Page 51 - Lunacy and the Age of Deception

Channels of Deception

Having grown up with television, the majority of people reading these words will find it difficult to
conceive of how vastly different society is today due to this single invention. The television marked
a turning point in man’s history as surely as the introduction to Europe of the printing press and
movable type by Johannes Gutenberg in 1439 A.D.. Prior to Gutenberg’s printing press, ownership
of books was largely limited to the wealthy, and mass publication newspapers and magazines were
unheard of. When writings had to be meticulously copied by hand, the time and labor involved
greatly limited the volume of available material. News was often passed along to the masses by town
criers who would stand at places where people gathered and proclaim aloud the latest government
edict or news of the day.

Town Crier 1909, Provincetown, MA

Town Crier’s were common as recently as the early 1900s, although newspapers and magazines had
th
been in existence since the 17 century. It would only be after the mass adoption of radio by
consumers, and the proliferation of broadcast stations, enabling news and information to be heard
in vast numbers of homes simultaneously, that the role of the town crier would become obsolete.
Nevertheless, the printing press did revolutionize society as newspapers began to make reports of
current events available to the masses for a modest sum.

All forms of mass communication are subject to abuse. Men in positions of power and influence use
the media not merely to inform, but to shape public opinion. The global elite have always had a need
to control the masses. In the days of kings and princes, they could use armies to rule over the people.