For your consideration… The Dangers of Infotainment
Written by David DeWitt
Monday, 09 November 2009 17:04
I watched the news today, oh boy…
In 1985, Neil Postman wrote a book called, “Amusing Ourselves to Death.” In it he distinguishes a world of Orwellian totalitarianism in which Big Brother outright seizes the rights of the citizenry, from that of Aldous Huxley’s “A Brave New World,” where these rights and freedoms are volunteered as the population self-medicates with a drug called “soma.”
Postman proposes that, in modern times, television entertainment is the “soma” that the population uses to self-medicate into bliss and distraction.
“Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression,” Postman wrote in the book’s forward. “But in Huxley’s vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think… What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.”
And now, for your consideration… This Is My Suitcase
Listen to this album. Buy this album. And spread the word.
I feel as though my eardrums have just been ravaged by a sweet and sultry phonic PleasureMaster 3000.
That was my first reaction to hearing the new album from This Is My Suitcase, “The Keys to Cat Heaven,” (Paper + Plastick, 2009). In January, Columbus Alive listed Suitcase as one of the top bands to watch in 2009. They were right. And Suitcase delivered.
Well, I’m quite a liar, aren’t I? I said I would write more often and I didn’t. I said I would be there and I wasn’t. I said I would call and I never did. But I refuse to let this relationship fall by the wayside. You see… I have an idea.
Originally, I was going to write these long-winded, self-indulgent columns delineating the troubles of our American culture. But I now realize, in this format, I have no need to be so garrulous. It’s the age of Al Gore’s Internet! I can write short-winded, self-indulgent blurbs delineating the troubles of our American culture, complete with hyperlinks and embedded video to provide the steamy details.
Hey there. I like your style. I was wondering if you’d have a drink with me. Maybe we can go for a walk or something. I’d like to take you out, and talk to you about the national debt.
You see, while being very concerned about the national debt for the last eight years myself, I heard very little conversation about it otherwise. That is, until Barack Obama was elected President and the Republican Party started flipping out about it.
This was quite a shock to me. I wasn’t shocked that others should be concerned about the ballooning debt. After all, it’s a serious concern for all of us. I was shocked that it didn’t become a major topic of conversation until a Democrat was in the White House. Currently, the national debt stands at about $11.7 trillion dollars.
VOICEOVER: How many news sources does it take to get to the relevant center of a national issue? (CRUNCH) The world may never know.
I’ve given up on cable news. Well, let me clarify. I watch it in much the same way that I might watch World Wrestling Entertainment. I watch it because it’s hilarious, melodramatic, absurd, hackneyed, predictable and decidedly not based in reality. And I feel kind of bad for the people who believe that it’s real.
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