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The wool over our eyes
By Jon Menaster | March 26, 2007
I was pondering last night (as I do most nights) and had some thoughts on the current state of our society, so get ready! There were maybe 7-8 people over at my place, and the conversations started to shift from the usual “How was your day yesterday” to items such as celebrities (Paris Hilton - so crazy!), movies (300 is just amazing!), and sports (NCAA brackets, baseball about to start, football fantasy leagues, etc.). I have two basic questions I’m thinking about: Why is it when you put a random collection of people together the discussion inevitably shifts towards a baseline that all people can understand, and why in our society does that baseline revolve around celebrities, movies, and sports?
To me, the answer to both questions revolves around the consumption driven society we live in and the need for corporations to continue to push products and services to us, so that they can increase their bottom line and keep profits rising. If the American people collectively decided they were not going to rush out and buy the latest US Weekly to find out about what Paris is doing, or to spend $12 at the movies to be entertained for a few hours, or even to buy $200 tickets to a football game so they can see their favorite players in person, what would it do to our economy? Well the way things are setup now the economy would certainly suffer. Therefore, corporations have setup vast noise machines to ensure that what they feel should be relevant to Americans is relevant - and these noise machines are working.
Furthermore, human beings being inherently social animals, we feel a certain comfort in social interaction with our peers. The easiest way to establish ourselves as relevant members of the community is to show that we have just as much knowledge as other people in regards to what society considers important enough for everyone to have to pay attention to - in this case, celebrities, sports, and movies. (Obviously there could be many more, but those get the point across). Therefore we can sit and have a wonderful discussion about the latest big movie with just about anyone in America. This is also possible because we are all fed the same movies, celebrity news, and sports - someone in LA and someone in New York can watch the same movie, the same news about Paris Hilton, and the same NCAA championship game and converse about it.
Image by: Lee Prouten
However, that doesn’t go all the way to explaining the second question - because it seems as if the discussion (as it does in many other countries) would shift to something that has an impact on our everyday lives such as healthcare, taxes, or the next election. In America we are so afraid to contemplate real social issues with our neighbors for fear that we would offend one another and lose that social bond that we love so much. We sit complacent about war, money wasted, lack of healthcare, and a myriad of other problems currently affecting our great nation; and while these might not seem to have a direct affect on our lives, say that to the people who died on September the 11th. Those deaths were the result of American policies perpetuated by the Government designed to increase America’s status as a superpower and relegate lesser countries to mere pawns (This is further proved by the book I’m currently reading called Confessions of an Economic Hit Man - good so far!).
So what can we do? The only solution is to bring back coherent discussions on what truly affects and shapes our lives. We cannot afford to be fixated upon drunken celebrities stumbling around hopelessly trying to find a purpose for their own meager lives; instead we should focus on those politicians and people who have the true power to use America’s great wealth for the betterment of her people and not for the betterment of the “corporatocracy” (As John Perkins puts it). So go out, say hi to your neighbor, and ask them if they favor universal health care, something that every other developed country in the world has for its citizens. Or ask them if they favor billions in non-compete contracts for Halliburton and Kellogg, Brown, and Root - I bet I know the answer!
Topics: Life, Philosophical Musings, Politics, Psychology |
April 1st, 2007 at 5:03 am
Philosophers’ Carnival - April 2, 2007…
Welcome to the April 2, 2007 edition of philosophers’ carnival. It’s a great honour to be able to host something like Philosopher’s Carnival. I’ve been inundated with so many submissions that I’ve unfortunately had to leav…
April 1st, 2007 at 2:18 pm
hey there…I am delighted to see that you have made such good use of the photo…you are absolutely correct about how well it suits your blog entry today…and thank you also for the attribution…
by the way, as someone who teaches social welfare policy to first year university students, I find myself in agreement that we need to start talking about far more serious topics than whether paris is wearing underwear or not…
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:10 am
http://sophistpundit.blogspot.com/2007/04/consumption-driven-society-that-we-live.html
Check it out. It’s more worthy of your time than that Al Gore movie you’re probably watching.