I could have written this several weeks ago, but I held off, just in case I was wrong.
From the first inklings of news regarding the swine flu, which soon rose to a screeching hysteria in the apparatus that specializes in same, I knew one thing: The swine flu would go the way of previous medical worscarios, which is to say nowhere. But to understand why the overarching madness, one has to understand a few things about American "culture." (This word should always be in quotation marks when preceded by the word American.)
Among the many ways one can attempt to categorize the country, one way is to see it as a composite of several major power centers, with dozens of minor power centers elbowing among themselves to affect the major ones. Three of the large power conglomerates are government, the tv/cable newsmedia and the medical-industrial complex (which is spearheaded by the pharmaceutical companies).
The nature of these and the other beasts are to draw money, prestige and leverage to themselves, i.e., power. Such a situation as a potential pandemic plays right into the wheelhouse of all three. The more scared people can be made to feel about a deathly plague at their doorsteps, the more people will look to the government for direction, the media for constant updates, and big pharma for life-saving medicines.
When the dust clears and the threat is seen to have passed (as did the bird flu, SARS and the others), the government will be seen as having acted aggressively to protect the populace, and related agencies will have been given more employees and funding. The mass media will have received higher ratings, which translates to higher revenues. The pharmaceutical companies will have gotten huge contracts to manufacture vaccines. Whether these are used or not, big pharma is paid -- in this instance $1.5 billion so far.
And don't expect the Center for Disease Control to throw cold water on the threatuation. Aside from the fact that they're closely allied with the money-machine medical-industrial complex, whenever these hyped-up disease scares come along, they get to be media stars for several weeks, with interviews and press releases.
So no, America, just be about your business, and realize that in 2008 36,000 people died of the "regular" flu in your country, none of whom warranted a headline. Hyperventilated reports of, Oh My God!, dozens dead from the swine flu are not really much of a news story except for the sad fact that pumping it up as a big news story feeds the various beasts of prey who bestride the nation.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
The Truth About America
The truth about America at this point in history -- and this is at the root of our problematic stance and stature in the world today – is that we represent only 4% of the world’s population, but most of us treat the rest of the planet as if they were the 4% and we were the 96%. That’s how inflated our opinion of ourselves has become, and why people in Europe and elsewhere want desperately to deflate us, i.e., puncture our big ego balloon.
A society that fosters those behaviors that are uniformly unproductive of positive virtue -- fashion, sports, voyeurism, passive recreations, drinking/drugs/mood pharmaceuticals, overblown commercialism, etc., will melt away from any previous primacy it may have achieved in hardier days. A society that glorifies such things onto a golden pedestal, and puts power and ego above truth and responsibility will crash within a generation or two of such misplaced veneration.
Remembering Rome -- and there are several other examples of crashed empires -- they had a short period of continued military dominance after decadence had beset their populace, but outwardly-exhibited power cannot be long maintained if the core is rotting from within.
Modern America depends on the sheep, er, the general public, operating in a functional fog, and dependent on “experts” to control and guide them. If it were suddenly possible for everyone’s IQ to be raised 50 points overnight, but this action needed the secret-ballot approval of 5 groups - the politicians, the corporate executives, the mass media executives, the doctors and the lawyers, I think we could expect a unanimous negative vote.
The major compromises in American society have already been made -- the big lines have long since been crossed. There's likely no going back in most cases. Companies which make unhealthy food and market it as healthy; TV networks which allow misleading commercials, some using semi-hypnotic techniques; corporate and interest-group lobbyists who funnel huge amounts of money to politicians in exchange for "access" and friendly legislation; and television, movies, music, magazines and video games which are a feast of casual sex, beauty as paramount and violence as the solution to most problems.
A society that fosters those behaviors that are uniformly unproductive of positive virtue -- fashion, sports, voyeurism, passive recreations, drinking/drugs/mood pharmaceuticals, overblown commercialism, etc., will melt away from any previous primacy it may have achieved in hardier days. A society that glorifies such things onto a golden pedestal, and puts power and ego above truth and responsibility will crash within a generation or two of such misplaced veneration.
Remembering Rome -- and there are several other examples of crashed empires -- they had a short period of continued military dominance after decadence had beset their populace, but outwardly-exhibited power cannot be long maintained if the core is rotting from within.
Modern America depends on the sheep, er, the general public, operating in a functional fog, and dependent on “experts” to control and guide them. If it were suddenly possible for everyone’s IQ to be raised 50 points overnight, but this action needed the secret-ballot approval of 5 groups - the politicians, the corporate executives, the mass media executives, the doctors and the lawyers, I think we could expect a unanimous negative vote.
