The Media Manufactures Cultural Pessimism

Recently, Guardian writer Rafael Behr wrote a piece which, in a contrived manner, all but states that Jeremy Corbyn is the reason he had a heart attack. Also contained within the tiresome mire of his spiel is the accusation that Corbyn and his supporters wanted to enact a pogrom upon Jews. 

“At least we are finding out who would have hidden us in their attic,” one Jewish friend said to me. We laughed because it wasn’t even a joke. - Rafael Behr, The Guardian

It is laden with outrageous, insulting statements and various insinuations, such as above, which is obscured by a thin veneer of respectability, the bits about his heart-attack, which literally bookend the article.

Forgive me for being defensive and insulted by the notion that anyone on the left would want to violently eradicate anyone else, especially Jews. It's absolutely antithetical to socialism and our outrage toward Behr is entirely justified. Behr, of course, took offence to people rightfully defending themselves from his accusations and took to Twitter moaning about how awfully mean the people on the left are for taking him to task on his deceptively disguised hit-piece.

Behr's grift is a disgrace to the once respected profession of journalism. He wrote almost the exact same article at almost the exact same time last year, only he swapped Brexit for Corbyn this time around. But he's not the only one doing this, inciting outrage in readers. It's a problem that crept in seemingly unnoticed and now resides within the walls, the very framework, of the journalistic profession. It's not a recent phenomenon by any means, though.

Behr's piece is emblematic of a specific, modern mode of journalism, a mode where inciting outrage generates far more engagement, and hence profit, than examining the boring, yet complex and fact-laden dystopia we currently live in would. 

Once upon a time, investigation, interrogation and integrity, were qualities revered within journalism which have all since been long abandoned. The promise of the engagement-profit pipeline is now all the incentive needed.

By not engaging people either intellectually or positively and instead continuously exploiting socioeconomic unrest via click-bait fuelled outrage, this mode of journalism has significantly contributed to the dumbing-down of society. More so, it has fostered a culture of pessimism and anger in perpetuity. 

Anything intellectual, political or otherwise complicated is difficult to digest and stripped away in favour of bleating on about the woman who was bummed by a wolf, as a certain Dan Ashcroft once opined. Creating a spectacle that all idiots can effortlessly rise to jeer at is now normal journalism. 

You only need a fleeting glimpse of headlines and articles, old and new, to confirm this is happening. Especially from the right-wing and liberal press.

An example of cultural pessimism 

Positive and optimistic stories are sadly hard to come by nowadays. If only the journalists were to just talk honestly about the complex nature of society and offer explanations of our world that might empower us, and meaningfully convey what we could do to reach that brighter tomorrow. The media is a consent manufacturing machine and could easily turn around this sordid affair. It could manufacture a culture of optimism.

But it won't. Instead, we have the opposite; a mainstream media that manufactures cultural pessimism, and for a healthy profit. This is how the machination of capitalist media operates, and it is hurting us.

What Is Cultural Pessimism?

Cultural pessimism is broadly defined in this context as an attitude that sees sociocultural changes (in general or in the present situation) as predominantly tending towards a less moral, less constructive, and/or less preferable state of affairs. 

Put it this way: The media, facilitated by the worst kinds of journalists, constantly pitches worker against worker, native against immigrant, cis against trans, and so on. It places hyper-focus on minor contrivances, and sensationalises and smears well-meaning people. It wants us to be angry at anything and everyone but the real source of disaffection. It weaponises our discontent in favour of a hefty bottom-line and keeping us socially immiserated. It actively promotes a type of discourse that is destructive and dehumanising. 

We have been divided to the point where we now view each other as members of opposing tribes that are fundamentally different when nothing could be further from the truth. In other words, it has promoted a cultural regression toward tribalism, an undesirable state of affairs that is both less moral and less constructive than what should otherwise be. 

It creates the image of a culture that is in perpetual decline. We have become almost transfixed by the idea that the world is heading toward doom and disaster. A disaster which draws ever nearer due to environmental collapse, the disintegration of politics and voter apathy, the primacy of corporations over the individual worker, the inherently destructive nature of global capitalism, and fearmongering over social and moral decline. 

Do you see what I mean?

It is a vortex of despair that is further exploited by those who see the benefits of doing so, the media and the journo-hacks, creating a vicious downward spiral of apparent cultural declination. This is exemplified no better than the recent explosion in fake news which typically consists of narratives that pitch us against each other whilst being utterly disconnected from reality. Fake news portrays culture as being in perpetual decline and the reason why being other people, other "tribes".

Don't get me wrong, some of what is written is a truthful reflection of reality, sky-rocketing house prices, stagnating wages and rising poverty. It's just that these things are hardly ever examined truthfully and critically. Solutions to our problems are never discussed either, that'd be far too optimistic!

Cultural pessimism is a malignant infestation which has colonised the heart and minds of our media institutions and coloured our public discourse. It needs to be purged and cast onto the trash-heap of history.

Journalistic integrity, positivity and optimism have instead been consigned to the trash-heap of history in favour of appealing to and exploiting our collective, deep-rooted exasperation at the sorry state of our society which virtually none of us have power over. It also has a paralysing grip on politics as we saw when the optimism and transformative potential of Labour circa 2015 - 2019 was endlessly jeered at and derided as fantasy politics which could never happen. Instead, the country favoured self-destruction via the Tories and a hard-Brexit.

Yet another win for the politics of self-flagellation. It's honestly beginning to look like Britain has a sadistic fetish for leathering its own bum.  

As for Behr, I for one can't imagine writing a screed about a terrifying and life-threatening ordeal such as a heart attack and then having the temerity to utilise it as a means to attack socialists and to cast them as antisemitic for a wage slip.

Those socialists who have only wanted nothing but peace and social justice for all.

I can't honestly believe that these journalists think they're doing anything but driving a wedge between us, manipulating us into believing that we're somehow essentially different from each other and that we should attack each other for it. It's simply astounding that writers, journalists and reporters are wilfully committed to writing screeds that designed to provoke and antagonise for a profit. 

It is utterly dysfunctional.

Knowing that many journalists would have had to compromise their own ethical code or conventions just to make a living doesn't bear consideration. Not unless you're Dan Ashcroft himself, or his real-world analogue, Rafael Behr. 

But what do we do?

We can be strong, passionate and heartfelt instead.

Defy the pessimism and tell everyone that everything will be ok because we can build a better world together. Be comradely, foster meaningful discussion to solve problems and create a propensity toward truth rather than a superficial, tribal "win". 

Discard the divisive, false narratives of identity politics, manufactured outrage and cultural pessimism, and go among the masses and listen to them and talk with them instead. 

Avoid stereotyping people based on little information, try and be empathetic with them and judge them on what they say rather than what you believe they are going to say. Inquire honestly and thoughtfully and, this is a big one, don't be afraid to admit you're wrong! A scientific and Socratic method of inquiry and dialogue will dull that pain significantly.

By all means, critique the world around you and dismantle narratives, but try not to leave a vacuum, fill it with optimistic potential that is premised on something achievable in the real world, no matter how small. We need to be optimistic and talk about what can be done, our ideas to improve our situation.

Practice mindfulness to approach politics with a healthier mindset and less anger. It is difficult to practice what you preach, especially when it feels like the world is against you. 

But if the journalists ally themselves with the class of owners rather than the workers, stand against them firmly and make your discontent heard. Don't allow them an inch.

Do it for peace, justice and socialism.