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Kid Berwyn

(21,784 posts)
14. We got to do person-to-person.
Mon Jun 16, 2025, 01:26 PM
Jun 16

...in addition to the in-person events. Otherwise, people are just gonna hear the drone coming out of the tee vee -- a drone fashioned 24/7/366 by the dulcet tones of Rupert Murdoch and CIABCNNBCBSFakeNoiseNutworks.

Perhaps the pukes are too far gone to understand, given the media environment. Details, courtesy of Greenpeace:

The Lewis Powell Memo: A Corporate Blueprint to Dominate Democracy



The Powell Memo (also known as the Powell Manifesto)

The Powell Memo was first published August 23, 1971


Introduction

In 1971, Lewis Powell, then a corporate lawyer and member of the boards of 11 corporations, wrote a memo to his friend Eugene Sydnor, Jr., the Director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The memorandum was dated August 23, 1971, two months prior to Powell’s nomination by President Nixon to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Powell Memo did not become available to the public until long after his confirmation to the Court. It was leaked to Jack Anderson, a liberal syndicated columnist, who stirred interest in the document when he cited it as reason to doubt Powell’s legal objectivity. Anderson cautioned that Powell “might use his position on the Supreme Court to put his ideas into practice…in behalf of business interests.”

Though Powell’s memo was not the sole influence, the Chamber and corporate activists took his advice to heart and began building a powerful array of institutions designed to shift public attitudes and beliefs over the course of years and decades. The memo influenced or inspired the creation of the Heritage Foundation, the Manhattan Institute, the Cato Institute, Citizens for a Sound Economy, Accuracy in Academe, and other powerful organizations. Their long-term focus began paying off handsomely in the 1980s, in coordination with the Reagan Administration’s “hands-off business” philosophy.

Most notable about these institutions was their focus on education, shifting values, and movement-building — a focus we share, though often with sharply contrasting goals.* (See our endnote for more on this.)

So did Powell’s political views influence his judicial decisions? The evidence is mixed. Powell did embrace expansion of corporate privilege and wrote the majority opinion in First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, a 1978 decision that effectively invented a First Amendment “right” for corporations to influence ballot questions. On social issues, he was a moderate, whose votes often surprised his backers.

CONTINUED...

http://reclaimdemocracy.org/powell_memo_lewis/



Additional important history to know...



Alex Carey: Corporations and Propaganda

The Attack on Democracy


The 20th century, said Carey, is marked by three historic developments: the growth of democracy via the expansion of the franchise, the growth of corporations, and the growth of propaganda to protect corporations from democracy. Carey wrote that the people of the US have been subjected to an unparalleled, expensive, 3/4 century long propaganda effort designed to expand corporate rights by undermining democracy and destroying the unions. And, in his manuscript, unpublished during his life time, he described that history, going back to World War I and ending with the Reagan era. Carey covers the little known role of the US Chamber of Commerce in the McCarthy witch hunts of post WWII and shows how the continued campaign against "Big Government" plays an important role in bringing Reagan to power.

John Pilger called Carey "a second Orwell", Noam Chomsky dedicated his book, Manufacturing Consent, to him. And even though TUC Radio runs our documentary based on Carey's manuscript at least every two years and draws a huge response each time, Alex Carey is still unknown.

Given today's spotlight on corporations that may change. It is not only the Occupy movement that inspired me to present this program again at this time. By an amazing historic coincidence Bill Moyers and Charlie Cray of Greenpeace have just added the missing chapter to Carey's analysis. Carey's manuscript ends in 1988 when he committed suicide. Moyers and Cray begin with 1971 and bring the corporate propaganda project up to date.

This is a fairly complex production with many voices, historic sound clips, and source material. The program has been used by writers and students of history and propaganda. Alex Carey: Taking the Risk out of Democracy, Corporate Propaganda VS Freedom and Liberty with a foreword by Noam Chomsky was published by the University of Illinois Press in 1995.

Source: TUC Radio

Part 1: https://tucradio.org/podcasts/newest-podcasts/alex-carey-corporations-and-propaganda-part-one-of-two/

Part 2: https://tucradio.org/podcasts/newest-podcasts/alex-carey-corporations-and-propaganda-part-two-of-two/



Absolutely, Johnny2X2X: "No Kings" was a teaching moment that cut through.

Recommendations

1 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

"No Kings" worked brilliantly. [View all] Kid Berwyn Jun 16 OP
It's encouraging to see that one of the bedrock American principles is alive as well. We don't have a king. Walleye Jun 16 #1
FAKE PHOTO PEOPLE: San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose Bay Area agrees! Kid Berwyn Jun 16 #6
Your post is fake pimpbot Jun 16 #8
No fuck? Really? Kid Berwyn Jun 16 #10
No problem! pimpbot Jun 16 #11
It's OK I didn't see it and wouldn't have believed it anyway we would've seen it for more than one source Walleye Jun 16 #16
Thanks, Walleye. It gets old, feeling shame. Kid Berwyn Jun 16 #18
Not to worry, we all get taken in by fake pictures sometimes. Shame is a good thing but a killer. Walleye Jun 16 #19
Existential Threats should be enough on their own, but I agree on the premise! Moostache Jun 16 #2
Agree totally. Better messaging needed. Kid Berwyn Jun 16 #7
To me it implies we need to dumb down our messaging to short impactful bits bucolic_frolic Jun 16 #3
Want to see someone's eyes glaze over? Kid Berwyn Jun 16 #12
Oh God, yes! Please! Scrivener7 Jun 16 #28
"No Kings" was perfect blubunyip Jun 16 #4
Hands Off! No Kings! Straight to the point. Kid Berwyn Jun 16 #13
Nextdoor and sub-Reddit for my town Johnny2X2X Jun 16 #5
We got to do person-to-person. Kid Berwyn Jun 16 #14
Yeeees malaise Jun 16 #9
Headlines should read: "Largest Mass Protest in U.S. History" Kid Berwyn Jun 16 #15
This guy from Ohio sums it up Blue Full Moon Jun 16 #17
They'll grow in size, too. Kid Berwyn Jun 16 #23
Recommended! H2O Man Jun 16 #20
That is good news! We also got the M.I.C. with us. Kid Berwyn Jun 16 #24
Let's keep doing it!! Bluesaph Jun 16 #21
Ab-so-lute-ly! Kid Berwyn Jun 16 #25
Just a question about your OP picture. marked50 Jun 16 #22
Why, yes! Thank you for noticing! Kid Berwyn Jun 16 #26
Thanks for the confirmation. marked50 Jun 16 #29
And besides, it was fun as hell! Scrivener7 Jun 16 #27
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