The Rock We’re All Under
Published December 4, 2007
One Comment (at bottom of article)
By Mac Smith
There’s a problem when people are able to entirely distance themselves from events that occur in this country. We’ve all read in history books about the rise of Fascism in the ‘30s but believe that we are too politically mature to let something like that happen again. We (or at least some of us, I hope) have read dystopian novels like 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 and marveled at the disturbing atmospheres fiction can create. We saw Pakistan under martial law and thanked whomever it is we thank that it’s not us. But what if history is repeating itself, fiction is becoming a reality, and other people’s problems are becoming our own?
It’s happening. And not in a “haha Bush is such a Nazi” kind of way, but in a “holy fucking shit” kind of way.
Is anyone aware of the
Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act? Of course not. This bill would amend the
Homeland Security Act of 2002, creating a National Commission on the Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism as well as a Center of Excellence.
If passed, the Commission’s sole responsibility would be to uncover and identify certain un-American ideologies that may be the cause of terrorism. They would then make “recommendations” on what to do about these dissenting behaviors in our own country. The Center of Excellence (which already sounds creepy) would be based in state universities all over the country and would conduct social research in order to properly define these forms of dissent and create a plethora of argumentative material, if and when the government wants to prosecute these dissenting terrorists. This bill already passed in the House on October 23rd, by a vote of 404 to 6.
Kudos to the mainstream media for keeping something this heinous out of the newsreels.
All of this, however, wouldn’t be properly fitting if Big Brother didn’t have his Thought Police.
The Department of Homeland Security is currently testing a pilot program in New York City that trains FDNY to seek out illegal material that expresses hate for or discontent with the United States, and to report these people as possible terrorists, whoever they may be. All of this works out rather conveniently for the DHS, since firefighters don’t need warrants to enter a home during a fire or to perform fire safety inspections. If this program proves to be successful, we will see more firefighters doubling as domestic spies in other major US cities.
Benjamin Franklin is famous for saying, “Anyone who trades liberty for security will deserve neither and lose both.” Sadly, notions like that and others that suggest our government has taken a large step to the right have been downplayed in today’s political rhetoric. Let’s recap the last six years. Since 9/11, the Bush Administration has successfully named an enemy, established a credible fear of that enemy, used that fear to keep our country in a perpetual state of war, established a successful domestic spying program, and is now on the verge of making dissent a crime. It really is a brave new world, and we need to wake up.
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One Response to “The Rock We’re All Under”
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I couldn’t agree with you more and I believe the Dystopia novel that is critical that everyone reads in Brave New World. In 1984 the society was literate and censorship was the cause of the fascism. However in Brave New World there is fascism but nobody cares because everyone is caught in the vices of pleasure that their society gave them.
As I see today our society has become alarmingly passive and an attitude of indifference dominates the mainstream youth. In 1984 it is what they hate that enslaves them but in Brave New World it is what they love that enslaves them.
My concern is not that our government will start banning books but that we will be reduced to a vegetable state that we will voluntarily choose to not read books.
I put a large blame on television. The average American watches 4 and half hours of television a day. By the time they are 65 they will have spent 12 consecutive years without break in front of the box. I believe that television can be a great technology but only if we use it for entertainment purposes. When we use it for things that deserve serious discourse such as the news, and other cultural matters it is a problem.
The format of the printed word requires exposition, explanation, linear thought, and detail in order for it to be considered good writing. Therefore writers strive for this while performing their art.
Television on the other hand requires pretty faces, brief summations, and acting performances for it to be considered good television. Therefore all television productions strive for this.
My concern is that by bringing serious issues to the television we are actually bringing show business to the serious issues and news. We create a population of viewers that demands to be entertained to learn anything.
The commercial breaks don’t allow for any serious thought out discussion. One’s brief summations don’t even have to make sense because they can be covered up with a good acting performance. And thinking on television is like blasphemy to television producers. It wastes valuable commercial time for their sponsor’s which are the whole reason they are even able to produce the show.
I would argue that if it were not for televised news we might not even be in the Iraq war in the first place. Many of the firmest supporters for the war couldn’t not even locate it on a map, did not know anything about the culture and daily lives of the people there, and still think that we are attacking those responsible for 9/11 in Iraq. I mean this is a serious problem when we are so misinformed and we are to passive about it I believe.
Yes of course the current political regime is one of the most mind numbing regimes in the history of the United States. They actually disgrace the founders of our country and the constitution every day but I believe that if we were more active and careful about everything that was going on in Washington we might never have had to deal with Bush.
This Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism act is something I have never heard of but it is one of the scariest things I have ever heard in recent months. Anyway I think many of the articles you have on this site are very good.