WE ARE MEDIA (10/02/2021)
Welcome citizen,
WE are Media.
WE are message.
WE are massage.
WE are information masturbation
That you WILL enjoy.
If you do not believe
what WE tell you to believe,
And if you do not act on
what WE tell you to do,
Even though WE show you
only what WE believe you need to know,
Even though WE show you
a heavily redacted, edited, one-sided view,
Even though, when WE do show an alternate view
it is completely ridiculous, unbalanced and unbelievable,
Then, you are a bad citizen.
A bad and corrupt member of society.
Suited only for OUR censorship.
Dear citizen,
You and WE both know that you,
A mere individual,
Are incapable of making an informed decision.
Information is power that WE control for you.
WE simplify the information for you.
You are free only when WE say you are free.
WE have done all the work for you.
You may now bow down and thank US.
You're welcome citizen.
We are Media.
media
we ARE nineteen-eighty-four!
It’s amazing how true this video is. We are experiencing totalitarianism on an emotional level right now and it is bubbling under the surface of society and culture ready to break out on the surface.
Whether it’s the manufactured fear generated by the media that governs politicians decisions as opposed to wisdom.
Whether it’s the ever-present observance and loss of privacy generated by corporations and the government thru various surveillance systems and how that is being used to manufacture paranoia. I’m reminded of something the corporation I work for put out about two years ago which stated, “You should assume, when you are at work, that there is NO privacy. Everything is being watched and can be recorded.”
How long will we continue to accept the degradation of civility and vote people into power and support corporations, media, politicians and religions that will continue to generate fear, paranoia, and control over the citizenry?
What will you do and continue to give up in order to live? And is that really living? People may say “Oh, It can’t get that bad.” but that’s exactly how it does happen. The lie that causes people to let down their guards and accept the small changes that lead to the complete transformation. The lie becomes the truth. There is no difference.
Now some may argue that this post itself is manufacturing fear. I want to be very clear my intent is NOT to manufacture fear. I do not want people to be afraid. I want them to WAKE UP! I want all my readers to be ALIVE AND AWAKE not the walking dead.
difficult listening
I grew up in a safe environment. Everything was safe. The food was safe. Society was safe. School was safe. Home was safe. But as I got older I learned that it wasn’t safe it was just protected.
There are people who still want to live in their own comfortable “protected” worlds. But protection is a myth. A legend elders tell children. It does not exist. And insisting it does exist, does not make it so.
Further I suggest that propagating this delusion is more harmful than preparing for the facts. The truth. Example: Climate change deniers often use their arguments as an excuse to keep from preparing for the consequences of climate change and taking action to slow it’s impact. And now with the pandemic, humanities approach to disease belies their own unpreparedness. Death and sickness has become unacceptable (even though it is inevitable) So they wear masks, they fight over it, they try to shame those who are “awake” and not afraid. They want a safe world where things don’t change. The climate doesn’t change. People don’t get sick and die. The world doesn’t change. Everything is safe.
What does this have to do with difficult music/difficult listening?
Like the quote from William S Burroughs in the Laurie Anderson video,
“language is a virus from outer space.”
Difficult music challenges a listeners perception of the norm. It suggests there is something else we need to consider. It suggests that we look into the dark corners. Difficult music is to sound what abstract expressionism was/is to art. And most people who have abstract art work treat if more as wallpaper than as something that has something to say/contribute to the conversation of our times. And in music, people typically do not choose to engage it because it requires them to think about what they are listening to. It is often difficult if not impossible to just hang it on a wall as pretty wallpaper for the soul. Difficult music is often derided as messy, juvenile, scary, ugly, inaccessible (not conforming to any known genre parameters) and ultimately ignored. It is the red-headed stepchild of the music world.
But we can learn much from difficult music. It is not something to be afraid of. The shadows are not scary if you enter with a flashlight. It can teach us about ourselves in ways we haven’t considered or dared think about. But to encounter and engage difficult music one must be prepared and perhaps that is the problem with our “protected”, “safe” elders they are not prepared and they do not know how to prepare the younger generation for the facts and truth of existence.
So, do you want to explore difficult music? Don’t know where to start?
Step One: Turn off the radio and TV – they are notorious “taste makers” that would rather keep you safe than expose you to truth. There are many artists that have helped me in preparing for the real world. I started learning about many “difficult” artists just from reading the underground music press (back in the 1980’s) when popular music was experiencing an explosion of variety. But difficult music existed long before I started reading about it.
