Telling it the way it is

Having a couple of weeks off work has given me time to read the newspapers. I came across a couple of articles, quotes from which really told it the way it is right now. If the complex, economic news that is put out every day was actually discussed in a broad-minded way in the media and not simply talked about by finance insiders, people might actually stand a chance of exercising some sort of democratic control over the kind of society they live in. There are realistic alternatives to cuts in services and attacks on the living standards of ordinary people - if only the media will allow them to be discussed. Here's Greg Philo of the Glasgow Media Group, in a letter to The Guardian (19/4/12):

When we [the Glasgow Media Group] suggested a wealth tax to raise £800 billion out of the £4 trillion held by the richest in our society, to stop the cuts, we found very strong support with a YouGov poll showing 73% in favour...

...The BBC should be featuring alternative views, but its news programmes are largely a parade of vested interests. We analysed interviews on the BBC's Today programme in the period in which UK banks were part nationalised and found that 81% of the interviewees were either, "City sources", "free market economists" or "business representatives".

And here's Jean-Luc Mélenchon, French presidential candidate, recently (quoted by Angelique Chrisafis in The Guardian, 7/4/12):

"Capitalist propaganda always managed to make people think the markets' interests were humanity's interests. For too long people have been made to feel that they were some kind of drain or problem for expecting free education, free healthcare or being able to stop working when they were old..."

And as Tom Robinson said, a while ago: