growth of multinational
corporations, many of which ar larger and more powerful than nation states and can influence
governments to act on their behalf rather than the public good.
-Corporations use their power to get tax cuts for the rich, weaken consumer, worker and
environmental regulations, diver spending to weapons and the military and away from social
programs an undermine policies to control global warming.
-The success of business propaganda is persuading us we are free from propaganda.
-Merging national interests with business interests.
-Grassroot Propaganda: Its purpose is to reach as vast a number of people as possible in order
to change public opinion so that it is sympathetic to business interests.
-Treetops Propaganda: Directed at influencing a select group of lawmakers, bureaucrats,
newspaper editors, columnists and commentators who can influence policy. It sets the terms of
debate and determines what kind of questions will dominate public discussion and thus set the
political agenda in favour of corporate interests.