Here are some artists you can start with (in no particular order):
Laurie Anderson Public Enemy
Einsturzende Neubauten/Blixa Bargeld The Last Poets
Alva Noto Lustmord
Laibach Rapoon/Zoviet*France
Robert Fripp/King Crimson et al Ornette Coleman
Diamanda Galas Lester Bowie
Sun Ra Terry Riley
The Art Ensemble of Chicago Steve Reich
Philip Glass (early works) Markus Reuter
Robert Rich Scott Walker (after 1994)
Merzbow Cabaret Voltaire
Swans Nurse With Wound
Matana Roberts Godspeed You! Black Emperor
The above artists all have work available on Youtube so enjoy your excursion into difficult music. Maybe in the future I’ll write about some of the specific recordings. Again this is just an introduction to difficult listening. Maybe not what you want to listen to in these difficult times but the music does speak to the truth of the times we are experiencing.
I’ll start you off with this Nurse With Wound video for the song BOTTOM FEEDER
Coronavirus 2020
Due to the Coronavirus “madness” that has gripped the world – This image is the first of several images I will be reposting selected creations of my “MESSAGES FROM THE FUTURE” series from 2012/2013. The madness starts with the news media.
The clip below from Monty Python’s Holy Grail seems fitting since this coronavirus pandemic is being treated like the “black death” of the middle ages. Just some stuff to think about.
I urge caution and calm when the media would have us PANIC!
Message Massage
Starting off the month of March, all this week, like February ended – Abstracts inspired by music.
Favorite Quotes by Marshall McLuhan:
“The Medium Is the Message”
“Advertising is an environmental striptease for a world of abundance.”
“Art at its most significant is a Distant Early Warning System that can always be relied on to tell the old culture what is happening to it.”
“Today the Tyrant rules not by club or fist, but disguised as a market researcher, he shepherds his flocks in the ways of utility and comfort.”
… on… the race to the bottom….
“All propaganda has to be popular and has to accommodate itself to the comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to reach.”
~ Adolph Hitler
This sadly shows what has happened here in America in politics, media and religion and can be seen on the rise throughout the world. It is a race to the bottom.
******************
and now… the uplift…. As bad as things seem to get there is still hope. The lower things go the easier it will be to turn around and head back up. Here’s some uplifting music to help turn things around.
… on… hate….
Being a citizen of the United States Of America the past 8 months have been excruciatingly difficult to endure. We have a President (along with other White House leadership) with no self-control, no discretion, no discipline, no compassion and no love who continues to emotionally/psychologically abuse, harass and harm the very people he is supposed to lead. Never has so much damage been done in and to the office of President of the United States than has occurred under Donald Trump. It will only go to deepen the cynicism and distrust that people have for politicians. I think the notion of a politician being a force for good is not even possible with the current leadership. It has been depressing to daily and sometimes hourly see breaking news stories of how the President has, yet again, done something so outrageous and shocking that it is virtually unbelievable. We are being forced to watch a reality media show that is seemingly never-ending. And the media is focusing on the sensational. Now I have no great love for the media and that is about the only thing Donald Trump and I have in common. Our reasons for disliking the media are completely different. I would like to see more investigative journalism and less sensational journalism. Trump just decries anything he doesn’t like as “fake news”. But it’s NOT fake news it is the reality we live in.
This past weekend we saw many developments in the United States. The rise of racism, talks of secession, hatred for all things non-white. And in the past few months we’ve been seeing the increased likelihood of nuclear war with North Korea, Venezuela, and a trade war with China. Sure with all this “madness” it would be easy to throw in the towel and say it is WAY bigger than anything I can have any power over or change. But I’m not ready to do that. Now more than ever we need to be strong.
We do need to look at both sides of a story but we also need to address and stand up to those values and positions that would harm others or enslave them for ones own enrichment. For example: The American Constitution has a provision for free speech and lawful assembly. These laws apply to ALL people – even people who believe differently from me. So for neo-nazis, white supremacists etc; we must acknowledge they have the right to protected free speech (we just don’t have to like it). Just like people who oppose them have the right to protected free speech. Now I know a lot of people are going to be uncomfortable with that notion. But as a follower of Jesus Christ I am a FIRM believer in what he taught about loving ones enemies (I’ll explain more on that later). It’s just that in these troubled times it is difficult to STOP, take a moment, consider, weigh ones reactions before making those reactions public. But that is exactly what we must do. I do not love Donald Trump’s policies I specifically hate his approach to what should be collaborative, positive working relationships. I hate his non-stop “twittering”. But I do NOT wish him dead. I hate now Trump and many in the white house continues to hold his business interests (even if they are in his children’s names – who are his official presidential advisors and aides) creating conflicts of interest. I cannot hate a man who is misguided, foolish, delusional and emotionally unstable. I can honestly say I’ve had to think about this long and hard. The past 8 months have shown me that we all have the capacity for hatred but we do not all act on that. I understand why people may think that the only way to solve this crisis we face in America is to kill or assassinate Donald Trump. I understand because I felt myself slipping into the same hate for hate thinking and had to stop myself. I pray to God that Donald Trump is not assassinated. Here’s why. I don’t have any confidence in the Vice President that would take his place. And killing Donald Trump would only give the alt-right extremists the martyr they’d love to have – which they would use to justify further violence. On top of that as a Christian I am against the death penalty for anyone because I believe that just as God gives life he also takes it away it is not up to man take life away. And anyone who behaves abominably should have the opportunity to change or, to use an archaic term, repent. If they are killed we are depriving them of that opportunity. So death is NOT the answer. But Donald Trump should be impeached and that needs to happen ASAP (in my opinion). I seriously doubt that Trump will survive to the end of his first term.
