Shed Your Addiction: Beyond Mere Survival in the American Dystopia

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Fri, 10 Feb 2006 21:02:20 -0800 (PST)

Shed Your Addiction: Beyond Mere Survival in the American

Dystopia

 

 

 

Shed Your Addiction: Beyond Mere Survival in the American Dystopia

Jason Miller

 

 

 

February 10, 2006

 

1984 has come to pass, both chronologically and in the Orwellian

sense. Americans are " liberators " in Iraq. Opponents of this " peace

initiative " are " doubleplusungood " . Unchecked by the judiciary, the

NSA electronically trolls for perpetrators of " crimethink " . Pundits

and the " liberal media " (owned by a handful of monolithic corporations

despised by people with the values which many define as liberal) have

become the Ministry of Truth for the Party.

 

I recently witnessed Bill O'Reilly as he delivered a blistering verbal

castigation to his " guest " because the man opposed America's imperial

occupations and war crimes in the Middle East. In the next breath,

O'Reilly expressed his sympathy and compassion for the victims of

9/11. Ironically, the victim of O'Reilly's abusive tirade had lost his

father in the collapse of the WTC. Outfoxed, the source of this

nauseating display of hatred and hypocrisy, has indeed portrayed an

extremely dangerous entity. What truly scares me is that Fox News is

only a symptom of a much greater malignancy.

 

Via Fox, the Bush Regime streams steady doses of its " opiate to the

masses " via a distribution network reaching 85 million cable

rs. Fox and most other mainstream media entities are the

syringes mainlining the mind-altering, psychosis-inducing propaganda

munificently showered upon Americans by the Party. Social Darwinists

comprising the Party, including major corporate shareholders and

executives, Israeli interests, the military industrial complex,

plutocrats, the power players of the Religious Right, and intellectual

elites hold the Great Beast (us " commoners " ) at bay with a powerfully

addictive state of being called the American Dream.

 

It is indeed a Brave New World. As many Americans somnambulate through

their existence, they are virtually oblivious and indifferent to the

profound human misery which must occur in order for a tiny fraction of

humanity to experience the American Dream. When (or if) their Soma fix

finally wears off, I suspect they will be ready to chew off their own

arms to escape the disease-ridden whores with whom they have

unwittingly climbed into bed. Mirroring Hitler's Germany, this nation

of " decent, God-fearing " people is pledging allegiance to a murderous

regime. Are the comfort of conformity and the safety of loyalty to the

Empire worth the price of one's soul?

 

America's ruling class has created a scintillating facade to hide its

dystopia, assuring the Great Beast that we all have the right and the

means to attain the looks of a Victoria's Secret model, the money of a

Donald Trump, and the athletic ability of a Michael Vick.

Infomercials, work from home schemes, plastic surgery, hypnosis, and

myriad other avenues to instant success and immediate gratification

abound amongst the virtually infinite number of hollow pursuits

littering the spiritually barren landscape of the United States. Those

who fall short of the " American ideal " simply need to continue upping

their dose American Soma. If that fails and they fall victim to the

ravages of unbridled addiction, spiritual emptiness, poverty, despair,

self-hatred, or anorexia, they can simply end their misery with a drug

overdose or a shotgun blast to the face. America's predator class, the

pushers of the opiate of the masses, is not concerned with the

suffering they inflict. In their zeal to appease the triumvirate they

worship (power, money, and narcissistic desires), the " chosen ones " of

our society do not hesitate to sacrifice the rights, dignity, sanity

and even lives of hundreds of millions of innocent human beings. After

all, if they come from amongst the rabble of the Great Beast, how can

they be truly human and why would their anguish or death matter?

 

Huxley's Soma had " all the advantages of Christianity and alcohol;

none of their defects. " The Soma dispensed by the ruling class in the

United States is a noxious concoction comprised of many ingredients,

including Christianity and alcohol. From birth, Americans begin

receiving daily hits of Ameri-Soma from their parents, teachers,

Scoutmasters, pastors, and other adults who have themselves been

seduced by the alluring power of the American Illusion. Pledging

allegiance to the flag, praying to the " one true god " of Christianity,

and genuflecting to embodiments of " real men " like John Wayne,

Americans are socially conditioned to believe in the righteousness of

their masters' cause. Our nobles desperately need the majority of

their serfs to believe that the United States manifests the human

pinnacle of democratic ideals, morality, courage, and leadership. And

to deal with external skeptics (internal doubters will likely be in

the cross-hairs soon), the power brokers of America spend $600 billion

a year to maintain a military force bristling with sufficient weaponry

to destroy the Earth many times over. Plutocrats and Neocons are not

interested in humanitarian spending or saddling themselves with the

mere mortal constraint of living within their means. Global hegemony

for themselves (and their masters in Israel) is their ultimate goal,

regardless of the cost in lives or public money.

