Hit Us Again, Chris

Madame:

To give reply to one of your first questions: It is not yet precisely clear to me why hosts do that, but polarization is the name of the game these days, as those who tune in regularly tend to be polarized (in one direction or another). And of course it is the political season now, and hosts’ often limited views only intensifies the natural processes. Political theater keeps the rabid masses coming back. More spectacle, as Hedges would say.

Most of Chapter 2 is unquotable? [*Professor works feverishly to delete most of his planned quoting* :)] I will try to keep my comments to paraphrasing, if I can, in the interest of sparing sensibilities [we can leave the occasional crudity to the Prof blog—as it should be, I’m sure! :)].

“They tell us where to look, decide what is important, and dictate what we think and talk about at any given time.” How you have encapsulated in such an eloquent phrase the essence of the corporatized things you mentioned, and what passes for our evaluation of them!

You are right about education—we process future workers, but we don’t create dynamic and critically thinking citizens. As my colleague who teaches government says to his new students: “I am going to work you hard, because for most of you this will be the last class like this you will ever have. The last class to help prepare you for the most important job you will ever have. Because whatever you decide to do, even in the unlikely event that you get lucky enough to do it your entire working life, that will be only 40 years or so. But you will be a CITIZEN your entire life. And what you do as a CITIZEN will shape your life, your family’s life, your community, your society, your country, and the whole world. And they only give me 15 weeks, 3 hours a week, to prepare you for this awesome responsibility.”

Yes, my good Madame, what you say about education: That may indeed be the point!

I am of mixed feelings about Steve Jobs. He accomplished many great things. He also coerced or bullied a lot of people, including many of the true designers of a number of the cool things he got credit for (but for which he marketed well, far better than they could have, no doubt).

Well, to BEGIN addressing the Chapter about pornography (Chapter 2): Hedges makes many good points about it, although his focus often becomes so narrow it doesn’t allow for the complexity and exceptions that usually accompany most human endeavors. For instance, Hedges is correct that much pornography promotes masturbation, isolation, dehumanizing, and social dysfunction rather than intimacy, socialization, respect, and healthy living, and is often numbing in its effects. It is often so far in the realm of illusive fantasy—crafted or artificially enhanced physical attributes or made up appearances, performances beyond realism, absurd endurance, etc., that it only contributes to illusive expectations, and often to the point of effective addiction. There are instances, of course, where this is not the case, and so I would not be as quick as Hedges to classify and dismiss categorically, but I would say these exceptions only demonstrate the general effect.

Porn, at least in its recent manifestation, often contributes to the social dysfunction, as I said. And we sure don’t need ANY more things that further disconnect us, either between the genders or as citizens, neighbors and community. And given the estrogen-laced assault on the male hormonal system—and all its effects—this is one more thing taking us in the wrong direction.

There are few actors/actresses in the porn industry—females especially—who emerge unscathed, let alone just as mentally and emotionally and physically healthy or healthier than when they entered it. This has particularly been the case, as Hedges describes, as porn has become more violent toward women. And often commoditized women in the process, further contributing to social dysfunction. The women often seek numbing substances to escape the reality of their status.

Although I think the connection to porn is a bit more tenuous than he believes it is, Hedges makes one of his laser-precise evaluations of a thing (Las Vegas) that ends up illustrating too much of what is America the Illusioned: “Las Vegas, a city built on illusions, lends itself to the celebration of porn. It is the corrupt, willfully degenerate heart of America. It is, in Marc Cooper’s memorable phrase, The Last Honest Place in America. Las Vegas strips away the thin moral pretention and hypocrisy of consumer society to reveal its essence. The commodification of human beings, the heart of the consumer society, is garishly celebrated in Las Vegas. Here there is no past, no history, no sense of continuity, and no real community. The mammoth resorts and casinos glittering in the desert are monuments to greed and vice, even as the rest of the country crumbles under the onslaught of physical decay, shuttered stores and factories, a disintegrating infrastructure, and mounting poverty.” (Hedges 63)

Keep hitting us hard, Chris Hedges. Maybe we’ll choose the hard work of living in reality, as it’s the only way we can, really. Live.