The Power Of Language

II was watching the BBC Ten O'clock news last night and something within me clicked, I mean seriously…. something registered like a slap in the face that previously I was only subconsciously aware of:

Just how completely apathetic and indifferent the news reacts to the deaths of innocent people in Iraq and the Middle-East.

“13 people have died in clashes in Iraq…………. and in other stories Scotland were defeated by Italy in the European Championship……”

Since when did this happen? Has it always been this way?? Is this deliberate???

These were questions I found running through my brain, at least up to the next mind-numbing programme came on at 10.30 to entertain and entrain me.

I mean, I understand the power of language, when used for positive or negative purposes (and yeah I know this can be subjective depending on your point of view), but this level of unconcerned, lethargic news-reporting, borders on the pure Orwellian.

And that I feel is the point of their exercise, if the barrage of constant tragic stories from Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan are reported in this dire language, then the viewer will soon not care a damn either. And if all of us don’t give a damn, then morally guided, decent law-abiding people like Bush and Blair can do as they please, and bring us even to closer to WW3 with their endeavours.

Perception Management you see!!

“Perception Management” is another term used to describe the process of
transforming public opinion to conform to a premeditated political agenda”

Perception management establishes underlying trends and tendencies that drive the public perception of events in the direction of war. During war, perception management manipulates public opinion to accept the horrific nature of war crimes as merely nothing more than collateral damage, friendly fire and accidental mishaps that are inevitable consequences of the fog of war”

Psychological warfare training in George Bush’s America has reached historic proportions.

The above quote comes from an article that sums up problem very very well, and it is a dilemma that we all share….. Please read this article in full to understnad just how Language is mis-used by the PTB.

Confucius wrote :
“The correct use of language leads to the correct behaviour of people”

Would any of us agree that Blair, Bush or the Media are utilising the correct use of language when the demonise all Muslims as the Enemy, or entrain us to think of them indifferently or sub-human?

Confucius also wrote :
“The correct use of language must begin at the very top of government”

Well enough said there…………….

For Orwell, the Machiavellian political abuse of language had distorted society into an increasingly malevolent form of tyranny. He wrote “Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful, and murder respectable”

In Orwell’s future, Newspeak and Doublethink would eradicate the possibility of protest, sedition, insurgency and rebellion against the state.

In the first years of the twenty-first century, Doublethink became the hallmark of the Bush era.

The core doctrine of the Bush Era is pre-emptive war.

When Bush argues for the right to wage war, to prevent war…. He invokes Orwellian Doublethink by holding two contradictory beliefs simultaneously while believing both of them: That war is undesirable, while a war to prevent war IS desirable.

Who would ever have though we were living in Orwellian times, Jeezus H Christ………………………..

Global Conflicts Palestine - Education or Propaganda?

Checkpoints, Suicide-Bombers, Curfews....

This is a new computer game called "Global Conflicts: Palestine", scheduled to be released this month or April by Serious Games Initiative.

The idea is, you are a young journalist working in Palestine/Jerusalem, navigating between chosen Israeli and Palestinian sources to get stories.

The player has the option of being pro-Palestinian, Pro-Israeli, or being Neutral. In actual fact, players gain more points by actually being Neutral when reporting their virtual stories.

And this is my beef with this little project....... Neutral??

It's very difficult from reading mainstream news sources to get to the bottom of the middle-east / Israeli / Palestinian situation. After all, some people don't understand that Israel has actually illegally occupied territories in the area, leading to death, destruction and major daily stress for all the peoples in the area.

So when a young gamer decides to visit this Virtual-Jerusalem, he is led to believe that being Neutral is the answer?

'Apathy and Indifference' is surely the mindset that will entail from this adventure, no?

The developers believe the game will reach out to young people in ways other formats don't, and help them to comprehend what life is actually like for all involved within the Occupied Territories.

They say young'uns aren't interested in politics, or watching the news, so games like this, and others... will help them to understand what is going on in the midde-east.

I've been unable to ascertain though if the game will show young Palestinian children being shot by Israeli snipers, ambulances deliberately delayed and families enjoying picnics on Gaza beaches being shelled and obliterated by Israeli Forces?

The company releasing this project is Washington and Copenhaged based, Serious Games Initiative (SGI). Their CEO Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen, has psychology experience, and has previously worked on "Game projects for major companies like Nike and Coca-Cola with a global outreach".

Yeah well we all know how friendly Nike and Coca-Cola are....

"The genre is about taking the resources of the games industry and applying them outside of entertainment" says Ben Sawyer, co-founder of Digitalmill Inc., and one of the organizers of the Serious Games Summit. This means creating games that play roles in areas such as education, health, public policy, science, government and corporate training, he says.

Ok so I'm a cynical person, but I can't help the overbearing feeling this is simply propaganda for a new age. Children, teachers and gamers beware.....