For those who have never come across Professor Steven Lukes and his analysis of power it is vital to apply his application to ensure that the following is contextualised. Lukes’ main proposition is that
Those with power can shape people’s perceptions of their situation and influence how they think and understand the world.
Thus to understand the corporate media and the establishment more generally we must be aware that they do NOT have our interests at the core and seek to hide the reality that is inconvenient to them.
Here Jeremy Corbyn provides very clear examples of how he has been a victim of this over and over.
In her book ‘Why We Lie’ Dorothy Rowe explains how our existence is largely just stories and when we combine that with Lukes’ analysis it becomes clear that some stories are published/revealed and some are hidden from us. We get no say which one is which. In the hands of those who have power our reality becomes one huge distortion.
For those who want to know a little more about why people lie and specifically about Jeremy Corbyn:
A lesson for us all?
Keeping in touch with reality
How can you stop distorting reality?
- For a start, catch yourself doing it. Know the cues to watch for: looking at things in extremes, only seeing negatives, building up the bad points in a situation (be it past, present or future), ‘reading’ other people’s minds, predicting the future, assuming that what you feel is reality, and relating everything back to yourself.
- Watch especially for rigid thinking. When you find yourself resisting other ways of viewing something, this could be a sign that you are locking yourself into a narrowed, distorted viewpoint.
- Stop using words which exaggerate — like always, forever, totally, all, everything, everybody, nothing, nobody, never and the like.
- Get things back into balance — by looking for the side of the picture you have been filtering out. Make a list, for example, of the positives and the negatives. If you cannot find both, you know you are distorting reality. Few things are either one way or the other — so keep listing.
- Develop the habit of sticking to the facts — as far as you can unearth them. When you think you might be jumping to conclusions, ask yourself, ‘What evidence do I have for assuming this? Is it the most likely explanation for the facts available? Are there any others which may be just as valid?’
Jason Cridland
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