Reply #144: Rage For Order, I don't see how YOU can call yourself a progressive--if you do--

[Peace Patriot]

and support corporate control of the media. Perhaps you have a suggestion, for here and for there, on how ordinary people--the poor, workers, the majority--can achieve the right of free speech, or even learn to think straight, with the constant din of corpo/fascist propaganda on all the airwaves. The right of free speech has been entirely corrupted by mega-monopoly ownership of the public airwaves. So what is your remedy for this?

You use this proposal as a "talking point" for "Chavez the dictator," but you don't address the issue. Maybe the wording of this Venezuelan proposal is too vague, too loose, too easy to abuse. So what would you do? What I see is that they are trying to solve two problems. One is that they have been the victims of a violent rightwing coup, whose first act was to suspend the Constitution and all civil rights--a coup that was aided and abetted, in an active way, by RCTV and other multinational media conglomerates. How do you solve that problem? Clearly, these media moguls were misusing the privilege of broadcasting to greatly harm the public interest. No one has a right to broadcast. Broadcasting is licensed and regulated in every country in the world. How do you stop them from doing this if there is no law with teeth (i.e., jail time) that forbids it? Maybe this proposed law in Venezuela is not the way to do it. Perhaps the law should be tighter, more specific, clearer? Perhaps there is some other approach to this problem that you could propose. You are ignoring the problem that they are trying to solve. How would you solve it?

Secondly, you have to create a diverse, decentralized, non-monopolistic media system with a set of enforceable rules and regs. This is an essential element of a good democracy. Venezuela has 24/7 lying, vicious, rightwing bullshit being spewed over the airwaves. It is very like here, but worse. This is insupportable. Corporations should not have this kind of power. Do you approve of them having this kind of power? If not, how would you curtail them? Do you approve of the principle of public ownership of, and regulatory power over, the airwaves? If you don't, then you are not a progressive.

You want me to oppose this proposal. Maybe I would, if I were Venezuelan. But maybe Venezuelans understand this proposal according to their own language, social, cultural and legal traditions and definitions--and history. Maybe it's exactly what they need. I would have to know more. But I think you want something in addition to my opposition to the proposal. You want me to agree that "Chavez is a dictator." I do not agree with that. Also, I think that the problems that the proposal is trying to solve are very real --the on-going threat of corporate media collusion in fascist coups, and the use of the public airwaves to promulgate rightwing propaganda. I don't think you are into solving those problems, but merely into dissing Chavez. Correct me if I'm wrong.