REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Culture of illusion, culture of denial

POSTED BY: SIGNYM
UPDATED: Friday, July 31, 2009 09:22
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Friday, July 31, 2009 9:00 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


I've been trying to put my finger on our increasing political, educational, and economic and whackiness. People in denial wind up like Bush, Palin, and Limbaugh- pushing the feeling that if they're ignorant enough, if they believe deeply enough in their religion/ ideology, reality won't bite them. It's just a monster under the bed. And then there are those who are so distrustful of "the system" they're ready to believe ANY conspiracy, no matter how ridiculous.

Then I found this article and it hits the point.

The Rise of Gonzo Porn Is the Latest Sign of America's Cultural Apocalypse
Quote:

The childish idea that we can always prevail, that reality is never an impediment to what we want, is the central motif of illusion peddled on popular talk shows, by the Christian Right, by Hollywood, in corporate retreats, by the news industry and by self-help gurus. Reality can always be overcome. The future will always be glorious. And held out to keep us amused and entertained are spectacles and celebrities who have become idealized versions of ourselves and who, we are assured, we can all one day become.

The cultural embrace of illusion, and the celebrity culture that has risen up around it, have accompanied the awful hollowing out of the state....

The more we sever ourselves from a literate, print-based world, a world of complexity and nuance, a world of ideas, for one informed by comforting, reassuring images, fantasies, slogans and a celebration of violence the more we implode. We ask... to be fed lies. We demand lies. The skillfully manufactured images and slogans that flood the airwaves and infect our political discourse mask reality. And we do not protest. The lonely Cassandras who speak the truth about our misguided imperial wars, the global economic meltdown and the imminent danger of multiple pollutions that are destroying the eco-system that sustains the human species, are drowned out by arenas full of fans chanting "Slut! Slut! Slut!" or television audiences chanting "Jer-ry! Jer-ry! Jer-ry!" The worse reality becomes, the less a beleaguered population wants to hear about it and the more it distracts itself with squalid pseudo-events of celebrity breakdowns, gossip and trivia.

A culture that cannot distinguish between reality and illusion dies. ... Those who do not grow up in times of despair and turmoil inevitably turn to demagogues and charlatans to entertain and reassure them. And these demagogues, as they have throughout history, lead the crowd, blinded and amused, towards despotism.



www.alternet.org/media/141675/the_rise_of_gonzo_porn_is_the_latest_sig
n_of_america%27s_cultural_apocalypse_
/


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Friday, July 31, 2009 9:22 AM

CHRISISALL


You're onto it, all right.


The laughing Chrisisall

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