Is it déjà vu? Is it an illusion? Is it a knee-jerk? Is it real? Is it happening? These are all the questions that arise the minute the word “change” is uttered. Amidst the domination of dooms day predictions doubting any good is natural.
There has been serial scary events in the last few years. The killing COVID. The job insecurity. The unbearable inflation.
The wars. The economy. The politics.
All around is a sense of hopelessness. Laws have become a joke. Rules are non-existent. Safety is fragile. Inhumanity is naked and ugly. In these oppressive times, talking about a ray of hope becomes a cynic’s favourite ridicule target. The more the things are the same, the more the urge to change. And that is why the air has a draft, a sniff of some freshness at times that belies the overwhelming stuffiness.
Global sentiments are not quite what they were. There is anger. There is rage. There is prolonged reaction from quarters that the West does give a damn about. There is more information than disinformation.
There is scrutiny that is embarrassing and continuing. There are revelations that are inconvenient and unwanted. There are stories that are being told and retold beyond censors and shut-downs.
There are songs. There are poems. There are cries. There is a heartbreaking weeping that cuts the body and stirs the soul. And it is not subsiding. And it is not fading. And it is not ready to stop.
And it is gathering force. This is a war of the voices. The traditional VOA (Voice of America) and VOI (Voice of Israel) are struggling to keep the opposing voices down.
The past practices are not working. Let us look at some factors that have created this stirring of the almost immoveable bases of power:
- The Super Media Corporations— The term “propaganda” apparently first came into common use in Europe as a result of the missionary activities of the Catholic Church. In 1622 Pope Gregory XV created in Rome the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith.
However, its mass use became prominent in World War I and World War II. World War I dramatized the power and triumphs of propaganda. Both fascism and communism in the post-war years were the centres of intense revolutionary propaganda.
World War II is all about Hitler and his propaganda machine. Joseph Goebbels was the minister of propaganda for the German Third Reich under Adolf Hitler. His job was to make his Nazi party popular despite its atrocity record.
Post-World War II the American propaganda was facilitated through the RAND Corporation that is supposed to be for research and military protection but is a tool for crafting and creating public perception. Its controversial role in wars in Vietnam, etc, is no secret.
They control the media through government control, power enforcement and money buyouts.
The Rand Corporation is a big part of US establishment and has worked on creating perceptions against all countries or individuals who challenge the US superpower status.
Their think tank network, academic dominance were the tools, which have been used to give a narrative that painted victories despite defeats (the Vietnam War), villains despite heroics (Nelson Mandela) and created the “American dream” model to attract the young and the ambitious.
- The Public Voice-Over— The VOA and BBC and CNN combined with Harvard and Columbia and Yale were the story setters to be echoed by students and public world over. No longer.
Why? The media is no longer a matter of few biggies dominating the voice world. It is no longer the prerogative of the powerful governments and the rich mega corporations dishing out billions in advertising money. It is now a click away from billions around the world. A video, a word, a picture has the power to overpower any paid advertising.
The Generation Zee is angry and dying to express their rage. They are born to question the status quo. They are born on the information overload and cannot be fooled by prepared, controlled and canned narratives.
The American Universities are taken aback by their student bodies that refuse to buy the self-crafted heroes and villains.
The Guardian reports that despite arrests of a 100 students in Columbia University, the student protests are spreading in other universities like Yale, Brown and Harvard, to say the least.
here are encampments with hunger strikes. Their demand is not just a general injustice cry, it is a very specific call for action to their universities to divest from companies that are supplying to Israeli military.
These are not just Muslim students but students from all backgrounds including Jewish students.
Top Universities in other countries like Sorbonne in France, Warwick in England, etc, have all found students united globally in their demand to delink financial support to Israel.
- War Business Economy— The US rise as superpower happened due to World Wars.
Thereafter, the might of the US defence industry is a big factor in keeping the economy ticking and wars happening. Lockheed Martin and Boeing, etc., have more revenues than many countries have GDP.
The US formula of attacking smaller countries and still losing the wars can only be understood if we look at how the war boosts the US economy. The famous scam of Vice President Dick Cheney and his multinational Halliburton is a case that ripped the US pretense apart.
He resigned from Haliburton when he became the US Vice President but kept on receiving compensation. He and his company were involved in Nigeria, Afghanistan and Iraq. John Kerry admitted that Dick Cheney and his company profited from the “mess” in Iraq.
A “mess” that took a million lives and wrecked the whole country. War was good business for US, but may be not any longer. With the social media exposing every move, and the Gen Zee rising and demanding cut in business ties, the world powers are for the first time thinking about a rethink.
The South Africans put up a case against Israel in the International Court of Justice. “I am outraged and heartbroken by the deaths of seven humanitarian workers in Gaza”. Guess who is saying this?–Joe Biden.
Is there a change of heart? Is there a shaken soul? Not in the power corridors. But there is a change of pocket that is forcing them to be “heartbroken”. The great might of the Multinational model is definitely shaken. The McDonald’s and Starbucks are short of bucks.
There is a serious boycott worldwide, hitting their revenues and returns. A money break definitely causes a heartbreak. But what is refreshing is that in the younger ones finally the human value is leading the share value.
What is heartening is that the soul of Generation Zee is stirred and making the power brokers do what they have never done before.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
The writer is a columnist, consultant, coach, and an analyst and can be reached at [email protected]
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