It’s
the American in me that makes me
watch the blood
Comin’ out of the bullet hole
in his head
It’s the American in me that
makes me watch TV
See on the news listen what the
man said.
Ask not what you can do for your
country
What’s your country been doin’
to you?
Ask not what you can do for your
country
What’s your country been doin’
to your mind?
—the Avengers
Happy fuckin’ birthday, America,
you really made me proud this year.
Who are you, anyway, America? Where
the fuck are you coming from? You
are syndicated news and corporate
control and the Christian right
and bombs and nukes and rapists
and plunderers. You are not me.
You are no one I know. I used to
be merely embarrassed by you. I’m
starting to hate your fuckin’
guts.
You sent my brother to Crazy Land
to look for biological weapons.
His girlfriend is in Iraq looking
for nukes. We can have all the nukes
we want but they can’t have
any. Because we—Americans—are
more prone to mind control by your
ubiquitous media outlets. Therefore
we can harbor nuclear weapons and
experiment with biological warfare
and use them at will.
We are not free. We are in a Foucaultian
prison of our own making, complete
and total sheep to television, radio
and newspapers. The corporations
that control American consciousness
are posting record earnings while
more and more people we know are
trying to stay afloat below the
poverty line, but no one seems to
care. We don’t have time to
think, and that’s the way
they like it.
They say with freedom comes responsibility.
Like the responsibility to keep
yourself “informed”
with news that is false and biased;
to vote for politicians who lie,
cheat and steal; to use your freedom
to rise above (on the backs of the
weak, the poor, the tired). Lately
I feel that our constitutional right
to bear arms—put in place
to assure that We the People have
some recourse against a government
grown too powerful—is a wonderfully
marvelous thing that should be exercised.
NOW. Lately I feel like an asshole
every time I read the newspaper,
hear the radio, see a television.
They can’t possibly think
that I’m idiot enough to believe
their pandering lies, to feel good
about their patronizing feel-good
coverage, to give two shits about
Michael Jackson’s private
life.
So I turned it all off. Suddenly
I can hear what really matters,
can attune to my own moral compass.
Media is incredibly powerful. Countries
like Russia, China, Iraq and Afghanistan
recognize its awesome power and
use it unabashedly. You’re
a fool if you think the most powerful
country in the world doesn’t
use the media to get their way,
to pass their laws, to promote their
ideologies.
Indonesia put televisions in every
tiny jungle village and within half
a generation turned their population
crisis around by broadcasting smiling
well-off parents saying “two
[children] is enough.” Germany
turned a population of meat eaters
into virtual vegetarians via a government
sponsored media campaign showing
meat’s ill effects on the
environment and on health. America
is telling you til it’s blue
in the face that everything is ok,
you are happy, and we’re all
gonna win. Turn it off for one second
and you’ll notice it just
ain’t true.
You are what you read. Be careful.
Casually flipping through the New
York Times or watching CNN is an
act of collaboration with the current
regime. Choose your media carefully.
Read Exotic. Happy Birthday, Exotic.
P.S.
Happy Birthday to ME! July 31st
@ Sabala’s Mt. Tabor. Be there
for the best Portland rock bands
and the biggest mofo cake!
