Guntards.net

Your daily dose of dread.

Posted by QuestionEverything on 1 August 2007

There’s one thing that everyone, no matter their political persuasion, can agree on: The Media Hates Us. Whether the “us” in question refers to the Anti-War Action Network or the John Birch Society, it seems that just about everyone is convinced that the Fourth Estate has it in for them.

For gun owners, this fact was thrown into sharp focus by the recent Democratic debate, where CNN put the candidates at the mercy of a freak show drawn from the far corners of the Internet. Among CNN’s hand-picked questioners was Jered Townsend, an embodiment of all the worst stereotypes about the pro-RKBA community. Jered’s reference to his “baby” was probably the reason his video got picked in the first place, another manifestation of the insidious “liberal media” or so some would have you believe.

Progressives have heard the “liberal media bias” shtick too many times to count, and the buildup to the Iraq war was more than enough to put the last nail in the coffin of that myth for any rational person. Dope-smoking hippie liberals don’t play cheerleader for violent foreign interventions. But if the media had enough of a right-wing slant to turn a blind eye to the holes in Bush’s war rationale, why are they so stridently anti-gun?

The fact of the matter is that the media does not lean “conservative” or “liberal.” Mainstream news organizations are not anti-gun so much as they are pro-fear. Humanity’s oldest and strongest emotion is money in the bank if you know how to channel it, and the news media, much like the Republican party, have mastered the art.

“Produce contaminated with anthrax and botulin! Could something deadly be lurking in your dinner? Find out after these words from our sponsors.” The surest way to keep all eyes glued on your TV channel is to tickle the most primitive parts of the hindbrain where the fight-or-flight reflexes take root. Fully automatic “assault weapons”, cop-killer bullets and gun-fondling maniacs are just three members of a growing pantheon of bogeymen paraded through the headlines to maintain market share.

To some extent, gun ownership involves confronting and overcoming fear. Everyone feels a bit unnerved the first time they pick up a firearm and experience its recoil and report firsthand. People who carry concealed and/or keep guns for home defense have come to terms with the risks involved and are confident in their ability to keep and bear arms safely. I’ve seen a proportionate lack of confidence when talking with some anti-gunners who could never own a gun because “I know I’d get mad and shoot someone.”

Fear overrides the mind’s higher functions, and if you can make others fear you can control them. Every bit of confidence a person builds and every bit of fear they shake off represents a defiance of the forces that work to manipulate their minds. The news channels, the corporate drug pushers, the insurance industry, the fashion industry and many other industries depend on a pliable population.

Ultimately, media bias isn’t a matter of liberal versus conservative but of liberty versus authority. The big-money oligarchy that controls most of the information flow in the United States works to reinforce the status quo and consolidate power in the hands of a few, as big-money oligarchies tend to do. Civilian firearm ownership is just one of many obstructions in their quest for a more tightly-controlled society. The question for gun owners and citizens in general is how to respond to the trend of increasing government and private power over the individual.

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