Saturday, February 2, 2008

Why America doesn't need Big Brother


Orwell was on to something. We all know that. And Big Brother seems to snugly fit into Britain's milieu. For instance, CCTV, which lurks throughout Britain, and has aptly been called "Big Brother surveillance" fits into day-to-day life without supposedly disrupting anything. But, I contend, it's quite different in North America -- because we are too innately skeptical for the government to be "watching us."

North America is so skeptical -- leaning more towards cynical -- that everything that the government does, we question. 

For instance 9/11. There are so many conspiracy theories about the American government was one way or another involved that we seem to be a culture of nay-sayers and dare I say, critical thinkers. Well no, I retract that, not critical thinkers but maybe questioners or I-don't-believe-everything-sayers. Which is undoubtedly good. 

Another way to look at this is the news. It is now "hip" "cool" "rad" or whatever-the-fuck-is-the-most-ideal-word-here to question the news and say that it is biased or that the government is feeding/controlling the news. Actually, no, and that's a pretty asinine fallacy. We are the one's that still control the news because we are the one's that pick up the paper or peruse it online. So by virtue then, whatever sells in the news-world to the public is what we read. Britney Spears for one is controlling a great deal of the news-world today -- why? because we, as a fucked-up culture want it and feed her downward spiral of insanity -- that's really our fault. 

Many North American's believe that the government sensors everything that we read or some gibberish like that. Accordingly, Big Brother isn't needed -- we're way to skeptical to believe or follow anything anyway.

If Big Brother was well and strong in North America -- which it clearly isn't -- it would be like telling a crime-loving teenager with a litany of criminal offenses to make sure he looks both ways before jay-walking. It just doesn't work.  

"How'd we get here? Blogs are part of it, along with the incessant frothing of TV pundits and reality-show contestants, especially that lippy midget from The Amazing Race: Everybody thinks they're above being edited." --Chris Jones, Esquire

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