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Monday, February 22, 2010
Ethics, Richmond Free Press-Style
The Newbius Papers brings us a perfect example of an unethical press presenting blatant screaming propaganda as straight news. [Read]
I sent them this:
Do feel free to join me.
I sent them this:
Do feel free to join me.
I always found that whole "wild west" thing funny. It was really pretty mild compared to high crime Eastern cities of the same period. In fact, in the "wild west" serious crime was so rare that the exceptions were so few and publicized that more than a century later we still remember invididual names. Like Jesse James and Billy the Kid.
ReplyDelete"pretty mild" is an understatement. there were less than 12 bank robberies west of the mississippi from 1859-1900. murder rates don't look much different, and most murders were among the poor, drunks, gamblers and repeat offenders. gunfights in the street" in broad daylight are almost entirely myth. another reason we remember those famous names is that they tended to brag about their exploits, such as fights with indians, to sell dime novels back east.
ReplyDeletefor the same reason, the next 40 years of american history are full of "robber-barons" who were actually capitalist superheroes that saved the whales (rockefeller), brought chemicals and therefore medicine (dow), steel and therefore machines (carnegie) and energy (rockefeller) to all, and even provided free steamboat transportation up and down the atlantic coast (vanderbilt). among other reasons, "we" remember them as evil capitalists -- practically a contradiction in terms -- because actually obeying free speech in a free market means telling stories like this are the only way their competition can get a leg up.
buy tom woods' book: 33 questions about american history you're not supposed to ask.
Luckily, most people in Richmond have never even heard of the Richmond Free-Press. They have always been a marginal and obscure publication, largely for the blatant agenda that permeates their every issue.
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