Monday, January 14, 2008

WEAPONS OF MASS DISTRACTION
In the 21st Century we are fully engaged in The Culture of Narcissism and everyone is famous for 15 minutes…which will no doubt soon be edited to 15 seconds on the Internet.

How on Earth will Historians decide WHO makes it into our History Books? Certainly the current uber-villains are always shoe-ins, Osama bin Laden’s legacy will be raised to the ranks of psychotic despots who were responsible for the death of Millions like Hitler, Stalin, and Mao Zedung.

How are they going to sift through the Celebrities? During Hollywood’s Golden Era there was a finite stable of STARS that were carefully managed by the Studio. Now we are being managed by the Corporations. The Gossip Rags are killing the News Magazines..the Mediarazzi and The Great Unwashed elevate trivial, sideshow, wannabes to undeserving levels of global recognition.

American Corporate Pop Culture is inundated with people who are famous for simply being famous…and thanks to the Internet it has ‘gone Global’. Next to the Military, the Media Machine is their second greatest weapon. It is a ubiquitous, sinister, subversive, ‘weapon of mass distraction’ that is masterfully released upon the rest of us.

It seems banal and innocuous enough, but it is Psychological Warfare. So while you’re gawking at some Celebrity, your resources can be ‘yoinked’ from right under your nose. You would think that there is safety in numbers but our ‘herd mentality’ actually offers an economy of scale for the Industrial/Military Complex.

What if we all followed the zany BOARDROOM antics of the Corporate CEO’s and the parasitic Lobbyists instead of the BEDROOM exploits of Movie Stars?

27 comments:

  1. But the CEOs of FedEx and AOL don't 'leak' videos of them with Pam Anderson?

    Media pablum has replaced religion as The Opiate of the Masses. It's learned helplessness! How many of us would survive the month were our electricity and water be shut off?

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  2. Unless Pam Anderson is in it, I'm not watching.

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  3. Truth: Corporations are destroying civilization.

    Truth: The Unwashed Masses don't want to know.

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  4. Oops, I seem to have walked in on a Young Socialist's meeting. My mistake.

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  5. You put it so well.
    In UK the front page of the newspapers (tabloids) is covered by photos of reality TV persons and Soap Stars ... OK if it's Corrie of course.
    Meanwhile our banks can go bust, our human rights can be taken away and nuclear waste can be buried in our garden.

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  6. Distraction equals destruction, as you point out so well. And they don't even really try to hide it.

    What's Donald Trump's The Apprentice "reality" show if not a look at the kind of cut-throat people that aspire to and have built corporate America?

    They're showing us, throwing right in our faces, a paint-by-numbers guide to what you're so aptly describing.

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  7. The ubiquitous "They" seem to get the blame for oh-so-many of life's ills and misfortunes.

    Conspiracy theorists, please define your terms.

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  8. Oh S*it -- do we have to? Those folks are so unattractive. It is hard enought to hear about (an therefore visualize--if only for a second) the sexual adventures of attractive people.

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  9. The celebs WANT to be in the spotlight, and the people with money don't. And the people with money get what they want, no matter who is interested.

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  10. Rimshot,
    Don't give me that Socialist Conspiracy bullsh*t! We're talking about basic decency. The Market does not solve social problems other than a allow a Darwinian survival of the fittest..which suits the purveyors of our current f*cking Meritocracy just fine.

    Pam Anderson was made in Canada...most of her anyway.
    I rest my case.

    MJ,
    I can't seem to view the his 4 1/2 minutes of Warholian Fame. Was he really pathetic?

    Tidalgrrrl,
    You are right. I shouldn't let this bother me because History has proven time and time again that those with the Gold make the rules.

    The greatest thing I read last week was that some of our Corporations are now outsourcing their LEGAL work!!
    Touchez! Could there actually be a better Karmic revenge than to outsource the friggin' rule makers?

    KAZ,
    Corrie aside, I mean we all have needs, but there must be a way to shake people up and get them to focus for a while. They dangle the lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous in front of us to keep us off kilter and craving the almighty dollar.
    If I was rich and famous I wouldn't care.

    without windows Vista,
    Exactly! There isn't one person on that show that I would leave alone with my kids or want to befriend. Those are the people that invoke a primal revulsion in most of us.
    Trump is the tackiest and for me he epitomizes everything that is wonky about our culture...and he wears his hair like that just to to say nyeh!

    mutha!
    You make a strong argument for eschewing upper class porn. You obviously have enormous willpower at your disposal. I'm going to need a sample of your brain.

    miss cellania,
    It is incredibly annoying to be on the outside. The only compensation we can derive is finding out that these beautiful wealthy people have miserable lives and awful children...
    which brings us to the magic word for the day Schadenfreude.

