Top-down memes & Bottom-up memes in mass media--What to do about it?

[dumpster_baby]

This post is from a reply to an email from a local houston radio activist, and I thought I would just throw it up here:

...................................................

Yes, I am very interested in this subject of how memes figure into the rightwing/neoliberal longterm propaganda efforts. I have had some time off from work lately (technical writer--laid off, little contract work, etc), and I have done a lot of research in this area in the interim.

Politically, I have moved from the right to the left in the last several years. In the last year I have moved even more to the left as a result of reading a number of books/essays etc written by leftist writers. Right now many leftists/liberal political activists are swooning over Thomas Frank's latest book. I also love it.

Also I (and many others) have been writing about politics and activism for the last year or so in political forums such as www.democraticunderground.com (DU).

But it is past time for writing and chatting with other politics junkies on the Net. Looking at Frank's book (_What is the matter with Kansas?_ ( see www.tcfrank.com )) and extrapolating from its basic thesis, it is clear that the establishment media is not going to be able to help. So we have to take matters into our own hands.

What the right has accomplished is to sow the seeds of top-down memes. Top down memes are just ideas about politics slanted to the perspective of those who have money and power (and really, the "right" is for the most part just a tool for the "top" (corporations and the wealthy and business owners and doctors, etc)). For example, the idea that taxes are bad. Hell, they are no doubt bad for the rich, but for everyone else they are good!

I used to think the same way. But then with all my time off I have had time to do so much reading and writing on this subject. I have written many posts on this subject on DU, but I do not have access to them right now. I need to donate a couple bucks to DU so I can search their archives. Those posts have a lot of ideas in them that I need to use.

If you want to read more about how the right has conquered the American mind, google up "Laurie Spivak". She is a progressive thinktank writer. She has written about 4 excellent essays on media control by the right. Or google up Thomas Frank or read the essays at www.tcfrank.com

It will take years to plant these bottom-up memes and even more time for them to work. But what other choice do we have? America will likely approach near-third world conditions within 10-15 years, at least for the bottom half.

This idea about how memes create a world for us can be seen in the movie THe Truman Show. One of the major themes of that movie was the idea that "we accept the world as it is presented to us." And the Top/The Right has presented a top-down worldview by pumping top-down memes into our head over the last 20 years or so by using the mass media.

Time to start spreading some bottom-up memes. Like, for example, "from each according to his abilities and to each according to his needs." Also we need to spread the meme that America is a jointly owned business, owned by its citizens, and the top 20% is getting more and more of the revenue produced in America. Also, we need to spread the meme that taxes are good. Good for the average working person. Also, the idea that the average white working stiff has a lot more in common with the average black or latino than he/she does with CEOs, celebrites, rich people, etc. Also, I want to spread the meme that working people need to cooperate with each other and negotiate en masse with the corporations, businesses in order to better themselves and their jointly-owned country.

I have two plans to spread bottom-up memes via mass media:

1. Take over pacifica radio (or convince the management that we are right) in order to spread leftist/populist/bottom-up memes via daytime talk radio.

2. Take a cue from Michael Moore: do a documentary. I want to do a documentary comparing how America is set up/run/structured, compared to how European countries, especially Sweden, and also Canada and Australia are set up, especially with respect to health care, social safety net, etc.

As for making the documentary, I think it could be done collaboratively over the internet. Video of interviews and graphical displays (charts, statistics, etc) could be collected from collaborators all over the globe, and sent to other collaborators over the net.

The thing to do is to build a collaborative team in America, Canada and Europe. Video cameras are now cheap. I have 2 myself. Video editing/DVD creation software can be obtained for free.

THe completed documentary could be distributed via DVD or via P2P. Maybe there could even be some money in it. Look at Fahreheit 9-11's commerical success...

Also, in five years or so, wireless broadband will likely bring down the prices of broadband so that most Americans will have it. And when that happens you will start getting internet TV stations streaming video. Also people will be using peer to peer to obtain movies. The documentary I speak of could get a wide audience that way. Speading bottom-up memes five years from now may be a lot easier than it is now.

Here is a great URL that really started me on the leftist path:
http://www.american-pictures.com/english/racism/articles/welfare.htm

Here is another:
http://www.geocities.com/kew1788/SocialDemocracy.htm

And, of course, Noam Chomsky: http://www/chomsky.info

Now, none of these other activists or writers is really talking about how memes figure into this right wing propaganda scenario. But everyone seems to love how Frank has really tied together a lot of loose threads and wrapped it up into a pretty picture. Furthermore, it should be clear to anyone who has an interest in liberal politics and memes, that memes go a long way to explaining how this rightward shift has been effected in the minds of ordinary Americans.

But it is time to actually take some action based on these great ideas from leftist writers.

[lazarus]

1. bottom up memes

Come from the blogosphere.

For instance: I get about 40-80 hits a day on my blog. Not so much.

But I'm linked to several much bigger blogs, which are linked to bigger blogs still. For instance, Alterman's blog on MSNBC links to 4 blogs that link to me.

So...

I make a suggestion, start a "meme". If it's good, it gets picked up by somebody slightly bigger. Eventually, it percolates up to the surface, which is where the media lives.

The blogosphere has kept many stories alive.