Our Purpose: If Karl Marx were alive today, he would likely be appalled by the industrialization of the media in the effect it has on “the truth.” Once the truth becomes a “commodity” to be bought and sold between the media and those who wish to influence it for personal gain, it will inherently be corrupted from its original purpose as the “bearer of truth” in society. From this point, Marx would say that “the truth” in the media couldn’t remain pure in capitalist society. In order to have a truly free, true and fair media, it must be liberated from the limitations and influences of the capitalist market. The biggest problem for the media is the system it exists in, and we must free it from the system in order to free it.
Obstacles & Steps:
1) “External World” Apathy: Our primary and target audience we must unite in order to create a new, free media would be the workers. The problem is, the more pressure the worker is under to perform his job on a daily basis for the sake of his and his family’s livelihood, the less he will take notice to the world around him. At this point, the worker might live with an insular, inward point of view in his life – very unlikely to care much about the media or the world around him. This person might not be able to afford, or just choose not purchase, the sources of media. And even if they do receive this media, they might not have the time or energy to watch it. In a world where the bourgeoisie controls a blind, apathetic public, they have full control. The workers must be made to care about the world around him, and particularly the society which they live in.
2) Misplaced Trust in the Media: This problem can even be strengthened by the last problem’s solutions – once we get a public to start reading the media again, they are feeding the system and the plans have backfired. The next solution addresses also those who ignorantly believe that their media is fair, honest, and true with them.
Solutions for Problem #1 & 2: For both of these groups, we need to establish a form of media which is uncorrupted by the shackles of capitalism and which competes with the more established news sources people might trust regardless of how trustworthy they actually are. This alternate form of media would necessarily have to remove itself from the capitalist system. An all-volunteer journalist staff overseen by men with good consciences and believers in the cause of revolution would need to edit this. However, the simple fact that these journalists have no reason to write other than their own belief in Marxism and the project in general would protect from the capitalist attitude that corrupts all other papers. This would have no advertisements and would perhaps be distributed for free. This seems difficult, but in the days of blogging and free web-space, this could be done with very little-to-no overhead, which could also be covered by a volunteer donation. With any of these variations, the plan would give an alternate, true media to fall back on for the public. And the cheaper or free distribution would definitely make it more readily accessible for a working public who feel they wouldn’t pay for their media otherwise. Picketing and boycotting could also help draw attention and hopefully convince the people to withdraw from their media towards ours.
3) The Opposing Forces Meet, and the Capitalist Option is Stronger: It is obvious that merely giving people the option of another paper would help, but it is even more obvious that a small, Marxist volunteer media wouldn’t bring capitalism or even individual papers to their knees. There would still be an opposing force of the little David-like media versus the much more popular and powerful Goliath of the major news media. And as much as goodwill of people to write this little paper can be trusted, it can also be trusted to fail. People might eventually lose purpose in this job, and the non-existent income would take a toll at some point, even with a rotating staff. It is also evident that people who have a problem with the capitalist system will likely not be the richest of the rich. For this reason, many of the volunteers for the service will need to return to their jobs again, and the capitalist system is reinforced and the paper might be lost.
Solution for Problem #4: There will be no coinciding of the opposing ideologies of Marxism and capitalism; one will have to win out for the struggle to end. Up until this point, boycotting and picketing were options, but they would never bring the world to their knees either. As long as the bourgeoisie are in power and exists, Marx states, the proletariat will still have a means to revolt. This revolution must happen to free the media and the minds of the people from its current corrupted influence. And as stated earlier, the workers are the primary audience for this message because they are the ones who must realize they are being held down and they are the ones being taken advantage of. Obviously, the revolution will not be as simple as it is laid out here. But once we convince the people of the revolution, the modern corrupt media will come down with the system it currently stands on. The revolution will come again and again until it is successful. This revolution might seem drastic, but it truly the only way to remove the media from its negative influence completely. The current media must be completely brought down and smashed in order for a fair one to come in its place.
No comments:
Post a Comment