Antiwar

 

I would like to qualify this post a bit before we begin. It should be assumed by my status as a student that everything stated herein is purely speculation by a layman. All of this is entirely conjecture, and I am in no way whatsoever committed to my opinions. On this topic, I am no better than the average conspiracy theorist. Because of that, I would normally refrain from commenting on a topic like this at all. However, that is the assignment, so here it goes.

I think there are two main reason why antiwar voices go unheard in mainstream media. The first is very simple: war is not a relevant subject right now. We are not currently at war, nor have we been at war to any notable degree in decades. It would be irrational to expect the mainstream media to discuss something that is not happening. If there is no war to be against, how could we expect anyone to be against it? The only way you will find antiwar voices is by looking at smaller sites commenting on foreign wars or wars generally. I do not think it is some big conspiracy, it is just that we as Americans do not care right now.

If I had to get conspiratorial though, there is a possible, more sinister reason why we do not hear antiwar voices. A significant section of the American economy is built on our military industrial complex. It is an industry worth hundreds of billions of dollars. If people suddenly became extremely antiwar, all of that money would vanish. The mainstream media, being largely owned or operated by massive companies (i.e. the ones that make military supplies or benefit from the industry in some way) have significant incentive to ensure that antiwar voices are not heard. That is purely speculation on my part though, and I do not have enough evidence to commit to that opinion. I am much more inclined to go with my first answer.