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Hello my pretties,

   Reading has always been my favorite pastime; moreover, it has had a profound and lasting effect on how I see the world. I remember when I first read "Farenheit 451" all those years ago, and what strikes me most about that experience was how scared I was that a powerful group of people could actually want to burn books. I re-read the book a few years ago, and what struck me the most then was that so few people felt the urge to fight the repressive regime in the book.
   It was kind of the same thing with "1984." I had to read that book in high school, but when I re-read it years later, it chilled me to the bone to realize that we are smack in the midst of such an existence. Really! Big Brother is watching us; at the very least, BB is tracking our viewer habits through Nielsen ratings and the like. Archetypes are no longer portrayed on TV: the television actually creates archetypes for us to emulate. We are not tortured to become brainwashed to the ruling party's way of thinking, but incesant commercials, billboards, ads, and radio spots accomplish the same thing. Yeah. It's 1984, baby! Love it. Live it. Lose your identity.
   The best book I ever read was "Catch-22," by Joseph Heller. The book chronicles one man's attempt to escape the insanity of war, only to find that he is way too sane to get out of the thing legally. In a desperate and blazingly wonderful message of hope, the main character affirms that he does indeed still have a shred of decency in him as he escapes by going AWOL. When the main character does make good his escape on the water, I can almost hear Clint Eastwood rasp out, "Dyin' ain't much of a livin', boy."
   Wow! I just realized that all of these books have numbers in them! Seriously, I never made that connection before, which, I guess, shows just how unaware I am at times. ANYWAY...
   Governments come and go. The democratic and self-proclaimed "good" ones usually follow a certain pattern. It goes something like this:

the government helps those who need help. Think of all the programs we have for this.
the government helps everyone. Think Social Security system, roads, bridges, public works, education.
the government helps AND oversees everyone. Think IRS, driver's licenses, etc.
the government determines what constitutes good and what constitutes bad. No, my pretties, we are not here yet, but the beginnings are evident. Governmental assaults on our First Amendment rights have increased over the past three decades. We now have political prisoners!
the government becomes obsessed with protecting its existence. It won't matter that it has become less and less useful.
the government becomes violent against its subjects, and uses propaganda, force, intimidation, eavesdropping, and snitches to imprison radicals.

   Maybe I'm just old and paranoid, but I see it coming for us, just as it had for other so-called good governments. Don't the purveyors of drugs first befriend you, give you free stuff, then take all you have? Governments don't usually start out bad, but they pretty much end up that way. I'm hoping we can get away from the TV and the commercialism that drives our country so that we have a few moments to consider where we are as a nation, and, more importantly, where we are as individuals.
   Kids at my school are all striving mightily to show their independence and how unique they are. It usually comes off as a let's-all-be-nonconformists-together type of thing. The goth kids all wear the same stuff, as do the preppies, the wannabe ganstas, etc. Which is totally cool! Kids must explore and find where they want to be. This is a very cool period in their lives where they get to "try it on" without any sort of stigma attached to their changes. No, the thing that worries me is their reliance on the media to tell them what to wear, how to act, how to think. It scares the hell out of me! They all think the same way! Aggghhhhhh!!!
   I can't say that we as teachers are much better. We spout the compay line because...well...because it's the only line we memorized. And it sounds good. Yeah. Great. Teachers teaching kids to be followers. Aren't we special?
   So, that's my semi-rant, paranoid thought for the day. Peace out, my pretties. Think for yourself. Yeah, get out there and have a unique thought.

DS

Posted by DentedSyke on 2009-01-13 06:00:44 | Rating: