Turn Off Your TV! --- Beware The "Entertainment Industrial Complex"
Turn Off Your TV! ---
Part I--Beware The "Entertainment Industrial Complex"
Ok, not really. I mean, that is unless you want to.
Ok, not really. I mean, that is unless you want to.
TV is passé anyway these days since the advent of mobile devices. We used to relegate our "zoning out" time to our living rooms and bedrooms after work or school, for maybe an hour or two. On weekends people actually went out. Of course that was before people began to see the outside world itself as an invasion of their privacy and accumulated an arsenal of phone apps to deploy as electronic defensive shields rivaling those of the Starship Enterprise.
People would watch a movie, a game, Johnny, Jay, Dave, a sitcom like Fresh Prince, or for us "cognoscenti," PBS. Now we can watch anything everywhere, at work, in school, in restaurants, even in Church, and while crossing the street against the stop light in heavy traffic. We are so "connected" now we can even share videos while driving off of highway embankments and watch streaming movies while riding over to Rite Aid to pick up some deodorant. (Might as well use that coupon before it expires, right?) So, why the headline about TV?
Because in the course of writing about our current crisis I find myself needing to counteract the effects of decades and decades of our uniquely American tabloid/Soap Opera/spectator sports culture. This is something deeply ingrained which we are barely conscious of, but significantly affects our judgment. I need to be more effective in helping people assess what is both behind the current Russian/Christo-fascist assault on our Constitutional system, the Presidency, our current President, his family, and the rights of our people, and also in discussing different ways in which we go about stopping them.
The overwhelming majority of Americans simply don't see themselves individually as having much power to change anything aside from voting, clicking "Like," and sharing on social media, none of which singly or combined is good enough. It's not just a function of psychological blocking, rather, in my view, it's due to a form of social conditioning. And I, like you all, have my own baggage which I'm not shy about sharing publicly in the hope it is helpful to others in working through it.
It is interesting and worth noting that many of us feel comfortable and well versed in attacking "American Exceptionalism" for our current predicament, which is the danger of a fascist takeover of the US. It is a recurring theme, a cultural nexus which enfolds within it racism, sexism, gangster-capitalism, religious fundamentalism, conspiracism, climate denialism, legalism, gender exclusionism. Indeed, there is a growing list of "isms" against which we are rightly unified as the destructive and malignant legacies of an old, conflicted, and often ugly history. So far, so good, right?
But we rarely if ever self-criticize our own immersion in America's equally ugly legacy of mass entertainment which is the cultural product of that very same history. The entertainment we choose, we consider to be ours, not "theirs," as if it was created in a vacuum. While it is true that Hollywood, independent studios, cable networks, social media to a degree, spectator sports leagues and the music industry are being held more accountable now for their content than in the past, this isn't what I'm getting at.
Our Weak Spot: A Nation Of Brain Candy Junkies--
Entertainment has become a national addiction. And it warps our connection to reality in ways we are often not conscious of. And this is a reality whose consequences we avoid thinking about, as is the pattern with most people suffering addictions.
The sheer amount of hours (an average of 8.3 hours per day at last count) in which we are immersed in entertainment is staggering, relative even to recent modern trends. The data is out there, we've seen it, and it is obviously vastly increasing throughout the digital/internet era with technological innovation. That's no newsflash. But we don't see it or treat it as the actual dependency which it is. We see it as a lifestyle choice, and bristle if anyone presumes to judge it's value. This is something I struggle with myself, but I believe it is up to someone to start a conversation about it because our window of time for solving our national crisis is closing, and we have so little to waste. And a discussion about subjective issues like this is in my view more important and useful than going online to get more "information" about what Jack Smith is doing.
https://www.insiderintelligence.com/content/us-adults-spending-more-time-with-media
How many of you have smoked or had an alcohol problem, or an Opioids problem, and know what a physical addiction is like? I have. If so, you know the feeling when you anxiously wait for a break at work, or the weekend, a vacation, a getaway by yourselves, or sneaking out for a bathroom visit to grab a smoke, a drink, or getting away to do whatever floats your boat. You know the feelings of physical discomfort, the building panic and distraction you go through while thinking about it, feeling shaky, watching the clock, looking around to see if anyone is watching. And then you enter the Matrix of deception, telling a bunch of little lies and fibs to yourself first, then to your spouse or others to cover for it, which become bigger and bigger lies after you are caught and called out by a loved one, friend, or a boss. You wallow in your guilt, and use it to fend off interventions, exclaiming "don't you know I feel bad enough already?" And you likely know the severe depression that comes along with it, and try to rationalize your behavior as a coping mechanism for that depression, to escape it for the moment rather than dealing with its actual causes. I know, I've been there, and on occasion go back there too.