The major compromises in American society have already been made -- the big lines have long since been crossed. There's likely no going back in most cases. Companies which make unhealthy food and market it as healthy; TV networks which allow misleading commercials, some using semi-hypnotic techniques; corporate and interest-group lobbyists who funnel huge amounts of money to politicians in exchange for "access" and friendly legislation; and television, movies, music, magazines and video games which are a feast of casual sex, beauty as paramount and violence as the solution to most problems.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Confederacy of Dunces
To watch and listen to the hysterical right-wing noise machine regarding the new administration is simultimely perversely unsettling and laugh-out-loud funny. After 8 years of the Bush Misadministration, during which time Hannutty, Limbaugh and Blowhard O'Reilly championed one dunderheaded cause after another in service of their powerstablishment masters, one would think they would now slink away to oblivion.
But no, they're hot on the case -- the case that Obama is destroying America and needs to be stopped. What I fear is that one of their acolytes, the vastjority of whom are well-armed boneheads, will take their pronouncements to their logical conclusion. And then we'll have President Biden, and America will wrap itself once again in tragedy.
But no, they're hot on the case -- the case that Obama is destroying America and needs to be stopped. What I fear is that one of their acolytes, the vastjority of whom are well-armed boneheads, will take their pronouncements to their logical conclusion. And then we'll have President Biden, and America will wrap itself once again in tragedy.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
The Bad Shepherds
Call this the story of The Bad Shepherds. What can one say about a country’s leaders when they haven’t adequately protected the citizens under their care from corporate predators? From the financial pirates, who, while "earning" tens of millions of dollars making specious transactions, hollowed out the wealth of the U.S. From the bevy of corporations who use our land and water as a toilet, flushing their harmful chemicals (starting with mercury) into our food supply.
From the tobacco companies that have addicted 30% of its citizens -- and millions more in their early graves? From the alcohol industry, which ruins countless lives in its lust for profits? From the many-tentacled food, snack, soft drink and fast food industries, which have "shaped" this country into one in which over 65% are overweight and eating their way into ill health?
From the pharmaceutical companies that are successfully achieving their agenda of pushing pills on all Americans, and targeting millions of children? From the gun merchants, who won’t be satisfied until every 17-year-old in the country is packing? From the television purveyors, a marketing machine for everything unhealthy, be it morally or physically?
The sad fact is that our shepherds, our so-called leaders who have been entrusted with the public welfare, have been well-paid to not intervene forcefully in these fleecings. Almost without exception these individuals (and you can include the top persons in the regulatory agencies), live a lot higher on the hog after their tenure than they did when they entered public service. This is made true by the so-called "revolving door," by which the majority of government regulators later get jobs in the industries they were supposedly overseeing. Or, in the case of congressmen, get jobs lobbying for the worst offenders of the public welfare.
From the tobacco companies that have addicted 30% of its citizens -- and millions more in their early graves? From the alcohol industry, which ruins countless lives in its lust for profits? From the many-tentacled food, snack, soft drink and fast food industries, which have "shaped" this country into one in which over 65% are overweight and eating their way into ill health?
From the pharmaceutical companies that are successfully achieving their agenda of pushing pills on all Americans, and targeting millions of children? From the gun merchants, who won’t be satisfied until every 17-year-old in the country is packing? From the television purveyors, a marketing machine for everything unhealthy, be it morally or physically?
The sad fact is that our shepherds, our so-called leaders who have been entrusted with the public welfare, have been well-paid to not intervene forcefully in these fleecings. Almost without exception these individuals (and you can include the top persons in the regulatory agencies), live a lot higher on the hog after their tenure than they did when they entered public service. This is made true by the so-called "revolving door," by which the majority of government regulators later get jobs in the industries they were supposedly overseeing. Or, in the case of congressmen, get jobs lobbying for the worst offenders of the public welfare.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Misc. Rants
How many of you know about the congressional "redistricting" that is constantly going on? Not many, I suspect, as it's considered a boring subject by most people. Both parties are guilty of it, but it's perpetrated by whatever party is ruling the roost.
What they do is get maps made showing numbers of registered Democrats and Republicans in each neighborhood, draw lines around those zones, then mix and match to get the desired results, even if it means district shapes are left horribly cockeyed. There are districts that have corridors only a few blocks wide and stretching for miles. (Is this what the framers of the constitution had in mind? Probably not.) If there's an opposition party stronghold, they jigsaw and truncate it in such a way as to weaken it's chances of voting that way again.
Greasy, shady stuff, but considered a legitimate exercise by the rascals whom we are oblivious enough to call our leaders.
