Enemy of the State
In all developed countries, the structure of government supports and maintains the power and privilege of a minority at the expense of the majority through quasi-legal arrangements backed up by the force of arms. The existing arrangements for the disposition of power—governmental, economic and military—are supported by at least a significant segment of the professional classes, including the major media, which perform the vital function of shaping public opinion, so far as possible, to make it line up with the structure of domination, even when this is not really in the interest of those subject to manipulation.
These operations, which express the will to power, are leavened by the intrusion of ethical and high-minded influences, so that some aspects of the existing social relationships are subject to correction and improvement.
To prevent this high-mindedness from getting out of hand and becoming revolutionary, many of the actual abuses are hidden from the public eye and kept offstage. Covert activities and secrecy in “high places” serve this purpose. Major media are subject to a degree of control. Secret prisons are kept in remote places or even in other countries. Since many of those imprisoned have committed no crime, it would be embarrassing to have them talk to journalists.
Activists who violate protocol by pressing too hard for the whole truth may be subject to various forms of intimidation, such as censorship, ostracism or imprisonment. Corrupt regimes may even resort to outright murder, as in the recent case of the dissident Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi.
NOTE: This, like other articles, may be subject to censorship by hackers. Their method is to mark a word electronically in blue, ostensibly as an advertisement. The word subsequently disappears from the article, distorting the sense. In this article, in the last line of the first paragraph, the word "interest" has been removed. The end should read "...in the interest of those subject to manipulation." In the last paragraph the word "resort" has been removed from the last line, which should read, "Corrupt regimes may even resort to outright murder, as in the recent case of the dissident Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi."