Chapter 3f
The Means of Communication are the Means of Power
Freedom of speech; effective communications

Freedom of speech is the most basic building block of a democratic system. We all surely know that True Democracy cannot exist without it. But freedom of speech alone will not guarantee that a system is democratic. Witness that the freedom of speech we enjoy in our nation has not preserved Democracy in America.

Access to available channels of effective communications must exist in order for the exercise of freedom of speech to be politically effective, and access to those channels must be diverse. Control of the Means of Communication within an organization (or a nation) will be the first objective of any entity or faction that seeks to entrench itself in power. Open and diverse access to the Means of Communication is perhaps THE most basic and crucial factor that will determine if a system is truly democratic.

Simply put, in a democratic system the Means of Communication are the means of power. We can easily see that this is true in the society at large. We are all surely aware that control of the mass media by the forces that have captured control of our nation has been the principle tool they have used to capture the power they hold. It is also true in any organization.

The kind and degree of diverse access to the Means of Communication will directly determine the quality of democracy in a group. Undue control of a group’s communications apparatus by any unaccountable entity or faction will quickly degrade democracy and begin to entrench power in the hands of whoever has that control.



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