*THOUGHTS OF FREEDOM*

ADVANCED CAPITALIST SOCIETIES claim to give a high degree of freedom of speech. Yet, subtle curbs on freedom of thought, and hence indirectly on speech, are present, too, even if lower than in totalitarian ones.

This may seem odd given the absence of overt curbs on both ends of the information-thought- speech  chain.

Speech is overtly free, and people seemingly have access to a bewildering range of information in the U.S.. But this endless access curbs thought too, for it creates an information overload which limits actual access despite the high potential access.

THE VAST MAJORITY of people made tired daily long jobs and commutes lack time to surf all the information. They largely rely on mainstream media, which is lucidly explained by social critic : Professor Noam Chomsky, M.I.T.

Professor Noam Chomsky, M.I.T states :

That the mainstream media, is controlled by corporate US and presents perspectives aligned to US global interests. Thus, despite the potential access, most people remain limited a narrow range of sources of information, so seductive are the tools of corporate media.

Many societal institutions there are participate in this numbing of minds of the masses. ePeople are encouraged to accept the position enunciated by those having authority on key issues, eg, the ills of capitalism and US foreign policies.

Pricey business schools claim to impart out-of-the-box thinking skills.

But out of the box, there is actually a bigger cage representing the limits of the US corporate-state narrative.

There is a vacuous freedom to choose from dozens of brands for different products and hundreds of similar  TV channels  but less freedom to  think about key questions like the meaning of  Life and alternative lifestyles.

If this is the  situation  in the  ''free world'', what hope is there fpr freedom of thought in less-free  South Asia?

Markets are less powerful there and hence play a lesser role in restricting thought.

But it is the state in partnership with  non-state actors  , eg clerics, that directly takes the lead in controlling thought via various indoctrination tools.

Narratives are built which weave together themes of  national patriotism, religious fervor and external conspiracies to keep people under control.

The honor and serving of the latest  Global Operational Research on freedom of Thought and Thoughts of Freedom continues. !WOW! thanks author and researcher Niaz Murtaza, a Senior Fellow with University of California, Berkeley.