John Pilger Webchat – As It Happened

The firebrand journalist answered your questions in a live webchat – taking on everyone from Cameron to Obama and Trump

By John Pilger

February 25, 2016 "Information Clearing House" - "The Guardian" -

RicoS321 asks:

With automation set to significantly reduce employment opportunity in the coming years, do you believe that a new political party/wing is required to embrace technology as a mechanism to liberate? In other words, do you think the ideology of either Conservative or Social Democracy is placed to allow technology to be used in its most efficient way for the benefit of all? Indeed, do you think Capitalism (free market, or what we have now) has a future to play in an increasingly automated society, or is it no longer (and perhaps never was) the most efficient way to provide for humanity?

 Guardian contributor -

JohnPilger

Technology is a means, not an end, no matter how brilliant it appears. How we use digital technology, exploit it and benefit from it depends on old-fashioned political concepts of how we treat each other: how we approach class, race, gender and war and peace. Nothing has changed in that regard. At present, we are ruled by an extreme version of capitalism called 'neoliberalism'. Technology in the service of any extremism has a catastrophic history.

frenchview asks:

What is your take on the reasons Trump is winning the Republican nomination race? What is going on over there in the US?

 Guardian contributor

JohnPilger

Trump is speaking straight to ordinary Americans, not through the usual media/liberal filter. He is making sense to a lot of people. They like his absence of hypocrisy and the fact that he's prepared to say George W. Bush committed a war crime in invading Iraq. Apart from his gross views on immigration - though no more gross in essence than, say, David Cameron's - he is not planning to invade anywhere, he doesn't hate the Russians or the Chinese, he is not beholden to Israel. People like this lack of cant, and when the so-called liberal media deride him, they like him even more.

ramous asks:

Is NATO trying to start a war with the Russians?

 Guardian contributor

JohnPilger

It very much looks like it.

 

markiw asks:

How would you deal with the war in Syria? Every remaining option appears to have negative consequences, but given that we can’t turn the clock back, what should we do now?

 Guardian contributor

JohnPilger

First, I would demand that my government - let's say the British government - stop fuelling the violence and wars in the Middle East, notably Syria. That is to say, they should withdraw - get out. That would help immeasurably.

Themediaspoonfedlad asks:

Have you any opinion on media ownership. It seems neither elected govt nor corporate/shareholder are models which ensure effective media. In the last general election there wasn’t a single column inch devoted to the Snowden/NSA/GCHQ debate nor were any of the political parties drawn into giving the electorate a clear manifesto pledge on what they intend to do about it. I view this an example of a failing media system.

 Guardian contributor

JohnPilger

The media system is not 'failing'. In its present form - dominated by corporations and oligarchs like Murdoch - it is succeeding in what it was set up to do: reflect the interests of its owners. This, of course, has nothing to do with a free press.

 

20reeds asks:

Do you see an endgame in the neoconservative/corporate experiment - is it going to end badly in dysfunction or might the world turn away for an alternative?

 Guardian contributor

JohnPilger

That depends largely on what people like you do, collectively and individually.

Matt Crocker asks:

Good morning John, George Osborne recently said that the BBC was becoming imperial in its ambitions. He was focusing on their news output. As such the Corporation must be under immense pressure. Do you think the BBC should be diminished in its scope or should be funded to appropriate levels in order to remain impartial to those commercial interests who seek it to be less influential?

 Guardian contributor

JohnPilger

The BBC has never been impartial - not since its founder, Lord Reith, broadcast propaganda for the Baldwin government against the millions taking part in the general strike in the 1920s. Why Osborne should complain about BBC News is beyond me; apart from a few irritations, I would have thought he'd be delighted.

 

Ali Slimas asks:

Going back to a question on Mainstream Media, what are the best/ most reliable news outlets that you would recommend?

 Guardian contributor

JohnPilger

 

Start with realnews.com, truthout.com, Information Clearing House, Consortium News. There are hundreds. All you need do is look and navigate through them.

Melinda Shobrook asks:

Hi John, my question is simply how do you not become cynical & bitter in the face of such stubborn governmental determination to continue mistreating Indigenous people in the land known as ‘Australia’? I mean, how do you manage that?
PS - I felt such cynicism came through in your latest film Utopia, & I understood it.
How do you not give up??
 

 Guardian contributor

JohnPilger

Utopia was, above all, a celebration of Australian Indigenous resistance and resilience. The cynicism you refer to belongs to those in Canberra whose primitive policies and indifference mean that Australia now has the distinction of having been called out for its racism by the UN more than any other country.

armsordyl asks:

What are your views about the Russian leader Putin? Is he one of the few sane political leaders in this world or is he a wolf in sheep clothing?

 Guardian contributor

JohnPilger

Maybe he's both. Compared with Obama, Cameron and the rest, he's the most intelligent by far.

felixfinkbeiner asks:

How would you advise Dr Angela Merkel in regards to Refugee Policy?

 Guardian contributor

I would ask her to end Germany's undeclared support for the violence in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East that causes people to flee their homes and countries.

Sukhi52 asks:

How should the world effectively deal with the indiscrimate death and destruction perpetrated by extremist Islamic individuals and groups and how do we get the the millions of Muslims who don’t believe in their acts to speak up?

 Guardian contributor

JohnPilger

The great number of victims of terrorism - mostly western-initiated terrorism - are Muslims. In Iraq. Libya. Yemen. I suggest you use your own privileged western voice to speak out about the role of our own governments in the world's 'indiscriminate death and destruction'.

Brian Dunne asks:

Like many of the others in this thread I ask myself the question as to how can I really do anything about all of these horrendous injustices that remain part of our humanity. I am a recent graduate Software Developer I want to do something good with my skills. Could you suggest or recommend some journalists whose work you admire/respect or simply like that I might consider including?

 Guardian contributor

JohnPilger

You are educated and privileged. Stop wringing your hands and join those who are taking action; they're everywhere.

David Ingram asks:

How can we make our government represent Julian Assange and get him out of the embassy and protected from the Americans in the light of the recent decisions?

 Guardian contributor

JohnPilger

Re your question on Assange. No, you can't 'make' any government do anything, but you can take direct action that makes them listen, at least, and perhaps act. Without direct (militant) action, there would be none of the freedoms you have today, if tenuously.