Fixing America In 500 Words Or Less Chapter 27 IS MAINSTREAM MEDIA EVEN A LITTLE BIT LEGIT?        American mainstream media habitually fails to address issues in a legitimate manner that could actually help achieve legitimate reform.  Instead, we are treated to a giant merry-go-round shell game of opposing pundit charades; both “sides” whining about and belittling the other, with neither offering any coherent plan for actually achieving reform.        Amidst growing public outrage over corporate tax loopholes, corporate bailouts and other corrupt political shenanigans, why aren't pundits on either the the so-called “liberal” or “conservative” side calling for a national cap on interest rates at a reasonable 5%? ¹  This would do far more to stimulate the economy, insure the long-term health of the banking industry and actually help the average citizen, than all of the nonsensical cosmetic 'reforms' proposed by both sides combined.        In debating private versus public health care, why is there little if any discussion in mainstream media regarding the obvious immediate and long-term ramifications of contagious diseases?  If conservative mothers actually knew how severely in danger their own children are, even if insured, we would have had universal health care long ago, like any rational government today should and does provide. ²        Why is media discussion about the damage pollution does to human health largely absent?  Why is the media instead focused on arguing about climate change?  Even if pollution were somehow beneficial to the planet, it remains a long-established irrefutable medical fact that pollution is very harmful to people in innumerable and often catastrophic ways.  There never has been or ever will be a rational argument against getting rid of as much pollution as possible, as fast as humanly possible--case closed. ³        Amongst widespread feigned “outrage” over political corruption, why isn't mainstream media headlining demands for a constitutional amendment banning all political contributions except by private individuals, while limiting those to 1% of the median income per candidate per year?  Given the historical track record of the Supreme Court habitually siding with business interests against any and all legitimate reform legislation, this is obviously the only way to achieve any true political reform. 4        In 2003 CBS featured a so-called “liberal” Dan Rather embedded in real-time, literally fawning over Bush's illegal invasion of Iraq, whispering with hushed reverence how adept our military is at invading and bombing a city full of civilians into “democratic” submission.  When systemically corrupt leadership wages foreign wars of aggression, wars obviously designed to enhance oil, war machine and other corporation coffers, mainstream media is habitually found in patronizing flag-waving lock-step synchronization, firmly “embedded” in unchallenged support of such barbaric atrocities.        What is the real agenda behind the carefully controlled piece-meal information doled out by the New York Times and Wall Street Journal?  Is CNN, MSNBC, Fox and other mainstream noise providing us legitimate information we really need?  Why aren't American mainstream media outlets informing us correctly and adequately regarding the major issues of the 21st Century? 5        Is mainstream media even a little bit legit?  Or, is it just a disguised commercial megaphone trumpeting the blessings of global corporation domination?  You decide. NOTES: 1. At various times and places throughout Dark and Middle Age Europe, it was illegal and punishable by death to charge more than 5-6% interest, while anything over 3% was considered to be immoral.  Compare that to the global reality of the 21st Century, where it is not uncommon in both the United States and other theoretically "developed" and "enlightened" nations, for people to pay 10, 20, 30 and on up to well over 200% in interest on various types of loans. 2. For more information, see Should We Care if Everyone Has Health Care?. 3. For more information, see Is There Really Life in the Future?. 4. For more information, see Can Congress Be Reformed?. 5. American mainstream media has long focused on the so-called “health” of the stock market as the leading indicator for whether our not the American economy is doing well.  Prior to the computer age and wide-scale banking and market deregulation, this was a somewhat legitimate method for measuring economic health.  Today however, millions of stocks are traded in milliseconds using sophisticated computer software programs, while hedge fund and various other nefarious players manipulate the "futures" and other markets. Such market manipulation tends to greatly enrich certain wealthy individuals, while severely weakening rather than strengthening the economy.  In theory, the basic idea of capitalist markets is for individual investors to purchase an ownership stake "share" in a company, which in turn in theory, uses the capital invested to expand and grow the business, which in turn in theory, creates jobs and long-term economic growth.  When stocks are purchased and held on to for the long term gain of the investor, then a capitalist economy will in theory, grow and prosper indefinitely. However, when stocks are bought and sold in milliseconds and market prices are otherwise manipulated, this serves no legitimate purpose in terms of providing capital to companies for long-term growth and not surprisingly, it creates "bubble" bull markets doomed to eventually burst into recession.  While few if any in the mainstream media bother to explain this to the American public, our corrupt bought-and-paid-for leaders continue to refuse to properly regulate the markets.  An obviously necessary and healthy start, would be for Congress to pass legislation making it illegal to sell stocks for at least a month after purchasing them. This wouldn't solve every problem, but it could serve to greatly stabilize the American economic system and stimulate sustained job-creating economic growth for the long term. There is no such thing as a sound economy without sound regulation, anymore than there is any such thing as a safe city without traffic lights, laws, building codes, inspectors, fire, police, jails and court personnel, which provide various necessary checks and balances against human sin.  Likewise, a healthy economy needs checks and balances to offset the significant downside of human greed.  Creating a healthy economy with sustained growth will never be achieved by either deregulation or overly burdensome regulation.  The trick is to figure out how to regulate wisely, similar to how the trick to having a safe city, is to wisely install traffic lights where needed, rather than placing them at every corner or otherwise, eliminating them entirely. Today while our mainstream media continues to report the daily ups and downs of the NASDAQ and New York Stock Exchange, the gap between the wealthy and the poor continues to widen.  Whether the market is up or down appears to have no bearing whatsoever on the annual income of the average American, which when they are fortunate enough to have a job, continues to stagnate regardless of how good or poorly the market performs.  Nor do the ups and downs of the market appear to have any particular relevancy to the price of gasoline, food, rent, clothing, health care, education and other basic necessities of modern life. What advantage is it to the average American or to our nation's long term economic health and prosperity, when a few more billionaires earn billions more, while less than zero percentage of market prosperity “trickles down” on the vast majority of our citizens?  Even billionaires depend on the rest of us to purchase products and services in order for their billions to remain secure, a lesson from the Bible borne out in the Great Depression and the Great Recession, as illustrated in perhaps the greatest American novel, John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath".  And most unfortunately, a lesson seldom if ever learned before it is too late to prevent the inevitable fall of once proud and thriving nations. Click Here to Go Back to Contents Click Here to eMail the Author Copyright © December 10th, 2019 by Richard Aberdeen. Copyright © December 10th, 2019 by Freedom Tracks Records. ( including from several earlier copyrights ) No part of this material may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher and signed by the author. For inquiries, please contact Freedom Tracks Records.  The essays entitled Revolution and Revolution ~ Side B are open copyright and may be reproduced and distributed as desired.