Democracy? Yeah, right.

There's an interesting article in Orion magazine about how big business, advertisers and the government have spent the last century selling Americans on the whole work more/consume more philosophy while stifling any real debate on the alternatives. For those of us who like to think that we're autonomous agents making informed decisions in a free society, it's pretty sobering, going well beyond anything dreamed up by Philip K. Dick. In fact, it turns out everyday life is much closer to the world portrayed in John Carpenter's classic "They Live," starring Roddy Piper:

And it's still going on. The New York Times recently exposed the role that supposedly "objective" TV analysts played in drumming up support for the Iraq War. Perhaps 24-hour news channels should come with the disclaimer "We're not journalists, but we play ones on TV."

What does it mean to live in a state of manufactured reality? Well, it's probably not good for your emotional stability or mental health. You know things aren't quite right, but you can't pin down why. After all, those people on TV tell you everything's OK. Support the troops, buy more crap, it'll all work out. The economy's fine, victory in Iraq is just around the corner. This is the United States, land of democracy, the greatest nation on the planet, of course your government cares about you. Talk about cognitive dissonance. How can you make decisions when you can't trust the information on which you base them?

Comments

[verona]

I referenced "They Live" in my post "Wrestling fans vs. ceramic clowns" and I've always thought this movie is creepily close to home.

Google the word reptilians and you are likely to find some really freaky, scary conspiracy theory stuff similar to the theme of this movie.