Could We Be Losing Our Minds? Could We Lose Control of Our Thinking?

This is not as crazy as it sounds, we are, to a great extent, a product of what we see and hear, especially if it is repeated enough times. Everyone goes to the movie theater and also watches movies on television - often as much as 3-4 hours per day. Movies made for us by someone who may have malevolent intent could create chaos and divide the U.S. by promoting contentious issues, creating ethnic hatreds, or promoting narcotics. They could distort our interests and feed bad habits to our kids or distort our priorities and values in any number of other ways, overtly or in a subtle manner. 69% of our movie industry is now owned by foreign corporations. We must recognize the danger in this!

We have heard of the threat of stolen United States intellectual property, but now we are facing an alarming threat to our ability to defend and protect the minds of the American people from self-serving propaganda of foreign origin.

69% of assets in the American movie industry are now foreign owned according to the Internal Revenue Service. Foreign interests now own or control a majority of the biggest film studios in America.

Just as the implied specter of communism haunted Hollywood decades ago, a new actual threat has emerged - that of foreign ownership of the American movie industry.   Imagine for a moment if the communist Soviet Union had acquired a major portion of American movie production.   That much and worse has actually materialized - met with apathy and profit-taking by today's business leaders and lawmakers.

A few examples of acquisitions or majority control:

- Major interest in Time-Warner by Toshiba Corp., A Japanese electronics maker, and C. Itoh & Co., Japan's largest trading company include Warner Brothers studios and HBO.

- 20th Century Fox acquired by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. of Australia

- Columbia Pictures purchased by Sony Corp. of Japan

- MGM-UA acquired by Sony

- MCA/Universal Pictures acquired by Japan's Matsushita Electric Industrial Co for $6.2 Billion

The dangers these takeovers represent are not illusory or imaginary

The motion picture industry shapes our perceptions of what is good, what is right, what is fact, and what is not. Do we now expose the American public to possible overriding influence in this area through subtle or direct propaganda?   How much of our public opinion, our focus on critical issues, and our knowledge of threats to our national and economic security is shaped by the media.   Though we may not immediately realize the insidious activity at work, the threat is very real, propaganda is designed to be subtle and shape perception without raising alarm.

Current laws do not protect America from foreign propaganda

U.S. law does not limit foreign ownership of broadcast networks.   It only bars foreign ownership of the principal means of dissemination of the programming, namely the actual broadcast station.   This is commonly circumvented by establishing a technically separately but interested affiliate.

Protection of our self-interests should be the norm, not the exception

Industries such as defense, airlines, communications and power are vital to our national security.   These and other industries have received protection under U.S. law. The motion picture industry should be one of these. For example, U.S. law requires that U.S.-flag airlines allow no more than 49 percent foreign equity. However, foreign ownership of U.S. airlines is limited to 25 percent of voting stock.   According to the Government Accountability Office, the Bush administration has recently even advocated allowing foreign airlines to increase their voting stock limits to 49% as a way to entice foreign investment to help this perennially cash-strapped industry.

Evidence shows just how difficult protecting America really is

A terrifying example of media control by propaganda minister Goebbels in Germany prior to WWII led an intelligent and compassionate country to murder millions. Yielding control of the media in Germany, which has now happened in the United States, allowed subtle malevolent shifts in the minds and perception of the German public to wreak havoc on it's country and the world.

The Department of Defense monitors defense contractors very closely through their Foreign Ownership, Control or Influence (FOCI) filings. Contractors must report any foreign ownership of 5 percent or more to the Department of Defense, which determines whether such ownership constitutes a security risk. It was found in July 2005 by the Government Accountability Office that even this hallowed industry was being penetrated by foreign influence:

It is ludicrous to think that by allowing unfettered foreign control of our industries, we will be able to protect and preserve our national interest and identity. Other countries simply do not allow this to happen to them. Are we so arrogant as to dismiss out of hand any potential competitive interest or threat? We are perhaps the only country in the world to allow such pillars of our national and economic security to so lackadaisically fall into foreign hands.

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