 

Further insulating America's ruling elites from the conflagration

which would ignite were the masses to awaken is the insatiable

American compulsion to shop and consume conspicuously. With the advent

of easy credit, ubiquitous super stores open 24 hours, and pay day

loans, " buy now and pay later " has become as American as baseball and

apple pie.

 

Alcohol, gambling, cigarettes, and pornography are but a few of the

legal and readily available vehicles Americans use to self-medicate.

For those wanting something more intense, a plethora of street drugs

are within easy reach, providing the ruling class the opportunity to

keep the black male population in check and to perpetuate their

increasingly profitable prison industrial complex.

 

Television is the portal into which the Great Beast can gaze to

experience the American Dream vicariously without lifting a finger

(beyond the one changing the channels). Twenty four hour

entertainment, " companionship " , and " news " from the Ministry of Truth

are readily at our disposal. A marvel of modern technology has become

the nexus of the components of Ameri-Soma, the uber-drug that keeps

the Great Beast submissive, tame, and intellectually stunted.

 

Perhaps it is human nature for a few to hoard power and resources to

the detriment of the many. Once can witness a consistent pattern of

such behavior throughout history, at least in the " more advanced "

cultures. Yet as Scott Peck so aptly noted in The Road Less Traveled,

defecating in one's pants and the absence of dental hygiene are

aspects of human nature at birth, but most people learn the unnatural

acts of utilizing toilets and toothbrushes. One of the most beautiful

aspects of humanity is that unlike animals, people are not enslaved by

their nature. Human beings can evolve. However, most of humanity has

chosen to readily accept the shackles of the ruling class.

Historically, the Great Beast has been domesticated, tamed and

manipulated in a variety of ways. Brute military force, manipulation

by religious entities and institutions, propaganda, and careful

restriction of knowledge are but a few of the tactics employed by

monarchies, tyrants, Popes, and generals throughout history.

 

At first blush, the United States appears to be the haven for freedom

and human rights portrayed in legend, lore, and the propaganda of its

school textbooks and media. However, if one can awaken from the

drunken stupor induced by America-Soma, or if one happens to be a

resident of another nation besides Israel or Great Britain (the only

two nations still deluded enough to truly ally themselves with the

United States), the many headed hydra of the American Dystopia reveals

its truly abhorrent nature. Lord Acton conveyed truth when he wrote

that " power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. "

Despite its cleverly constructed image of a benevolent super-power,

those ruling the United States are more corrupt than the power elite

of any nation, including those in Bush's alleged " Axis of Evil " . Due

to its power, military might, and rogue leadership, the United States

has also become the world's most significant threat to the

perpetuation of life on Earth.

 

Most Americans still do not realize that they are enslaved to the

ruling elite, a group with a savage, relentless devotion to avarice,

the blind pursuit of money, and the domination of Earth's people and

resources. Under the Bush Regime, the mask of civility, morality, and

democracy has slipped to the point that the hideous visage of raw

capitalism and imperialistic ambition is almost completely exposed.

Yet somehow, as over a hundred thousand lie dead in Iraq, the Patriot

Act strips our civil liberties, the wealth gap widens to a chasm, Big

Brother has been caught watching (and is unrepentant), billions of

dollars are wasted on occupations of sovereign nations, habeas corpus

disappears, America engages in torture regularly, property rights

precede human rights, and a major city lays in ruins due to the

willful neglect of a government charged by the Constitution with

promoting the general welfare, many Americans still cannot, or will

not, dare to even glimpse at the lurid countenance of evil leering at

them from Washington.