    Let's not give the enemies of the people anymore more opportunities to extol their Propaganda..come Komrade, let us warm up beside our Bonfire of the Vanities.

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  11. There are alternatives my potty-mouthed Canuckian friend.

    One can turn off the tv, or better yet, not have one! One can cancel their People and Cosmo subscriptions. It is possible to live entirely 'off the grid', but the number of those willing to do so are immeasurably small when compared to the number of people dialing in to vote for America's next top singing pet celebrity.

    But then we'd have one less thing to blame "Them" for.

    Alternatively, one could get (more?) actively involved in local, state, and national government.

    We are what we accept.

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  12. 'Twas ever thus, surely? Why are we all so surprised?

    There is cyclical redistribution of power throughout history. In fact, one of your earlier posts on warmongering discussed just that.

    I'm secretly hoping I get "reincarnated" as a fruit fly so that I only have 24 hours in which to worry about these things.

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  13. And I do so love being the thirteenth comment. And the fourteenth.

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  14. The rich get richer and the por get screwed!

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  15. As Mark Twain (I think) said: History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme. (or something like that)

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  16. Anonymous4:49 pm

    TMZ.com will be the history book of the future.

    Which reminds me.I need to go there now to see if Britney showed up to court or not.

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  17. UK national tabloids don't even hide the fact they aren't interested in 'real' news any more. The worse thing is that many local newspapers (a public service in my view) mindlessly copy that style - very depressing.

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  18. Like nowadays, I suspect the history books (what books?) will be filled with stuff that reinforces society's or a society's agenda-of-the-moment. Impossible to predict but, like you, I'm not sure I like where it's going at this stage of the game!

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  19. I wouldn't worry too much about the history books. By the time they get around to calling our era "history", we'll have had our nuclear holocaust or we'll all be dead from carbon monoxide poisoning or we'll all have drowned due to global warming melting the ice. It won't matter anymore, then. There will really be peace on earth.

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  20. I dun really u'stand why Pamela Andersen is so WATCHED? Cos to me she's just a walking pair of plastic boobs, not a real WOMAN!

    Keshi.

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  21. Hello Hot Pants Homo.

    Still waiting for you to change your avatar.

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  22. If ALL the ice melted, the water levels would rise about 300 feet max, hardly enough to wipe out humanity.

    And why can't we follow the zany boardroom antics AND bedroom exploits? Why must it be an either/or? I mean, I have Tivo...

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  23. Rimsteroni,
    "Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard."
    H. L. Mencken


    spentrails 14th,
    'Twas ever thus' will be the name of my new Blog! Coming back as a Fruit Fly would be like living Flowers for Algernon on speed.

    whitesnake,
    Speaking of screwed that gives me an idea for a post...

    rimster,
    your point being...

    preposterous ponderings,
    SHE SKIPPED OUT!
    The End is Nigh!

    malc,
    They have completely given up have they? Thrown in the towel.
    I am not surprised that the Class system gave rise to the great unwashed being served by the Press because it's a numbers game.

    andrea,
    History is written by the victors..and yeah, what books? Even though a new Book is published every 30 seconds we have very little to show for it. People are reading JUNK.

    stace,
    You are a breath of fresh air. I agree with you and until someone can prove to me that we are going to 'man can outgrow the beast' I will continue to hope for the best but expect the worst. Crap!

    keshi,
    Now now.
    As I explained to Mr. Rimshot, most of her was made in Canada and Pam has enjoyed a successful 'acting' career out of displaying her formidable assets..well not her..you know what I mean. She is the modern version of Bridgit BarD'OH!

    MJ,
    You must admit that it is pretty catchy. If I'm stealing the name I need that graphic.

    Rimshooter,
    You are right a little Polar melting isn't going to do much other than raise the value of residential property in Minnesota.
    It's going to take a lot more than that to get rid of us.
    Global warming schmarming! I live in the middle of the Continent..bring it on!

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  24. You mean the "sinister military-industrial complex" as Billy refers to it (we entered a pub quiz under that name)

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  25. llewtrah,
    Yes, I stand corrected.
    How did you do in the Quiz?

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  26. do they have sex on the boardroom tables?
    you know that every human being is a voyeur at some level, and watching celebs suffer makes "us" feel better about ourselves.
    watching successful businessmen do what they do will not make the great unwashed feel better about their lot in life...

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