We as a world have successfully passed into our third great epoch. The first was governed by the creed Safe Makes Right, during that long pre-dawn of human history when the best man was the alive man, the one who survived to hunt and eat and procreate another day.
Then, around thirty-thousand years ago, when people started forming into bigger groups, it became Might Makes Right, when they who controlled the biggest warriors with the biggest sticks, or most tanks, or accumulated nuclear throw weight, ruled over the others.
But in the last few decades a new dawn (or perhaps it's a sunset) has initiated, one in which Money Makes Right. Those individuals and corporations who have the most financial resources have the clout to make much, much more, and easily stifle competition and attempts at restriction from smaller entities, including governments, who in effect become their pawns.
Here's a question for you: If someone wanted to start a company that would kill over half-a-million people a year, most of them Americans, and give health problems to several million others, could they start this manufactory? Or, if already doing this, stay in business? (For the answer, refer to the previous piece.)
What they do is get maps made showing numbers of registered Democrats and Republicans in each neighborhood, draw lines around those zones, then mix and match to get the desired results, even if it means district shapes are left horribly cockeyed. There are districts that have corridors only a few blocks wide and stretching for miles. (Is this what the framers of the constitution had in mind? Probably not.) If there's an opposition party stronghold, they jigsaw and truncate it in such a way as to weaken it's chances of voting that way again.
Greasy, shady stuff, but considered a legitimate exercise by the rascals whom we are oblivious enough to call our leaders.
We as a world have successfully passed into our third great epoch. The first was governed by the creed Safe Makes Right, during that long pre-dawn of human history when the best man was the alive man, the one who survived to hunt and eat and procreate another day.
Then, around thirty-thousand years ago, when people started forming into bigger groups, it became Might Makes Right, when they who controlled the biggest warriors with the biggest sticks, or most tanks, or accumulated nuclear throw weight, ruled over the others.
But in the last few decades a new dawn (or perhaps it's a sunset) has initiated, one in which Money Makes Right. Those individuals and corporations who have the most financial resources have the clout to make much, much more, and easily stifle competition and attempts at restriction from smaller entities, including governments, who in effect become their pawns.
Here's a question for you: If someone wanted to start a company that would kill over half-a-million people a year, most of them Americans, and give health problems to several million others, could they start this manufactory? Or, if already doing this, stay in business? (For the answer, refer to the previous piece.)
The Tree of Good and Evil
I write a lot of things about America, mostly of a disparaging nature, as I believe that this country has a serious set of negative trends -- commercialism, rampant irresponsibility, lack of business honesty, corrupted politicians, overly violent TV and movies, erosion of personal integrity, declining ability to communicate effectively, food pollution, etc. -- which only seem to be worsening.
But a fully objective look at the U.S. reveals that it is, for the world, the living, breathing tree of good and evil. We assisted Europe in getting back on its feet after WWII, and conducted a comparatively benevolent form of occupation in Germany and Japan. (But, OK, we firebombed Dresden and Tokyo and dropped the A-bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.)
We've aided many Third World Countries to save lives during droughts and other emergencies, donated tons of grain, built bridges and schools, etc., but then we hooked them on bad food and cigarettes. Our State Department, CIA and military have a horribly mixed record of supporting both freedom and tyranny, depending on what we perceive to be in our "best national interest."
People around the world who are coming in contact with Americans may be meeting missionaries or educators or happy, well-heeled vacationers, or someone looking to exploit the local populace with a high-pollution factory.
Or even within our own borders, a person can choose to live a life of pure asceticism, devoted entirely to spiritual growth, and find places and people to support that lifestyle. Or they can conduct themselves in quite the opposite manner and live in abject degeneracy, suffused with alcohol and drug abuse, and find plenty of easy access to that sort of life as well.
Born of the seed of freedom: the tree of good and evil. Pick your fruit and take a bite.
But a fully objective look at the U.S. reveals that it is, for the world, the living, breathing tree of good and evil. We assisted Europe in getting back on its feet after WWII, and conducted a comparatively benevolent form of occupation in Germany and Japan. (But, OK, we firebombed Dresden and Tokyo and dropped the A-bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.)
We've aided many Third World Countries to save lives during droughts and other emergencies, donated tons of grain, built bridges and schools, etc., but then we hooked them on bad food and cigarettes. Our State Department, CIA and military have a horribly mixed record of supporting both freedom and tyranny, depending on what we perceive to be in our "best national interest."
People around the world who are coming in contact with Americans may be meeting missionaries or educators or happy, well-heeled vacationers, or someone looking to exploit the local populace with a high-pollution factory.
