It was happening prior to this, but I first recognized the level it has become today in 1995. Maybe the 24/7 news networks which began in earnest in 1980 with CNN.
I was travelling the country quite a bit in those days, flying from one aerospace subcontractor to another. Every airport had the din of CNN in the background continually. Same news stories every 30 minutes or so with miniscule changes should an update be inserted prior to the next 30 minute cycle beginning.
Abraham Lincoln said it best. “You can fool all of the people some of the time and some people all of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.”
“If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it” is attributed to Joseph Goebbels, Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany.
Mixing these two quotes into the 24/7 news cycle is what created what I observed in 1995.
I’m speaking of news repeating a story often enough that a large percentage of the population believes it. Also, by repeating the story and following a single story for days and weeks, the citizenry can be focused on the “Breaking News” of the moment rather than observing what else is going on.
OJ’s trial of the Century is an example. So is:
- 9/11
- The War on Terror
- The Invasion of Iraq
- The Financial Crisis of 2008
- Trump colluding with Russia
- The Pandemic
Take a moment to think of all the law, all the money spent, and all the other unheard news which happened since 1995 as a result of the 24/7 newscasters focusing on one “major” story at a time.
Gabby and Brian is an example from 2021. Yes, it was saddening. Yes, Brian, if he had not taken his own life, should have been tried for murder. But the hours spent on this story while Congress and the President happily indebted your children and grand-children to another half-trillion dollars (as well as detailing what that $500 billion was spent on) was a non-conversation because the daily episode of “As the World Turns” starring Gabby and Brian kept America focused on it.
Who said Lincoln (and Goebbels) is dead? Their disciples disseminate their gospel with more fervor than most preachers were allowed to teach the Gospel during much of 2020.
With Newspeak (the language of Orwell’s 1984) given a 24/7 platform, the question becomes what is truth – and how can I recognize what to do to provide for myself, my family and my loved ones?
That’s simple. I detail it in my book. Soon to be found at https://TedLeithart.com
Sign up to my email list and you’ll be the first to know my “Breaking News” about the book and YOUR prosperity.
