Thought Control

Don't feel like writing about this past week of health issues other than to say I had two infections going on at once, had to go to emergency Dr. appt and get mega antibiotics which, thankfully, are starting to work, but since I was home a lot, exposed to more television than I am used to, i found an old piece I wrote in 1998 for one of the best classes I ever took, Film and Society...it still rings true eleven years later, even moreso-so here goes....
As a child, product, and victim of the sixties, I struggle to hold onto a life and belief system that renders me still individual, fighting thought control with all my might. I have dedicated my lifework to a field that yields me, daily heartbreaks and miracles that strives to teach community to people who have rarely or ever had it. Outside work, I like to read (incessantly), write to friends, travel, and gamble, watch Friends, Ellen, Hope Street 412, and most of the major news shows (20/20, Prime Time, and 60 Minutes). I like the ocean, yard sales, restaurants, gardening, and working with wood. About serving Capitalism, I am appalled that we have to, just to survive, most of us anyway. If I could do anything I wanted, I would not work (to pay bills), but rather, as a contribution of myself to those less fortunate, and travel with my wife until I get to see the whole world. I would take plenty to read. I would cherish my friends and family, as I do now, and spend more time with them. The problem is, this requires much more money than I have, and it’s set up, for the most part, for people like me to work to live. Since there isn’t much to do about that, I go on, assembling a fair amount of happiness and gratitude for what I do have, and can do. I stand amidst the thought control conspiracy, wondering . . .

Today, on television, Toyota said, “I’m everyday people,” and I wonder if they are talking about, or to me. I went to Blockbuster Videos to prepare for this weekend of no school or work; Friday morning usually being the best time to get the ones I want. Early, as usual, I sat waiting eight minutes for them to open. While sitting there, in my Camry, I saw four young, and adorable little boys, ranging in age from about five to twelve. Two were Hispanic and two were Caucasian. They were standing at the doors of the store, peering in, leaning against it, talking, and laughing; eagerly waiting for it to open. The mom, presumably, was sitting in a small, parked car reading something. The boys’ collective attire advertised Nike, Faded Glory, Super Nintendo, Home Alone, and the Los Angeles Raiders. What fashion minded moms they must have. When the store opened, they raced to the Sony Play Station Section, only to find that Nintendo 64 was all checked out. Mom assured them they could reserve it, and come later to get it. I was looking for Inventing the Abbots, which has not yet been in since it’s release; so instead I got Everybody Says I Love You, and Fierce Creatures, neither of which I know much about, but hope they will entertain me this weekend.

Driving home, I thought about the personal, social and cultural consequences of “manufactured consent”, “thought control”, and “necessary illusions,” and concluded that the greatest consequence of these, culminating in the Me generation is the loss of community, which I believe, has devastating and grave implications for our world.