America

I ask myself the same thing about American Politics that I ask about American television; do people really watch this shit? And if the answer is yes, then are we completely doomed to be destroyed by these robots? If a group of people can manage to ignore the blindingly brutal realities of our day and age, then I suppose it should come as no surprise that the same group of people are capable of being entertained by anything, so long as it has no basis in reality. This would seem to explain why anyone could possibly take politics in this country seriously. When one party is for potentially bombing Iran, and the other is definitely for bombing Iran, then Democracy is a joke. If both candidates are unabashedly indifferent to the end of the Constitution then what is the point in even taking such a spectacle seriously and how do they manage to make people do so? Like most good questions, there is a mountain of literature on the subject.

Guy Debord wrote about it extensively and it played a fundamental role in the Situationist Movement in France during the 1960's. He made some observations that are so striking in their prescience that it does much to convince me of the validity of what he had to say. For example, look at this: "With the destruction of history, contemporary events themselves retreat into a remote and fabulous realm of unverifiable stories, uncheckable statistics, unlikely explanations and untenable reasoning." This sounds like a succinct and accurate description of almost all the Americans I have ever known. They float in this 'fabulous realm' in which truth is banished and critical thought impossible. Just watch anything about politics in America and you know for a fact that the conversation is purely for show, for it contains nothing. He even said that terrorism was necessary for such a society in order to render some sort of other over which its superiority is unquestionable in comparison.

When Ron Paul tries to talk about serious issues he is ignored or denigrated, which he sadly doesn't realize is because this country is just simply too far gone in the 'fabulous realm' to listen to what he says and associate it with concrete reality. Too absurd to be believed but too powerful and violent to be ignored, that's the America I know and live in. I think this the high water mark of the 'society of the spectacle' that Debord commented on a lifetime ago. Whatever comes after this I am hoping it comes soon, for if things continue on their current route all will be lost.

My mind is awash with so many others who saw this coming and commented on this monstrosity long before I was born that it seems pointless to quote them. The one naive little hope I have personally is that there is a slim chance that one of these coming generations is going to suffer from such untreatable mental disorders that even our automatized plastic coated consumerism won't be able to handle them and thus will the madness end. Our era would then be told to children in years to come as a reminder of how they must always be on guard against the soul assassins.