Imagine then an addiction without a substance, which causes physical and mental reactions which are equal or worse. Consider that when we are away from our devices for any significant length of time, we suffer actual withdrawal symptoms and engage in similar behavior patterns. Feel free to test that hypothesis out on yourselves.
This is the growing phenomena of a culture which has on one hand embraced the trends of better fitness, nutrition, and overall physical health, while slipping dangerously into a downslide in our collective mental health. We pride ourselves these days on being more discriminating about what we put into our bodies, but think relatively less about what we allow into our heads.
Two institutional pillars of American culture which were previously considered a "mixed bag" but sometimes useful in terms of their benefits, religion, and the news media, are now unrecognizable in their current form. They are now considered "entertainment" and actually serve more as vehicles for propaganda and indoctrination, not what they were in times past. There is very little which is actually "religious" about contemporary religion, and there is even less "news" on the nightly news. We have Mammon-worshipping Megachurches run by billionaire empires with vast holdings in real estate, agribusiness and media, and we have cable news networks owned by hedge funds and movie studio giants. Their existence has little relation to the purposes for which societies previously had them.
Why Are We The Way We Are?
This transformation has been one of many casualities of our transition over the last 50 years from a productive manufacturing and industrial based economy into that of an information economy. We are now a consumer society that buys and sells sizzle with no steak, preoccupied with our lifestyles, and far more escapist and self-distracting than in the past.
Understandably there has been much in this post 9-11 world that we wish to escape from, and therefore we have chosen to venture into the digital universe to hide out from the real one with increasing frequency. But this transition from a productive economy to a service economy is something we have more or less accepted as both natural and inevitable, without much consideration of the different ways we have adapted our thinking to it throughout the process. That especially applies to our politics.
We used to play games, (not sports but other kinds, cards, board games, charades, etc) during school recess, after school, weekends, evenings after dinner, or vacations. They were social activities, enjoyed with other people who we knew. Now games are played in bedrooms and basements alone behind locked doors, against people who are anonymous, hiding behind screen names, (because after all, to know you is to bully you in the age of social media) and they go on for hours and sometimes days. The players survive drinking Coke and Red Bull and bingeing on Doritos. (or PowerBars if they are health conscious) Their relationship to sunlight is something right out of Bram Stoker, unless they are "Daywalkers." And none of it is reality based since it consists of "blowing shit up" and killing monsters and aliens.
Who out there has observed co-workers on the job "gaming" or playing online Poker at their desks on their phones, games which last for days off and on? What used to be called playing has now become a "fix," and as with all addictions are increasing our tendency to isolate and disassociate from real people. Are these gaming addicts likely going to venture outside to vote, or campaign for a candidate, or anything? Not unless we convince them to take off their headsets and close their laptop for a couple of hours.
We used to watch and play sports to enjoy the games, follow the players, cheer for our teams. Now sports is a colossal succubus for our growing national sports betting addiction, with handicapping of winners, losers, and spreads replacing the enjoyment of the sport with "fantasy sports," and with Las Vegas assuming the role of the world's Mecca for a new generation of "fantasy players." The fixation on betting, handicapping, analytics stats and the obscenely huge money tied up with it has been so pervasive that it isn't even sports anymore, it's a self-expanding global financial market, and the star players themselves are now Moguls and conglomerates. And truth be told, the toll of mass-based sports gambling addiction on the population is destroying marriages, careers, and families at an unprecedented rate because it's been weaponized by the internet. People don't even have to get dressed and drive to a Casino. I'd guess many of you have seen this first hand with family and friends.