 

Like a swarm of locusts, Social Darwinists have descended upon our

nation and are rapidly devouring the fruits of our labor. Resembling

leeches, these parasites drain the life-blood of America and return

nothing. Acting as virulent strains of previously undiscovered

illnesses, these pathogens have infected a nation filled with the

promise and potential envisioned by Thomas Paine. The resulting

disease has reduced the United States to a wheezing, gasping tyrant

nearly on economic life support. This once admirable nation flails

almost blindly as it wields the only real power it has left like a

bludgeon, dispatching its awesome military on imperial errands and

acts of revenge (against the wrong people) under the pretense of

humanitarian intervention. Employing quick sound bites, propaganda

packaged as gospel, tantalizing distractions, the lure of easy money,

and a highly insular environment, these sociopathic plunderers have

hijacked America. Their reckless piloting is destined to result in a

disaster of Biblical proportions. America's rulers view the world as

their playground. Recess is in session and the schoolyard bullies have

seized control. They kidnapped the school-yard monitor, have stolen

the lunch money, are taunting and beating the weak, and are playing

kickball with the class misfit's head.

 

This doesn't have to stand. America has exhibited true greatness in

the past. Think of the American Revolution, the Declaration of

Independence, and the Constitution. This is the nation that spawned

the Abolitionist Movement. The powerful Labor Movement arose in the

Twentieth Century and claimed unprecedented rights and protections for

the working class. The Civil Rights Movement made powerful gains for

minorities and the oppressed. Women won the right to vote. Populists

made strides for farmers and the working class. Anti-war protestors

broke the will of the military industrial complex to continue their

genocidal " pacification " of the Vietnamese. Progressives have been a

significant force for social changes to benefit humanity since the

1890's. There are still champions for the oppressed in America and

spiritually enlightened values are woven into the fabric of our culture.

 

We the People have a choice. We can bend to the will of the hectors

who have stolen the soul of our nation or we can follow the example of

our predecessors and work vigorously to reclaim our humanity.

Borrowing the words of a blue blood of American aristocrats, Nancy

Reagan, I say it is time to " just say no " to Ameri-Soma. Actually,

Lady Nancy's statement was grossly over-simplified. In addition to

saying no, one also needs to replace the behaviors associated with the

addiction. Might I be so bold as to make some suggestions to counter

the effects of withdrawal from this powerful drug, and to propose some

means of coping with the loss of the false feeling of security it imbues?

 

Join or support an NGO like the Human Rights Watch or Amnesty

International. Boycott dehumanizing corporations like Wal-Mart.

Conserve resources, recycle, and drive as economical a car as you can

afford. Support and vote for individuals who have genuine concern for

humanity, like Lynn Woolsey, John Conyers, Ralph Nader and Dennis

Kucinich (assuming they do not die under " mysterious circumstances "

like Paul Wellstone). If you choose to support a specific political

party, explore those outside the corrupt Duopoly, both of which

represent the interests of the ruling class. Refuse to enable the

ruling elite's addiction to war by declining to join the military,

hence depriving them of additional cannon fodder.

 

Embody the Golden Rule to the extent that it is humanly possible.

Embrace cultural, racial, sexual, and religious diversity. Read some

books by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn to cleanse your mind of the

elite's polluted version of historical, social and political issues.

Educate yourself and your children beyond the warped world perspective

portrayed by the media and our public education system. Participate in

your child's education by teaching them to think critically and dig

far beneath the surface. Live within your means and avoid credit card

debt like the plague. Demand and support justice for the oppressed;

peace will follow justice. Donate your time and money to truly

compassionate and humane causes (as much and as often as you are

able). Take personal responsibility and act as honestly as humanly

possible in your affairs. Through non-violent action, press for social

justice, human rights, dignity and peace.

 

In the end, the prognostications of martial law, " re-education " camps

for dissidents, the collapse of the American economy triggered by

crushing debt and the Iranian oil bourse, massive unemployment, the

successful elimination of the remains of our Constitutional republic,

and the relegation of the Great Beast in the United States to Third

World conditions may ring true. So as you pour sugar in the tank of

the engine powering the American Empire by refusing your daily dose of

Ameri-Soma, do not relinquish your Second Amendment rights. Someday,

the members of the Great Beast may need to exercise our inalienable

right to self preservation. If it comes to this, there will be

activity in the streets, but it will not be dancing.

 

In the future, I may be writing to you from behind concertina wire, or

I might meet you there. Who can truly predict? However, if we happen

to meet under those circumstances, at least our souls will be at rest

knowing that we pursued social justice and human rights in the face of

abject evil.

 

Jason Miller is a 39 year old activist writer with a degree in liberal

arts. When he is not spending time with his wife and three sons,

researching, or writing, he is working as a loan counselor. He is a

member of Amnesty International and an avid supporter of Oxfam

International and Human Rights Watch. He welcomes responses at

willpowerful or comments on his blog, Thomas Paine's

Corner, at http://civillibertarian.blogspot.com .