Episode #138: The Signal

In this episode, Lee Davy, shares his thoughts on the way the Russian government control the minds of the nation, and how I believe alcohol advertising does the same in the UK. Masha Gessen is a Russian-American journalist, and an outspoken critic of the Russian President Vladimir Putin. Sam Harris recently interviewed Gessen on his Waking Up Podcast, where they talked about Putin’s Russia, immigration and the #MeToo movement. There is a moment in the podcast, where Gessen, struggles to get her point of view across to Harris, that Russia’s public opinion doesn’t exist. When responding to Harris’s question on the status of public opinion towards Putin and America, Gessen responds: “I wouldn’t describe public opinion in Russia. In a country where they have no ‘public’ or ‘opinions’ it is very difficult to talk about public opinion and I mean that literally.” Gessen then states that you can’t have public opinion without a public sphere. For some of you (it was for me) the phrase public sphere may be a new one. If it is, let me explain. The public sphere is the environment in which people can come together and talk freely about societal issues and problems, and through those discussion influence political action. “Without a public sphere, there is no public opinion, and Putin has destroyed that public sphere.” Said Gessen. A few minutes pass, and Harris once again returns to the question of public opinion. A clearly irritated Gessen reasserts her view. “I am saying people don’t have views.” “How is that possible?” Asks Harris. Gessen proceeds to explain to Harris that the most recent polls show that you can predict with 86% accuracy that Russians will say exactly what they have learned through television. If the TV is saying that US is the enemy then this is what Russians will believe. “It’s a matter of survival in a totalitanairiam state to actively mirror the signal that comes from above.” How Alcohol Fits In As I listened to Gessen talking to Harris my mind wandered to alcoholism and the view that it’s a byproduct of people known as alcoholics who drink too much alcohol. That is the signal from above. That is the signal we in the UK actively mirror. Believing that life on TV is real life is a theory known a Cultivation Theory. The average person in America will receive between 5,000 + 10,000 adverts per day. The alcohol industry is one of the biggest spenders in marketing. In addition to the branded alcohol marketing, if you watch TV, you are subjected to a minute by minute viewpoint that drinking alcohol is normal and pleasurable. I contend that alcoholism is not the byproduct of alcoholics drinking to much alcohol, but instead, it’s an invisible, violent and dominant belief system that kills more than 3.3 million people per year and is one of the causal factors in over 200 illnesses and diseases. This powerful belief system destroys the public sphere when it comes to discussion on this topic in the same way Putin has destroyed the public sphere in Russia. The Russians don’t dare criticise Russia out of fear of reprisal from the Russian government or supporters of Putin. It’s no different when it comes to alcohol. People who choose not to drink alcohol are afraid of talking about it in the public sphere because of the fear of ostracisation, ridicule and shame. It’s for this reason that Strive and the Truth About Alcohol Life-Changing Experience is vital. We are the protectors of the public sphere when it comes to this discussion. We are not alcoholics. We refuse to be anonymous. We do not drink alcohol. We refuse to actively mirror the signal that comes from above. And we spend every waking moment helping people do the same. Find out more at www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk. The Truth About Alcohol We Are Not Alcoholic, And we Refuse to be Anonymous