What has this got to do with politics, you may be asking? Well consider this as an example.. The most influential US opinion polling corporation named "538" (which btw helped elect Trump in 2016 with their Democratic vote-suppressing bogus forecasts) headed by Nate Silver was previously owned by ESPN, (now by Disney) which is the world's biggest center of gravity in not only sports coverage but sports betting. And "538's" methodology of political forecasting is pretty much the same as that which goes into putting together ESPN's sports "book." That is worth thinking about. Have we been playing a game of "fantasy politics" for all these years, picking winners and losers and vote spreads, "all-star" electoral slates, and have we been voting for MVPs instead of leaders? Has sports entertainment been mashed up into a brain salad with our political system to the point we pick our leaders the same way we follow athletes? Maybe we are close to electing an athlete President, (The Rock, Tom Brady, LeBron?) since we've already elected two actors. Maybe that's one reason we are here.
Therefore because we suffer the mind-altering effects of this across the board gambling addiction, not only on sports, we now find it acceptable to have a growing bubble economy based upon the new physically non-existent form of fake wealth known as Crypto, which is pure unadulterated gambling, and nothing else. Governments are not only not regulating it, but are looking for ways to incorporate it! This is a marker of our descent into mass insanity every bit as destructive as the spread of religious fundamentalism. It is a phenomena which our younger selves would have clearly recognized as psychotic in nature, not simply odd.
Instead of worshipping a mythical "sky-daddy" who intervenes and comes down from Heaven to answer our prayers by solving problems of our own making, we worship a "magic hand," a "sky-algorithm" which is going to come down from cyberspace to answer our prayer to get us out of debt. Crypto is a new laptop religion without churches, whose deity is a huge complex of parasitical energy-sucking Lithium-looting hardware driven by AI, which should, for the sake of accuracy, go by the name of HAL, or SKYNET. And like all parasites, it will die with the host.
Also, on the subject of sucking parasites, much of American's digital lives are spent doing online Porn, which because of the internet (I almost wrote "thanks to the internet" but caught myself, lol) we have "everything, everywhere, all at once," and it's America's fastest growing Metaverse. For many people this too is becoming an addiction. Especially among fundamentalist Christians, who for reasons of keeping up airs and other things, prefer to "not let the left hand know what the right is doing." Porn factors in as one of those areas of entertainment which consumes a significant portion of America's down time. (Or up time, depending...) While I'll make no value judgment on this or other "private" matters, one must recognize this fact as representing a substantial change, and ask themselves honestly what it means in the grand scheme of things. We need to do a better job of judging ourselves, lest we be judged. Porn is big, big business, and a major player in the "Entertainment Industrial Complex." (EIC)
Are these examples part of a nostalgia trip to reflect happily on "the good old days?" No, I didn't like those days too much either. It's just a group look in the mirror more than anything, an exercise program which is right up there with our Gym routines for maintaining our political health. Don't just look at where we are, but where we are coming from and where we are headed.
And just to be clear, far be it for me to advocate banning, or censoring entertainment. But sometimes, like in wartime, we need to adopt a degree of rationing of certain strategic items. If we are going to stop fascism, I don't think it's out of line to suggest we might voluntarily make better use of our time, which right now is the strategic item which is in shortest supply.
Now, let's look how our political thinking can be shaped by EIC generated popular culture, using as an example a cable "TV Series" which can lead us to accept ideas unknowingly which we in our right minds actually oppose.
Part II "Yellowstone" -- Today's Godfather Trilogy On Horseback For Mainstreaming Trumpism
We used to play games, (not sports but other kinds, cards, board games, charades, etc) during school recess, after school, weekends, evenings after dinner, or vacations. They were social activities, enjoyed with other people who we knew. Now games are played in bedrooms and basements alone behind locked doors, against people who are anonymous, hiding behind screen names, (because after all, to know you is to bully you in the age of social media) and they go on for hours and sometimes days. The players survive drinking Coke and Red Bull and bingeing on Doritos. (or PowerBars if they are health conscious) Their relationship to sunlight is something right out of Bram Stoker, unless they are "Daywalkers." And none of it is reality based since it consists of "blowing shit up" and killing monsters and aliens.
Who out there has observed co-workers on the job "gaming" or playing online Poker at their desks on their phones, games which last for days off and on? What used to be called playing has now become a "fix," and as with all addictions are increasing our tendency to isolate and disassociate from real people. Are these gaming addicts likely going to venture outside to vote, or campaign for a candidate, or anything? Not unless we convince them to take off their headsets and close their laptop for a couple of hours.
