Experts of the Obvious
Continuity | A Public Good Project Initiative
November 4, 2012
by Jay Taber
“Following her career, it looks like a certified social futurist is someone who can spot a social movement with potential for hijacking for commercial purposes, position themselves as a leading intellect of the movement they had nothing to do with, then parley that notoriety into corporate sponsored residuals.”
With neo-liberal austerity measures sweeping through Western Europe and the US, public resentment isn’t hard to find, but mobilizing that resentment effectively requires a commitment to research and analysis of the social situation, as well as painstaking education and organizing. By generating enough nonsensical noise, the neo-liberal press helps prevent that from happening.
In my recent post Masquerading As Agents For Change, I discussed neo-liberal thought leaders of the progressive media and Democratic Party network who marginalize collectivist viewpoints on public policy and governance. As gatekeepers of civil society, this professional milieu influences public perception of neo-liberal fraud at the root of austerity, and is thus a useful tool for the oligarchy.
Using the neo-liberal columnist Sara Robinson at the Huffington Post as an example, I can see where idiotic analysis of social situations as experts of the obvious serves to distract, distort and disorient the distraught. Through the use of equivocation, incoherence and a liberal dosage of bromides, thought leaders like Robinson serve as reliable guardians of the status quo. Following her career, it looks like a certified social futurist is someone who can spot a social movement with potential for hijacking for commercial purposes, position themselves as a leading intellect of the movement they had nothing to do with, then parley that notoriety into corporate sponsored residuals.