Sadly America can only blame itself for creating AND electing Donald Trump the tyrant. No one should be surprised by what he is doing. He used the same tactics in his reality TV shows. People who have participated in his shows “THE APPRENTICE” and “CELEBRITY APPRENTICE” have noted how Trump would pit people against each other, he would harass and harangue people to create and build drama in the show. He is a victim of his own celebrity – believing in a false value of self. Unfortunately, we can see that what works on television isn’t what works as a world leader. He has also gotten support from an “Evangelical Right” that uses scripture to justify and encourage Donald Trump giving him a false moral justification for all he does. This same type of Evangelical movement that uses the Christian Bible to justify white supremacy also supported Hitler and The Third Reich (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Evangelical_Church). I also think it may be time to do away with the electoral college. There was a time when the electoral college had value. But in the internet age the electoral college is an archaic institution that can only do more harm than good. It is time to elect leaders only by popular vote.
Now about love. It may seem odd and unlikely to read about love in this type of post. I think it is necessary to bring the needed balance and provide level-headed options to the discussion. Please consider this; how do we love a tyrant, a despot, an oligarch, a hate-filled man? We CANNOT react in the ways he reacts. We can find ways to slow down the discussion allowing time for all parties to think about their positions. We can act respectful to them without agreeing with them. We can seek to remove them from their position for their own good. Donald Trump is clearly over his head and he is being battered on all sides continually and that would be enough to make anyone crack. The kindest thing we can do for America is also the kindest thing we can do for Donald Trump. Impeach him. Remove him from the position that is causing him so much distress. And wish him well as he leaves. Now I’ll be the first to admit this is easier to type than actually practice. Love is not some easy fluffy romantic notion – it is something we have to work at.
One of the benefits of writing this is that it also reaffirms what I believe and helps give me the strength I need to practice what I “preach”. I cannot hate Donald Trump I can only hate the carnage he has created while in office. I do not believe there are evil people only evil actions. And I choose to not act evil or out of malice toward my fellow Americans, or any living beings. And if I do act evil (because I am human and have occasional weakness) it is a weakness that I quickly seek to remedy.
Matthew 4:43-45 (NIV) “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Feel free to agree or disagree on any and all points. That’s why it’s called free speech. We can disagree and still be respectful.
***If you think more people should see this post – feel free to re-post.
… on… news trumped….
To Donald T-rump: Here’s a news flash, 90% of everything that comes out of your mouth is lies, falsifications and therefore FAKE NEWS – who are you to deny and ban select media outlets from press functions just because you don’t like what they have to say and therefore claim they are purveyors of “fake news”? It’s a sad case of the “pot calling the kettle black”(as we say here in Ohio).
Sure I ain’t no big fan of the news media but that doesn’t mean their reporting is fake. Fake is different from bias. But apparently a world leader like President of a country isn’t required to have the intelligence to know the difference.
You want “fake news”? See video below for a song the Donald T-rump wrote the lyrics for.
Okay now that IS fake news (with all due respect to Henry Rollins) But it does feel that it is culturally relevant to our “President” T-rump.
New Millennium Exile
EXILE
No religious identification
No media driven
obsessions, opinions or obfuscations
Oblivious to the world of professional sports;
my “team” IS humanity
The “causes” of others are not mine;
others ARE my cause
Not bound by technology;
no mobile device to drive dependency
All original biology;
no replacement parts
No political affiliation
Living in the absence of corporate control
An observer
in exile
Shunned, ignored and left alone
is the exile in cultural alienation
Cultural exile is preferable
when the alternative is slavery
... on being and becoming ... 