We used to watch and play sports to enjoy the games, follow the players, cheer for our teams. Now sports is a colossal succubus for our growing national sports betting addiction, with handicapping of winners, losers, and spreads replacing the enjoyment of the sport with "fantasy sports," and with Las Vegas assuming the role of the world's Mecca for a new generation of "fantasy players." The fixation on betting, handicapping, analytics stats and the obscenely huge money tied up with it has been so pervasive that it isn't even sports anymore, it's a self-expanding global financial market, and the star players themselves are now Moguls and conglomerates. And truth be told, the toll of mass-based sports gambling addiction on the population is destroying marriages, careers, and families at an unprecedented rate because it's been weaponized by the internet. People don't even have to get dressed and drive to a Casino. I'd guess many of you have seen this first hand with family and friends.
What has this got to do with politics, you may be asking? Well consider this as an example.. The most influential US opinion polling corporation named "538" (which btw helped elect Trump in 2016 with their Democratic vote-suppressing bogus forecasts) headed by Nate Silver was previously owned by ESPN, (now by Disney) which is the world's biggest center of gravity in not only sports coverage but sports betting. And "538's" methodology of political forecasting is pretty much the same as that which goes into putting together ESPN's sports "book." That is worth thinking about. Have we been playing a game of "fantasy politics" for all these years, picking winners and losers and vote spreads, "all-star" electoral slates, and have we been voting for MVPs instead of leaders? Has sports entertainment been mashed up into a brain salad with our political system to the point we pick our leaders the same way we follow athletes? Maybe we are close to electing an athlete President, (The Rock, Tom Brady, LeBron?) since we've already elected two actors. Maybe that's one reason we are here.
Therefore because we suffer the mind-altering effects of this across the board gambling addiction, not only on sports, we now find it acceptable to have a growing bubble economy based upon the new physically non-existent form of fake wealth known as Crypto, which is pure unadulterated gambling, and nothing else. Governments are not only not regulating it, but are looking for ways to incorporate it! This is a marker of our descent into mass insanity every bit as destructive as the spread of religious fundamentalism. It is a phenomena which our younger selves would have clearly recognized as psychotic in nature, not simply odd.
Instead of worshipping a mythical "sky-daddy" who intervenes and comes down from Heaven to answer our prayers by solving problems of our own making, we worship a "magic hand," a "sky-algorithm" which is going to come down from cyberspace to answer our prayer to get us out of debt. Crypto is a new laptop religion without churches, whose deity is a huge complex of parasitical energy-sucking Lithium-looting hardware driven by AI, which should, for the sake of accuracy, go by the name of HAL, or SKYNET. And like all parasites, it will die with the host.
Also, on the subject of sucking parasites, much of American's digital lives are spent doing online Porn, which because of the internet (I almost wrote "thanks to the internet" but caught myself, lol) we have "everything, everywhere, all at once," and it's America's fastest growing Metaverse. For many people this too is becoming an addiction. Especially among fundamentalist Christians, who for reasons of keeping up airs and other things, prefer to "not let the left hand know what the right is doing." Porn factors in as one of those areas of entertainment which consumes a significant portion of America's down time. (Or up time, depending...) While I'll make no value judgment on this or other "private" matters, one must recognize this fact as representing a substantial change, and ask themselves honestly what it means in the grand scheme of things. We need to do a better job of judging ourselves, lest we be judged. Porn is big, big business, and a major player in the "Entertainment Industrial Complex." (EIC)
Are these examples part of a nostalgia trip to reflect happily on "the good old days?" No, I didn't like those days too much either. It's just a group look in the mirror more than anything, an exercise program which is right up there with our Gym routines for maintaining our political health. Don't just look at where we are, but where we are coming from and where we are headed.
And just to be clear, far be it for me to advocate banning, or censoring entertainment. But sometimes, like in wartime, we need to adopt a degree of rationing of certain strategic items. If we are going to stop fascism, I don't think it's out of line to suggest we might voluntarily make better use of our time, which right now is the strategic item which is in shortest supply.
Now, let's look how our political thinking can be shaped by EIC generated popular culture, using as an example a cable "TV Series" which can lead us to accept ideas unknowingly which we in our right minds actually oppose.
Part II "Yellowstone" -- Today's Godfather Trilogy On Horseback For Mainstreaming Trumpism
