Eye of the Storm
When will the shit-storm end? We’re halfway to hell in a Hummer and nobody seems to care. The news reads like the script to an obnoxiously ridiculous apocalyptic horror movie. American society is devolving at an alarming rate. We’re socialized by action heroes and Hollywood assholes, so I guess it isn’t surprising that we live in the most violent nation in the history of the world.
Newscasters pump glorified carnage into our living rooms for hours every night, and then point the finger at Marilyn Manson and Quentin Tarantino. Their art is a reflection of the American experience, not the root of the problem. Pointing the finger is a juvenile distraction tactic. Unfortunately, some of us have matured enough to develop object permanence.
We’re mired in a war intended to maintain the current international order. We’re top dog, and the only way to maintain the mirage is to lash out in every direction. When will it end? It seems the political class has finally heard the silenced pleas of the overwhelming majority. Everyone except Bush and his inner circle has accepted that our presence in Iraq makes that country less safe for everyone.
We’re taught that it’s the bravest soldiers that undertake the most dangerous missions, but it’s a lie. The country’s poor bear the brunt of our military ambitions, accepting the one job offer that will allow them to travel to distant paradises, if only to obliterate whatever lay thousands of feet below, comfortably out of sight. The military grunts have more in common with
the people they massacre than their own commanding officers.
We veil our military adventures in myths of humanitarian salvation, the inevitable victory of democracy, and other patriotic rhetoric. There is never mention of industry. We are trying to pry our way into a market that has been impenetrable, and we’re willing to sacrifice as many of our own poor as that end demands. It seems military force is only prudent where there are resources to exploit and markets to be opened. The government manufactures consent while corporate advertising manufactures a demand for useless products.
The economy is crumbling, and people aren’t making enough money, but nobody cares a whole lot about that. Bush jumps
on stage, smiles and prances around like a drunken moron, lying through his teeth the entire time. It’s somehow uncouth to
question the president. Accountability has fallen prey to devolution. The Oval Office is newly equipped with carte blanche, otherwise known as the ability to do whatever the fuck you want. The war machine is a profitable beast. The defense industry is one of the few sectors of the American economy that is booming. Most major American corporations collect considerable revenues from military contracts, and many also claim media ownership.
These firms can conjure public opinion to legitimate live-action weapons testing. Our media culture removes context from
news coverage, instigating a mob mentality, based on a fearful brand of patriotism and rampant xenophobia.
The Bush administration manipulated public opinion by creating illusory networks of nefarious characters, all toting weapons of mass destruction, intent on punishing Americans because of our freedom and hedonistic indulgences.
The media published these claims as fact, again proving that objectivity breeds superficiality. The shepherd will never tell the flock that she is lost, and by relying on official sources, the media allow the government to control every debate. We never hear about the history of US intervention in the Middle East. We never hear that we’re chasing CIA apprentices. We never hear about the economic sanctions that sounded the death knell for the socially vulnerable.
Nobody reports on the astronomical profits a select few American companies are enjoying while soldiers and civilians suffer alike, unnoticed in the streets. We want more consumers…We need more resources.
The mantras of carnivorous corporate enterprises have become synonymous with mainstream news content. There are lots of complex things happening in the world…only we can understand the true nature of these things…we’re doing what we can to restore peace and democracy…go buy yourself something nice, we’ll let you know when we decide what’s best.
Issues are polarized. Everything is simplified to us vs. them, each side represented by some celebrity personality and confined to a thirty second sound bite. Sometimes the best solutions aren’t offered by the major parties.
The real problem is that most of us don’t even notice what’s going on. We’re more intrigued by sitcom melodrama than the political decisions that will affect us personally and intimately. Reality is a production with a limited budget. Journalists aren’t paid to investigate. They make just enough to function as the mouthpiece of anyone with a bigger slice of the pie. They grease the wheels and weasel their way into elitist clubs and secret backroom hedonism.
We’re turning into a species of oblivious cybernetic organisms. We’re more concerned with our camera phones and iPods than we are with friends and family. Most people my age would sell their children into slavery to buy a Playstation 3. Complacency has gone pandemic. Anna Nicole Smith is a hotter news item than corruption at the highest levels of government. People are more concerned with tabloid fodder than their own lives.