The following excerpt was taken from MediaLen’s ‘Newspeak in the 21st Century’, Pg. 75, Cromwell, D., Edwards, D, 2009, Pluto Press.
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‘Consider some of the key issues that should be at the heart of any analysis of the looming catastrophe under discussion. And consider how inclusion of these issues is all but inconceivable in any corporate newspaper. These issues include:
- The inherently biocidal, indeed psychopathic, logic of corporate capitalism, structurally locked into maximising revenues in minimum time at minimum cost. As corporations are legally obliged to maximise profit for shareholders, it is in fact illegal for corporations to prioritise the welfare of people and planet above private profits. How can this simple fact of entrenched corporate immorality not be front and centre in any discussion of the industrial destruction of global life support systems?
- The proven track record of big business in promoting catastrophic consumption regardless of the consequences for human and environmental health. Whether disregarding the links between smoking and cancer, junk food and obesity, Third World exploitation and human suffering, high salt consumption and illness, corporations have consistently subordinated human and animal welfare to short-term profits.
- The relentless corporate lobbying of governments to shape policies and promote and protect power.
- The billions spent by the advertising industry to promote consumer products and services, creating artificial ‘needs’, with children an increasing target.
- The collusion between powerful companies, investors and state planners to install compliant dictators in client states around the world.
- The extensive use of loans and tied aid that ensnare poor nations in webs of debt, ensuring that the West retains control of their resources, markets and development.
- The deployment of threats, bribery and armed force against countries that attempt to pursue self-development rather than economic or strategic planning sanctioned by the ‘international community.’
- The lethal role of the corporate media in promoting the planet-devouring aims of private power.’