Or even within our own borders, a person can choose to live a life of pure asceticism, devoted entirely to spiritual growth, and find places and people to support that lifestyle. Or they can conduct themselves in quite the opposite manner and live in abject degeneracy, suffused with alcohol and drug abuse, and find plenty of easy access to that sort of life as well.
Born of the seed of freedom: the tree of good and evil. Pick your fruit and take a bite.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The Tube Boobs
I was raised in a time when civility and virtue were still considered to be prime attributes, although the WWII generation would complain of us that we were crass and vulgar compared to them. But what’s going on now with the “culture,” by which I mostly mean TV, movies and music, is that civility and virtue -- be it humility, honesty, intellectuality or any of the others -- have been mostly thrown out the window. In fact a character on a television show these days, whether it’s a comedy, drama or reality show, is now hooted and booted for displaying virtue, and is liable to be derided as a “wuss,” a sucker or a loser.
You know how every week there’s a DVD or two that comes out that you just have to see? And how there’s 20-25 hours of stuff on TV that’s just part of your schedule to watch? Well, what are you going to do in the future when there are 10-12 DVDs per week and 45-50 hours of TV that you don’t feel you can live without? (If you think many people are zombie-brained now...)
Speaking of such things, a study showed that the average college student watches over 30 hours of television per week. This was inclusive of the buckled-down students, so that means that many of these kids are wired in to 35-40 or even more hours per week. And this doesn’t include time spent on video games, online chatting, text messaging and downloading/listening to music. And "hooking up." And, what’s that other thing they sometimes do? Oh, yeah, attending class and studying.
A national survey revealed that only 22% of high school students spend more than one hour a day on homework. 55% (perhaps the more honest among them) said they studied less than 3 hours per week. Of that group, 65% reported that they made mostly A’s and B’s, which says more about the dumbing down of standards than the abilities of the kids.(Further note: Almost all of these homework hours are accomplished with some combination of TV, music-player and text-messaging in operation, thus diminishing the concentration level.)
The real corruption of television and movies, more so than the overdone sexuality and violence, is that misbehavior is constantly being shown with little or no repercussion, often with little notice being given to it at all. In other words, the abnormal is treated as normal, even as being "fun stuff." For the generations between 5 and 35, brought up more by mass media than parents, these depictions are a strong teaching tool, instructing them as to the boundaries of acceptable behavior.
One of the insidious things about television is that, since it’s written by New York and L.A. people under general instructions to create edgy, exciting characters, the resultant populations of TV show dramas and comedies, are hardly like real people, even metropolitan-based people. Since this involves a kind of symbiotic reflection with the mass of TV viewers, i.e., they model themselves somewhat on what they see portrayed on the tube, than this mass media – and to a lesser extent movies – is creating a warping in the population’s sense of itself, actually affecting people’s behavior in a mostly negative way..
You know how every week there’s a DVD or two that comes out that you just have to see? And how there’s 20-25 hours of stuff on TV that’s just part of your schedule to watch? Well, what are you going to do in the future when there are 10-12 DVDs per week and 45-50 hours of TV that you don’t feel you can live without? (If you think many people are zombie-brained now...)
Speaking of such things, a study showed that the average college student watches over 30 hours of television per week. This was inclusive of the buckled-down students, so that means that many of these kids are wired in to 35-40 or even more hours per week. And this doesn’t include time spent on video games, online chatting, text messaging and downloading/listening to music. And "hooking up." And, what’s that other thing they sometimes do? Oh, yeah, attending class and studying.
A national survey revealed that only 22% of high school students spend more than one hour a day on homework. 55% (perhaps the more honest among them) said they studied less than 3 hours per week. Of that group, 65% reported that they made mostly A’s and B’s, which says more about the dumbing down of standards than the abilities of the kids.(Further note: Almost all of these homework hours are accomplished with some combination of TV, music-player and text-messaging in operation, thus diminishing the concentration level.)
The real corruption of television and movies, more so than the overdone sexuality and violence, is that misbehavior is constantly being shown with little or no repercussion, often with little notice being given to it at all. In other words, the abnormal is treated as normal, even as being "fun stuff." For the generations between 5 and 35, brought up more by mass media than parents, these depictions are a strong teaching tool, instructing them as to the boundaries of acceptable behavior.
One of the insidious things about television is that, since it’s written by New York and L.A. people under general instructions to create edgy, exciting characters, the resultant populations of TV show dramas and comedies, are hardly like real people, even metropolitan-based people. Since this involves a kind of symbiotic reflection with the mass of TV viewers, i.e., they model themselves somewhat on what they see portrayed on the tube, than this mass media – and to a lesser extent movies – is creating a warping in the population’s sense of itself, actually affecting people’s behavior in a mostly negative way..
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