Care2 make a difference has an interesting take on why the American media is not showing the full extent of protests across Europe, especially in countries like Spain and Greece.
"In recent weeks, hundreds of thousands of people in Spain have held a series of protests against their government, calling for an end to ongoing austerity measures. It’s big news, and yet, if you’re like most Americans, you’re not even aware of the Spanish uprisings.
And while part of that can be chalked up to a tendency to gloss over international issues, it goes deeper than that. The mainstream media covers other foreign protest movements like the Arab Spring, but with something like Tahrir Square, they can also attach the slant that the Egyptian people were fighting for democracy, a very pro-American notion.
Spain, however, already has a democracy. It also has a failing economy caused by the banks, as well as a government that protects the interests of the elite over its general population.
Sound familiar? The Spanish’s people attempt to take back their country could just as well take place in the United States. Frankly, the corporate-controlled American media doesn’t want to give anyone any ideas.
Especially given the popularity of the movement in Spain. Anytime you can get tens of thousands of people to surround a Congressional building and shut down business as usual is a threat to the system. Of course, you’re bound to get a lot of people into the streets with a nearly 25% unemployment rate. And with the government instituting higher taxes and more cutbacks on social services and benefits, the people are similarly bound to reach a point where they will no longer stand for it.
Another thing the media doesn’t want you to know is that the movement is spreading. Currently, anti-austerity protests can be found in Greece and Portugal, too. Though the people are rallying against their respective governments, they have a shared struggle and justifiable rage that the countries’ richest individuals caused the financial problems, while the hardships and sacrifices are being thrust upon the working class.
Make no mistake: the powers that be see these protests as a legitimate threat. Why else, then, would they use the police to brutally beat and suppress the protesters? The videos that have emerged are frightening."
"In recent weeks, hundreds of thousands of people in Spain have held a series of protests against their government, calling for an end to ongoing austerity measures. It’s big news, and yet, if you’re like most Americans, you’re not even aware of the Spanish uprisings.
And while part of that can be chalked up to a tendency to gloss over international issues, it goes deeper than that. The mainstream media covers other foreign protest movements like the Arab Spring, but with something like Tahrir Square, they can also attach the slant that the Egyptian people were fighting for democracy, a very pro-American notion.
Spain, however, already has a democracy. It also has a failing economy caused by the banks, as well as a government that protects the interests of the elite over its general population.
Sound familiar? The Spanish’s people attempt to take back their country could just as well take place in the United States. Frankly, the corporate-controlled American media doesn’t want to give anyone any ideas.
Especially given the popularity of the movement in Spain. Anytime you can get tens of thousands of people to surround a Congressional building and shut down business as usual is a threat to the system. Of course, you’re bound to get a lot of people into the streets with a nearly 25% unemployment rate. And with the government instituting higher taxes and more cutbacks on social services and benefits, the people are similarly bound to reach a point where they will no longer stand for it.
Another thing the media doesn’t want you to know is that the movement is spreading. Currently, anti-austerity protests can be found in Greece and Portugal, too. Though the people are rallying against their respective governments, they have a shared struggle and justifiable rage that the countries’ richest individuals caused the financial problems, while the hardships and sacrifices are being thrust upon the working class.
Make no mistake: the powers that be see these protests as a legitimate threat. Why else, then, would they use the police to brutally beat and suppress the protesters? The videos that have emerged are frightening."
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