[Mpls] Public opinion on stadium

[Gary Hoover]

Dan M. quoted the Star Trib article thusly:

>>>>>

"most people don't have time to bone up on the complexities that
government must address. They go with what they hear, and they hear
those with the biggest advertising budget."
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/5377462.html

<<<<<

The irony of this statement is beyond compare. What is the Star and Trib 
other than a huge organ of "public relations" for various factions with 
"deep pockets."

The Star-Trib exists to sell cars, mostly, but also real estate and consumer 
electronics and such. The mainstream media is an extension of the car 
dealership, the real estate office, and the shopping mall into the mental 
landscape of the people. "News" is always de-contextualized and re-shaped to 
keep people in the mood to browse (or keep watching or listening) with an 
eye to the ads -- to contemplate buying more stuff we do not need, and that 
will not meet our real needs, which are of necessity not addressed by the 
mainstream media or by those who need to seduce us into buying more stuff we 
do not need to keep those quarterly sales numbers up.

I highly recommend a monthly dose of "Adbusters" ( A Journal of the Mental 
Environment") as a cleansing agent for all of us who are exposed to the 
mainstream media.  It is not the only medicine needed, but is easily picked 
up for a moment of quiet revolution almost anywhere.

The article quoted is a clear example of the way in which the Star & Trib --  
and other media outlets -- absolutely parrot the desires of people with 
"deep pockets" under the thin veil of "analysis."  Our political discourse 
is distorted and impoverished by such journalistic tripe.

I am reminded daily of the Minneapolis 7th and 8th grade students I spoke 
with recently.  We continue to burden them with unspeakable debt, with an 
ecosystem in collapse, with a geopolitical system edging closer toward 
terrible asymmetrical warfare which includes extensive use of increasingly 
terrible weapons on all sides.  we continue to burden them by doing the same 
things over and over again even though we are making their future more 
frightening.

The media and political establishment are waging a concerted campaign to 
steer public opinion toward building another professional sports stadium in 
Minneapolis.

I predict this:

1.  It does not matter who is elected to public office.  The stadium will be 
built.

2.  Actual public opinion does not matter.  The stadium will be built.

3.  Taxpayers will pay most or all of the cost of the stadium, plus the huge 
financing costs.  Any deal done today to placate those who oppose this will 
be whittled away over time.

4. Political deals on this matter will serve only as tools to shoehorn the 
project into place.  These deals -- or tools -- will be discarded and 
replaced here and there with adjustments which will transfer more wealth 
from the poor and middle class to the billionaire and millionaire owners and 
players of the professional sports entertainment industry.

This is an example of "corporatism" or "fascism" operating at the local 
level under the guise of democracy.

We need to spend on sustainable urban infrastructure, and yet we are being 
"turned" to spend on subsidy for a model of culture and infrastructure that 
is self-destructive.

Listen to Congressman Roscoe Bartlett's interview on Global Media.  Pick up 
"Powerdown" by Heinberg or "toxic Sludge Is Good for You" by Stauber and 
Rampton.  Even Diamond's "Collapse: How Civilizations Choose to Fail or 
Succeed" can serve as an antidote to media PR.  As a culture, we are 
choosing to fail by operating under assumptions that are not valid.  we are 
destroying the resource base and habitat we rely on, but the minority who 
benefit from the current system are too comfortable to make meaningful 
changes.  This resistance to change must be transformed to openness to 
change.  Let's build sustainable transportation infrastructure rather than a 
new stadium.  Let's play baseball in the parks.

-- pedaling for peace and ecojustice/Lynnhurst for now -- Gary Hoover