Spirituality is either the result of having a comfortable
enough place to reflect upon the meaning and purpose of human existence, or else
it is the result of such suffering that one has no choice but to retreat inward
in search of ways to cope. The most spiritual among us are those who embrace
both ends of the spectrum, those who forsake physical comforts in order to have
the time to focus on the meaning that can be found in simplicity. I refer to
the religious, who can be found in any primitive society, from Buddhists to
Taoists, to Christians, Muslims and Jews. And I refer to primitive societies
because I wonder if it is even possible to retreat from the modern society that
now exists.
Economically, we should have arrived at a point where we are
all comfortable enough to afford the time and space necessary to reflect upon
spiritual matters, but the economic engine that was so good at creating
convenience and answers to physical want also demands of us our undivided
attention. A capitalist economy soon realized it needed to become a consumer
society in order to further itself, so that wealth creation went from beyond
the merely physical to the psychological. In order to maintain a system that can
give happiness on merely a physical level, they needed to eradicate from people’s
consciousness any thoughts of achieving happiness through non-economic means.
When people are neither actively purchasing or consuming or else
creating goods or services for others, they must either be lulled into a stupor
or else be driven to distraction by emotional provocation. They must be given
constant distractions so that their thoughts never stray to the spiritual
perspective, which revolts in the face of such mindless creation and
consumption. To distract from the spiritual, they must never let minds stay too
long on a single subject. A mind left alone too long might start out on a path
of self-directed thoughts. Interrupt it every few minutes or even seconds, and the
mind is forced to respond to outside stimuli and forget whatever internal ideas
that might be bubbling beneath the surface. Scatter the pieces of the puzzle at
regular intervals, and the puzzle solver will never be able to put them
together to form a coherent image.
Thus we have commercials on television to take us from those
very rare instances when a compelling argument or narrative is taking place.
And what was once an every fifteen minute or so break has become more frequent.
Live shows, that once had a single camera resting upon a scene for moments at a
time as it played out, have been replaced by the hyper-editing introduced to us
on MTV in the 80’s.
News channels not only give us one story, they give us many
concurrently. They have the narrative spoken by the host, but they also have a
running stream of information below it. Add to that the constantly shifting
graphics all about and the mind is always in motion, never permitted to orient
itself.
This is not a stylistic choice, not some mere fad that has
come and will then move to some other style. The immense amounts of information
that is thrown at you on CNN and elsewhere is not an attempt to keep you as
informed as possible in a hectic and changing world, it is a way to insure your
mind is always kept busy, because a busy mind is always concerned with the
surface noise, and is never able to plunge the depths of issues. The media has
created a kinetic Potemkin village, one of pure flash and no substance. It is
not merely useless, it is distracting. No useful knowledge can be gained from
such a system of information dispersal. It does not permit you to connect with your
rational nor spiritual aspects, it merely demands you absorb. It does not give,
it demands obeisance.
It—the media—is not there to inform you. It is not there to help
you become a more active member of a democratic society. It is there to keep
your emotions heightened so your intellect is never in the driver’s seat. It is
there to prime you for the people who make the commercials and pay the bills.
It is there to wear down your defenses. And since it is so all-encompassing, it
inevitably will. When it does not leave you feeling stupid it will leave you
feeling helpless. And for those most in its control, you will be left feeling
intelligent and powerful while having a grasp neither on truth nor on the reins
of power.
But as powerful and omnipresent as the media is, it needs
your help. It requires you to betray your most basic values in order for it to be
effective. If you stay true to the values your parents and your teachers and
your religious institutions have sought to instill in you, the media cannot
control you. It may dress itself up as your mother, but it will never tell you
to share with others. It may say it speaks for Christ, but it will never tell
you to cast your bread upon the waters. It may quote from revered historical
figures, but it will do so only in order to corrupt the spirit of what they
have said. Peace and love are perhaps the most revered words echoed by family
and church, but they will never be spoken in the media, because peace and love
don’t help sell automobiles. The degree to which you do not hear the Sermon On
The Mount Spoken on your television is the degree to which the media is working
against your best interests and the interests of all humanity.
What can you do to escape from the insidious influence of
the media? Find a source untainted by it. Pick up an old book, watch an old
(black and white) movie. Step outside your era because it is only in this way
you can step outside of the cultural milieu created by a media that has become
both incredibly concentrated and far-reaching. If you must consume current media,
then listen to genuinely independent news, art, and music. Get outside and in
touch with the physical world around you, with whatever nature is left to you.
Dig in the garden, walk in the woods, listen to the birds. Rebuild the connections
that were all your forefathers ever knew so that you have a frame of reference
built on something of substance.
It is time to step away from the television and get out in
the streets. It is time to stop listening to the lies and start speaking the
truth. Because here is the idea most feared by a mechanized and monetized media,
the secret it seeks above all else to keep from you: that you are in control
not only of your own life but are part of a society that can direct the future
for itself, without the need for them. We as rational and caring human beings
can construct a world where lying and coercion will be unnecessary, where force
will be seen as a tool of the unjust. Because in order to build a functional
society, you don’t need to be controlled, you need to be liberated.
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