boilingfrogspost.com / By Guy Evans / January 11, 2013
It may be a New Year, but age-old problems and issues still plague our Western societies. While there are many that gravitate to fire-and-brimstone negativity, rejoicing in the idea that a total planetary collapse is imminent and that they may get to observe it, what cannot be denied is the gradual and radical shift in consciousness that is happening all around us.
On a fundamental level, the same struggle has always existed: freedom vs. control. In this 21st century however, we find ourselves at an extremely important moment in human history. Aided by a revival (at least in terms of visibility) of political activism, the continued scholarly activity regarding the not-so-trustworthiness of the mainstream media, and the impact of the Internet, there are extraordinary opportunities to challenge systems of control in a way that previous generations could only dream of. We must never lose sight of this – despite the constant wave of depressing headlines and disheartening developments we can clearly see at every level.
Look at the Occupy movement. For all the efforts on the part of the corporate-owned media to dismiss, demonize, and denigrate its message, it succeeded in drastically challenging many of the general public’s previously held assumptions about the capitalist system that they live under. As political scientist Michael Parenti and others have recognized, Occupy turned the tables on the establishment through its dissemination of a formula that was essentially propagandistic in nature (1% vs. 99%), that while overly simplistic, brought to the fore the rapidly rising inequality of the past three decades. This is a huge victory – imagery is powerful, and to borrow from Paulo Freire in his seminal text Pedagogy of the Oppressed, the struggle truly begins with men’s recognition that they have been destroyed.
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