Well, it seems like we’re on something of a “examining pro-establishment propaganda” kick recently, so I figured I might as well empty out the cupboard. Today’s passage is from a recent book that I don’t think has gotten nearly as much attention as it deserves outside of online library leftist circles - Roy Eidelson’s brilliant “Political Mind Games: How the 1% Manipulate Our Understanding of What's Happening, What's Right, and What's Possible.”
Although this specific passage focuses on the “false freedom” propaganda behind the “Right to Work” movement in America, the beauty of Eidelson’s book is that it examines twenty different disingenuous arguments commonly used to defend elite class interests at the expense of the poor and marginalized. Each technique is explored in terms of both underpinning theory and practical application, while Eidelson provides examples of these establishment con games in action, throughout the book. You could do a lot worse than this accessible, underappreciated gem - in many ways it’s “Manufacturing Consent for people who don’t have a humanities degree” but the book also moves beyond the Chomsky-Herman classic and into the headlines of the current “Trump” era of pro-elite/establishment propaganda. - nina
