January 3, 2009

The Pollution of Reality

A grey, foul-smelling haze hangs over the land.

It is the pollution with which we are now familiar,

The type called “particulate matter,” by those who

Would sell us anti-oxidants to counteract its effects,

And thereby profit from environmental devastation.

There is another haze in the air, one to which

Few ever refer. It is the web of lies which has

Snarled every corner of society, relentlessly

Invading our psyche and ever more blurring the line

Between truth and untruth, reality and fantasy.

It is as if poisoned milk were piped into every

House, often directly into the children’s room,

By a milk industry parading itself as a friend, a

Conveyor of truth, but in fact interested only,

As all industries are, in making maximum profit.

Television, newspapers, radio, and most Internet sites

Depend for their income, not on us, the audience,

But on the advertising industry. Ads are what the

Media are in the business of selling, not news or program

Content. Newsrooms shrink while ads expand.

Advertisers buy our attention. Programs are only their

Bait – no program, no audience. The price of ads is not

Determined by the quality of the surrounding program,

But by the potential buying behavior of the audience.

The richer the eyes and ears, the higher the price.

And let not the news or stories disturb the

Trustful, manipulated feelings of the audience,

And certainly, let not the programming ever

So much as suggest that all advertisements

Are intentional deception. Let them believe.

The United States is marching toward a major

Confrontation. In order to live on its worldwide

Fair share of resources and waste generation

(Ecological footprint), it must decrease its demands

By 4 percent a year for the next 40 consecutive years.

The total reduction must be of 80 to 90 percent.

The country can do this by increasing the efficiency

Of its economy, contracting its economy, or both.

This, while its population grows by 44 percent,

From 305 million to a projected 438 million by 2050.

To give an example. Carbon emissions must be

Reduced by 90 percent. Assuming that, by 2050,

Half of its energy consumption is provided by

Renewable sources, the country would still have

To live on 20 percent of its present consumption.

The production of bio-fuels erodes the land on

Which grains are grown, and conflicts with food

Production. Nuclear power uses non-renewable

Resources, depends on large amounts of fossil fuels,

And generates wastes which put all life at risk.

But why disturb the peace of potential

Customers? Let them think the problem

Is soluble without effort. Some new technology

Will be invented in the nick of time. We will

Go from fossil to non-fossil sources seamlessly.

Fed a tapestry of lies, the “American people”

Believe. All, that is, except the one in six

Americans who lives below the poverty line,

And the 1 in 100 who rots in prison. Only

Potential buyers have economic significance.

The U.S. has undermined democracy in Chile (1973),

Brazil (1973), Uruguay (1974), Argentina (1976), Bolivia (1985),

Poland (1989), China (1989), Russia (1993), South Africa (1994),

Indonesia (1997), Central America (1980’s and 1998),

And within its own borders (particularly since 2001).

But when the President said that we had invaded

Iraq, in 2003, to “bring democracy to the

Middle East,” most people believed. And now

That the president-elect has shifted the focus

From Iraq to Afghanistan, people believe.

When the government declared the 9/11 (2001)

Atrocity, the work of evil Islamists who “hate

Our freedom,” people believed, never mind

The laws of physics and chemistry, and

The overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

The assassinations of John Kennedy, Malcolm X,

Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, Paul Wellstone –

All washed away clean. The use of depleted uranium,

The torture, the “extraordinary renditions,” the

Annulment of habeas corpus – all as if it never happened.

The scorn for the United Nations and defiance of

International law, the disdain for independent

Thought and critical dissent, the declared control

Of space, the brandishing of nuclear warheads,

The use of cluster bombs – all without accountability.

The hypnosis is directed at all who must remain

In a mood conducive to their spending money on

Commodities, whether that mood is carefree or

Fearful. They must “keep the economy growing,”

Or more accurately, keep the capitalist system afloat.

Many civilizations have succumbed, but

This is the first time in history that people

Have marched brain-washed to the predicted

Cataclysm, fed thousands of deceptive

“Messages” daily, and shopping till they drop.

Victim of a cluster bomb

The three-year-old asked,

“When can I have my arms back?”

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