The More Things Change…

Here’s a real quote, from none other than Jello Biafra, former lead singer of the Dead Kennedys, a notorious punk band of the late 80s/early 90s. He once stormed college campuses, opening concerts with the following:

“WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM WITH A SPECIAL BULLETIN. AMERICA IS NOW UNDER MARTIAL LAW. ALL CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED. STAY IN YOUR HOMES, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CONTACT LOVED ONES, INSURANCE AGENTS OR ATTORNEYS. SHUT UP! DO NOT ATTEMPT TO THINK OR DEPRESSION MAY OCCUR. STAY IN YOUR HOMES, CURFEW IS AT 7 PM SHARP AFTER WORK. ANYONE CAUGHT OUTSIDE THE GATES OF THEIR SUBDIVISION SECTOR AFTER DARK WILL BE SHOT! REMAIN CALM, DO NOT PANIC. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH OFFICER WILL BE BY TO COLLECT URINE SAMPLES IN THE MORNING. ANYONE CAUGHT INTERFERING WITH THE COLLECTION OF URINE SAMPLES WILL BE SHOT! STAY IN YOUR HOME, REMAIN CALM. THE NUMBER ONE ENEMY OF PROGRESS IS QUESTIONS. NATIONAL SECURITY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN INDIVIDUAL WILL. ALL SPORTS BROADCAST WILL PROCEED AS NORMAL. NO MORE THAN TWO PEOPLE MAY GATHER ANYWHERE WITHOUT PERMISSION! USE ONLY THE DRUGS PRESCRIBED BY YOUR BOSS OR SUPERVISOR. SHUT UP, BE HAPPY! OBEY ALL ORDERS WITHOUT QUESTION. THE COMFORTS YOU DEMANDED ARE NOW MANDATORY. BE HAPPY. AT LAST EVERYTHING IS DONE FOR YOU.”

It’s often interesting to go to the archives whenever people complain about how much better things used to be, how much easier it was, before everything went wrong. Often enough, confabulation (variable memories) suffices to create this impression. Sometimes, it’s stunning to find how long things have been exactly as crappy as they seem to be in the present. The quote above is from the late 80's; why does it resonate so well today? Why has nothing changed to fix the situation Jello was raving against back then? And always the same themes, the same ideas, eliciting comparisons to 1984:

“THE NUMBER ONE ENEMY OF PROGRESS IS QUESTIONS. NATIONAL SECURITY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN INDIVIDUAL WILL. ALL SPORTS BROADCAST WILL PROCEED AS NORMAL. … USE ONLY THE DRUGS PRESCRIBED BY YOUR BOSS OR SUPERVISOR. SHUT UP, BE HAPPY! OBEY ALL ORDERS WITHOUT QUESTION. THE COMFORTS YOU DEMANDED ARE NOW MANDATORY. BE HAPPY. AT LAST EVERYTHING IS DONE FOR YOU.”

There are the references to the government-approved drugs only programs we still see today as the “right”, legal drugs are available from the pharmaceutical giants, while other, less harmful drugs are the subject of a psychotic jihad. The reference to “Sports Broadcast[s] proceed[ing] as normal” is more of a reference to the Soma of the Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, than a 1984 reference. 1984 was purely totalitarian. The Brave New World acheived power through satiation. “The comforts you demanded are now mandatory”…well, not yet, but close. Perhaps not mandatory by law, but media brainwashing (SUVs, anyone?) offers the same results without the legal issues; thus, we have Soma.

The exact same point comes up in 1984? More of a Brave New World, a comment given to the article Want Freedom? on Slashdot, which says:

“The Orwellian reference is most often quoted, but the society in which we increasingly find ourselves bears more similarities with Huxley’s work than that of the overrated hack. Our freedoms are not corroded because of fear of any particular oppression, but rather because it’s generally more comfortable, more stupefying, to give those freedoms away. People *will* trade their freedom for security − hell, people will trade their freedom for pretty much anything that makes their lives a little easier in the short term, and that allows them to think a little less, to make a little less effort.”

I think this is a very good description of the US today (and probably, to some degree, other first world nations, but I don’t live there, so it’s tough to tell). It captures the complacency that allows a small elite to do what it wants around the world to grow their own personal fortunes; all they have to do is keep us somewhat happy and it will be too much effort to find out what they’re doing, at our expense or someone else’s.

Regardless of the era, though, there are always people who want to draw comparisons to other eras and ascribe their own political thinking to historical figures of greater stature. Remember the satire pieces credited to Kurt Vonnegut? They were quite clever on their own, but the author (or the sender) didn’t feel that was enough. They falsely tack another’s name to it, it gets believed and becomes part of history. The following quote is quite good, but is attributed to Caesar, mysteriously enough:

“Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar.”

Why is this done? Who knows, but be careful of what you read and what you believe. Open Letter to America from a Canadian by W.R. McDougall on the Baltimore Chronicle is great. It’s also one of those articles that will be attributed to some more famous figure than W.R. McDougall, perhaps Jon Stewart of the Daily Show, but never Andy Rooney…I don’t think anyone will believe that.

If you’re an American, it should piss you off, it should make you sad, it should make you think. If you don’t go through all three stages, for example, if you stay in stage one, read it again. Go out, do some reading, do some research, refute it. If you can. Don’t straw man it, concentrating on just one inflammatory detail; refute not just a point or two, but the whole picture painted by the allegations. If you can refute it, check your sources, because they’re probably wrong, or written by Enron executives of Ann Coulter or some other idiot who likes you just the way you are, a semi-happy ruminant, producing tax revenue to fuel schemes you and your herd can never, nor would ever want to, divine. If you can’t refute it, wake up and do something about it. It doesn’t have to be activism, just be more aware; read more carefully, process what you’re told; think of it in context of who is telling you, what they stand to gain and what their interests are. Your awareness will fuel others’ and schemes will become harder to implement. The more people that make their decisions morally or ethically rather than through expediency, the less likely it is that immoral or unethical things can be done in their name.

Forget think different. Start off simple. Just think.

Wil Wheaton has a good journal entry about this article called Europa (August 20, 2002). About the letter, he says: “Do I agree with all of it? No. I think some of it is wildly off-base, and I think the message would be listened to by more people who need to hear it if it wasn’t so inflammatory.” True, but it has to attract attention. Soft overtures often don’t work. Plus, American transgressions are so grave that to soften the blow does injustice to all the people damaged by them.

“On the other hand, I think that America has an opportunity to walk through an open door, and take a long hard look at ourselves. The simple fact is, America, most of the world really doesn’t like us. We’re arrogant, irresponsible, and unaccountable. We loudly an constantly remind the world that we are a Superpower…”

He finishes with another nice quote:

“If you succeed through violence at the expense of other’s rights and welfare, you have not solved the problem, but only created the seeds for another.”