"Weapons of Mass Deception" (WMDs)


Well, that interesting title isn't originally mine; it is the title of a documentary movie i saw tonight, or rather, yesterday night, made by Danny Schechter, "The News dissector". Basically the movie takes a critical viewpoint of the media's role in general (print, television, film or any other) in not making any serious attempts to dispel the myths about the Iraq war, and in fact acting as a device by the government to propagate a false story, one that has caused people to overlook the actual cause(s) for the US going to war in Iraq. A pretty good movie in my opinion and is definitely worth a watch. probably not as attractively packaged as a Michael Moore film, but nonetheless very good content.
There is also this terrific documentary called "The Corporation" which takes a critical look into the nature of a corporation and how such a legal entity possesses almost all the typical features of a psychopath! these two documentaries made for an interesting round of discussion with my friend as we leisured over dinner.
What i am alluring to specifically is a parallel strain of thought that i had sometime back about the corporate world as such. basically it appears to me that all corporations are there in the market to make profits, to make money. and that is the only real motive.
Now, what are you selling in the deal?
it depends; after all, even the entertainment industry is an industry now, right? that is, it has all the internal workings of a typical industry. what it produces eventually is something that aims to entertain people, thats all.
but if we look at the real money earners, the ones that are really scooping it all up, then it looks like what they aim to sell is something far more fundamental in nature.
One might probably learn in any economics course (personally, I've never had any formal economics course - it just lasted one class and i was out of there!) that the most profitable sale is of something that is most in demand, something that people really want. It also makes sense if what you sell is something that can't go out of demand, so that you have a market that is there to stay.
to look at what people really want, we have to look at what is really necessary but of which there is always a shortage of. there is rampant ignorance, (even among the rich) hence there is a need to educate; people need good medical care, most people need life insurance to help them in case something bad turns up, this list goes thus.
But then it also has to be something that people with money would want ; obviously, there is abundant hunger and poverty in the world but then you can't make any sale on that avenue!

if we look at the major players addressing some fundamental needs, it seems to me that there is a very clever ploy underplay here, because none of these corporations are really helping anyone out there, are they?! I mean, it appears like one would want to help people get what they want, and so the people pay you for your help, .......no!!
most of these companies seem to play on one simple trick: if there is something that people really need, then there is an associated sense of vulnerability that people experience therewith.
that sense of vulnerability, that measure of insecurity is the path towards the inner linings of their wallets and that is the terminal stop!
let me take the example of education. if you wish to educate people with the hope of alleviating ignorance off the world, then noble as the deed and intention might be, there is no Goddess Lakshmi anywhere there, despite all the blessings of Saraswati.. if you wish to make money through the field of education, look at, for instance, ETS.
Since their tests have now becomes standardized in America for admissions into any college here, one needs to give the appropriate exams, pay fees, prepare for these exams and so on. And since ETS is the only one that is the most appropriate source to seek any of those, all that money goes into their coffers, even though the exams they make you write have nothing to do with your years of education, or lack, thereof.

consider another example: to drive around in America, it is federal law to possess insurance on the vehicle. Why? In order to help the common man? of course, not! it is solely to help out all these insurance companies! I don't think any insurance company believes that it exists to ease people's sense of insecurity - rather, their motto is: if this is something that makes people insecure, then there is money to be made here!
so, i conclude with the following idea: if you can think of something that people really need (that is necessary in order to project a 'noble cause' front) but which in reality is something people need because its lack makes them feel insecure, inadequate or paranoid (thats the best option!), then let me know quickly; there's a lot of money to be made there!