Noam Chomsky is a brilliant linguist and progressive activist who has informed public discourse for 30 years. Recently, he was interviewed by the Seattle Journal for Social Justice and talked about the threats to our democracy from lack of integrity among politicians and from the uncritical work of the media. On human rights, he notes that the United States claims to be the world leader in pressing for global human rights, yet we have rejected entire sections of tthe Universal Declaration of Human Rights and refused to consider them important. "These are the socioeconomic provisions, which have to do with the right to life--food, helath, decent working conditions, rights of women--things like that."
Chomsky notes that there is an "enormous disconnect" between the values and goals of ordinary Americans and the way popular opinion is reported in the media. Support for the United Nations is very strong, with a majority of Americans claiming that we should provide more funding to support the UN and should let the organization have a larger role in world affairs.
Yet Chomsky says that the media failed to report major studies released shortly before the 2004 elections on these issues. He found only 2 news articles throughout the country. The reason? "What they show is that both polticial parties and the media are very far to the right of the general population on about every issue you can think of. And, obviously, business, the party managers, and the media know this, so they just don't report it. This means that in the U.S. there is a huge 'democratic deficit'--that's what we call it when we talk about countries we don't like. These are functioning democracies only in form, not really in substance."
Chomsky asks how it is that Congress is able to pass schemes that are opposed by a majority of Americans, such as the bankruptcy bill that was essentially written by the financial services industry. "How do the rich get away with it? By eliminating the democratic system so the rest of the people can't vote about these issues." He notes that elections are claimed to be around "values" yet they disregard the moral values that matter to people, such as whether there is guaranteed health care for everyone regardless of wealth. But politicians, aided and abetted by an obliging media empire, are able to control and divert attention from the real issues with pseudo values. "Democracy is far too dangerous. Since you can't control people by force, you have to control them by delusion and imagery."
The media's complicity in control by delusion is the core of the progressive left's complaints to the FCC about media consolidation and media unfairness. If there is no challenge to government officials' vapid and self-serving statements, democratic institutions will wither and be replaced by totalitarian ones.
You can read the Chomsky interview at 3 Seattle J. for Soc. Just. 471 (2005) (available on Westlaw).