The Spin-Machine Those who have, work not. Those who work, have not. And part of their work creates the wealth which powers the machine which sustains their illusion of freedom within their reality of servitude to those who have.

The vast propaganda machine which the nation-state's capitalist interests use to spin the web of public illusion is something like what follows.

The process performed by this spin-machine is initiated by the capitalist minority. They possess capital. Under the rules of capitalism this means that the rest of society owes them a debt. A debt of labour, of materials, of food, of favours, of respect. And it is a buyer's market. The capitalist is the one who chooses how, and in what form the debt must be repaid.

So first of all, the nation's capitalist interests collectively set up a policy think tank of people whose debt of labour is to use their minds to think up a tangible set of policies which will expedite the capitalists' political philosophy of unlimited private acquisition. Next this capitalist minority forms itself into a political party. This is financed both individually and collectively by the members of this capitalist minority themselves. The party then composes a Manifesto which details how, once in power, it intends to expedite the policies formulated by their political think tank.

From the manifesto, the Party members then produce an Election Plan. This they pass to one or more firms of policy marketing people, called spin-doctors, who translate the manifesto into an illusion with which to delude the general public. This takes shape as a set of 'sound bites' and other mass-marketing devices which are easily digested by a simplistic 'public mind'. Of course, the proprietors of these marketing firms are themselves capitalists. They therefore undoubtedly support the political cause of capitalism professionally and materially as well as financially.

The output from the spin-doctors is then skilfully passed to the public mass-media (newspapers, magazines, billboards, television and others) for injection into the public mind. Here it takes root, forming and shaping the nation's collective conscience. Since the majority of the mass-media operations are driven by private capital, they supplement the messages of their political party by subjecting their readerships to a constant drip-feed of politically opinionated features and editorials. The public mind is thus constantly infused with the false illusion that the policies which best aid the capitalist in his quest for unlimited selfish acquisition are also the only policies which can improve the quality of life of the labourer.

Some of the party members then put themselves forward as candidates for election to 'represent' the general population within each respective geographic subdivision of the country. They preach the benefits of the capitalist way to the capitalless masses who, having been relentlessly drip-fed their message by carefully orchestrated mass-media indoctrination, vote them into power with an overwhelming majority. They thus become the 'elected' government.

Having thus acquired the mandate to do so, they expedite their capitalist policies by enacting laws which increasingly reward the rich at the expense of the poor. Their joint-stock limited liability companies consequently achieve higher profits. These forever swell the capital of their proprietors, while depriving their capitalless labourers of all but their minimal subsistence.

And so the wheel turns. Capital increases and becomes concentrated in the hands of a shrinking minority, each of whom becomes increasingly powerful. This minority is consequently able to finance a progressively larger and more effective spin-machine with which to shape and control the views and opinions of a gullible public. Thus from the misery of his suburban existence, the labourer becomes so convinced of his freedom that he vigorously defends the principles, policies and practices of those who are his enslavers. He becomes so convinced, in fact, that - should the opportunity ever arise - he will leap at the chance to become a petty capitalist himself.

The final irony is that it is the hard work of the labourer himself which creates the revenue from which the capitalist takes his profit which ultimately fuels the very machine by which the labourer is held in his state of delusion.