[ Dec.2005: was this really written 8
years ago? Today, I'd maybe leave off
that line about a church, in light of all that's been going down in the last
few years... -bd]
April 1997:
Multinational media corporations like Sony/CBS don't make any profit when
you attend a PTA meeting, or play Volleyball with your friends after work, or
ride a bike, or take your kid fishing. No, what they want you to do is sit in
your house and watch television, listen to music, or stare at your computer
screen, in other words, be plugged in to popular "culture" - as they
define it.
Moreover, if they can just convince you that this world is a Dangerous
Place populated by criminals and their hapless victims, and that you're only
safe as long as you stay at home behind locked doors, they can sell you a lot
more of their videos, home theater equipment, games, and software (not to
mention more home security systems, prepared meals, and indoor exercise gadgets.)
And while you're watching your evening prime time favorites, maybe it's
time to become aware of the tremendous dissonance in the many commercials
featuring those attractive, healthy, family-oriented people having fun in the
sun, or the sleek, smartly-suited corporate types using new technology to do
Important Business Things faster and easier. Where are all the ones who come
home from their jobs and sit around hating themselves for not having successful
lives "as seen on TV." Where are all the pale, flabby, slack-jawed Internet
reclusives living in fear of the real world? Where are all the suspicious,
over-protective parents doing their best to instill this fear in their
children? And where are all the youthful video addicts with their neon clothes
and their 15-second attention spans, existing on Ritalin and High Fructose Corn
Syrup?
Turn off your computer. Get out of the house. Meet your neighbors. Join a
club. Make some travel plans. Go to a lecture. Take banjo lessons. Maybe even
go to a church.
Thanks... That's it for this month.
For more information about any of the things mentioned here, or
with reactions, ideas, etc., please email me!