The Existentialist Republic

10/28/2025

Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman documented how mass media manufactures consent for elite interests through systematic propaganda appearing as objective journalism. But examine contemporary media across the political spectrum and a more sophisticated mechanism emerges. Power no longer exclusively manufactures agreement. American oligarchs and their media companies have now learned to manufacture the allowable form of disagreement itself. Opposition exists loudly, authentically felt by those who express it, yet consistently channels energy toward tactics that pose no material threat to underlying wealth and power distributions.

The evolution matters because it solves a problem the old model couldn’t address. In fractured media environments where audiences self-select into ideological silos, manufacturing universal consent becomes difficult. But if you can shape the boundaries of acceptable dissent, if you can ensure that opposition energy flows exclusively toward ineffective remedies while effective ones remain invisible, you achieve something more valuable than agreement. You achieve controlled opposition that feels authentic to participants while remaining harmless to elite interests.

CNN and MSNBC position themselves as voices for Americans opposed to authoritarianism, mass deportations, Christian nationalism, and democratic backsliding. This includes liberals, moderates, traditional conservatives who believe in rule of law, anyone opposing camps for immigrants, anyone resisting public schools as Christian indoctrination centers. Opposition to authoritarian governance represents a democratic norms position across ideological lines. These networks do offer some coverage inequality, constitutional violations, and republican corruption. They even document democratic backsliding in granular.

Yet when did they last advocate general strikes responding to corporate power? When did they call for taxing the rich at levels that were normal in the U.S. 50 years ago and still are in most of the developed world today? When did they explore state-level Medicare for all that blue states could implement unilaterally? When did they demand states arrest corrupt politicians and throw them in cells for crimes like treason? When did they advocate arresting ICE agents who kidnap, assault, and violate First and Fourth Amendment rights? These outlets focus audiences on federal electoral solutions while structural remedies states could implement immediately remain invisible.