back

Hint No. 4 - Democracy & Propaganda

by Michael Winkler
sent on July 17, 2002

 

Due to recent events I would like begin Today’s e-mail with sort of a rectification. In the last e-mail I classified the group of those who haven’t read my e-mails yet as follows „Still there are 90 % left – ‘Silent Observers’, people with little time or maybe some who may think ‘Poor chap, wants to save the world or what ..’ or ..”
I would like to point out, that I meant to do a classification into 3 groups:
a.                                      the „Silent Observers“
b.                                     people with little time (those who have no time to read such longish e-mails)
c.                                      all those who think I am a “maniac”, “spamming person” etc.
All those who felt misunderstood or even offended I would like to ask for apology – and at the end of the day, a text on the monitor is still just a text on the monitor.
I don’t intend to offend somebody in any way at all! What kind of right would I have to do that? And in fact, I don’t care who actually reads my e-mails. I have already mentioned that I would continue writing even if there were only a single positive reply (apart from the general silence). In case the number of complaints would increase, I’ll get bored of writing e-mails anyway, won’t I?
J
I could also write letters or make calls, but why shouldn’t I use one of the best inventions of the modern times (the e-mail)? I just have to invest my time. It‘s the same for you – investing your time. That’s all. Those who already have/will have taken benefit of their own freedom and have/will have invested some time in reading will understand what I mean.

I also would like to emphasise, that I don’t belong to any political group, religious association or any other group of people with certain intentions. It is just an e-mail circular of a free human being to other free human beings in a free world!
Hoping that the frequent repetition of my intentions won’t increase the distrust of some people I would like to get to the point.
J

To get to the point:
If you have looked at the possible backgrounds of “September 11th“ a little bit closer, then you may be even more worried, you might be smiling or you may hope imploringly, that these were all lies.
Smiling will those among you who already knew what is really happening “out there”. Hoping that all has just been made up and faked will the “naïve”. The worried people – are somewhere in the middle and most probably are also on the majority.

Apart from the fact that “September 11th“ was most probably the biggest, simply because it was the most incomprehensible, terror attack in recent Man’s history, ““September 11th“ is also one of the biggest and also most incomprehensible (because of its seeming irrationality) cover-up and propaganda campaigns, which this world has ever seen. I also don’t want to conceal, what one of the main reasons was to write and post all those e-mails. All these incidents, which followed “September 11th“ and which, caused by the “prudence” of the US officials (and other “prudent executives”), led us to Today’s situation, represent an immense danger to democracy. But, in my opinion, it comes from a completely other direction than from the one which is “preached to the public”. The dangers to our “Western civilised world” also come – without any doubt – from the outside, but much more bigger are the dangers from inside. It may be possible to decollate some heads of the Hydra of terror. But if the “threatened” democracy doesn’t know anything about the real backgrounds of this Hydra, you also chop the legs of democracy. And if you have to reign people with wool pulled over their eyes, you needn’t wonder why sooner or later no-one remembers anymore what democracy is/was about in fact.

While doing the investigations on the topic „September 11th“ I recognised one thing again and again: Well-known German daily and weekly magazines use several tricks regarding their online searching machines. In October 2001 there were already premonitions uttered by some German politicians criticising the blind dependence of the German Government to the USA. One of them was Claus Todenhöfer (vice-chairman of the Hubert Burda Media Company & former CDU politician and Member of Parliament 1972-90, Link: http://www.netpioneer.de/frieden/usa/texte/sz011229.htm). The online version of the SPIEGEL used to contain an article of Todenhöfer. I used the searching machine of the SPIEGEL three days later again – but no article related to the name „Todenhöfer“ could be found anymore. This happened with several other persons and at the latest since the SPIEGEL reported on the speculations about the “Pentagon-Boeing”, I noticed this “curio” again. Articles about Thierry Meyssan could only be found again, if one had noted down the exact HTML address after the first search. Instead of that the SPIEGEL, and it is supposed to be one of the better “investigative” weekly journals, was full of stories such as “What really happened in the WTC”. On more than 20 pages they described meticulously the morning of September 11th of about 20 people who survived the inferno. Media ready-made – “reality journalism” – “Let’s suffer with those who survived!” The SPIEGEL is degenerated to high-gloss version of the BILD (“famous” German tabloid). Their slogan “SPIEGEL readers know more” can be converted confidently into “SPIEGEL readers once knew more” or “SPIEGEL readers believe they know more”. To defend the SPIEGEL one has to admit that SPIEGEL readers still know a bit more, because the decay concerns almost every German newspapers (to emphasise the “accusal” one should add that no-one expected the SPIEGEL to be like that). Articles are changed & shortened, blocked from the online searching machines etc. (also see filter methods, Mail 2). Andreas von Bülow (former Federal Minister for Research, former Member of Parliament) justly denoted the official interpretations as „a complete failure of the media, which almost contradicts the constitution„. (Link: http://www.hns.de/da-draussen/Machen/Buelow.html).
The public opinion is being made confused at first and then it will be directed. Fewer and fewer people show interest or have time to deal with the lies and factoids (which can be even worse than just lies). Taken the masses away from politics will more and more stupefy and synchronise people. That this can have less desired consequences the developments in Germany after 1933 should have shown. And I think, therefore especially we Germans should have a strong interest that those trends won’t supported.

Last but not least, an little “appeal” to my East-German fellow countrymen (not to all – those who I would like to address will know that J): All of the partly “disconcerted”, partly “scurrile” or sometimes even slightly “aggressive” (“Damned … Thanks for your offer to discuss. WE SAY ‘NO THANKS!’”) replies came from my own homeland. There might be two main reasons why this kind of answers didn't come from other parts of the world:
A.)  people “there” (outside of East Germany) are a little bit more relaxed
B.)   they must have had the adventure “Democracy” a little bit longer than we “Ossis”
I know that many of “us” are still tired of politics – even 13 years after the fall of The Wall. “Enough of fighting! Let’s enjoy our freedom first!” But sometime the “Sleeping Beauty” has to wake up. The world around us hasn’t stood still during the past years. This democracy, in which we are living in (or whatever it may be) is not a permanent achievement. It is changing day by day. This is not supposed to give you a broad hint, but just a hint (therefore the subject of all these e-mails), that we “Ossis” have to face the fact, that not everything is different from the situation before The Wall came down – Some things will remain the same.

And one of these things shows the following (unfortunately true) remark:  „Best democracy money can buy.“
(Link: http://people.freenet.de/marsch/USA_speziell/Best_Democracy_money_can_buy.html - article in German by Markus Bröckers, <http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=15&row=1 - article in English by Greg Palast – Thee Observer)

Have a nice, sunny day. Yours, Michael.