1984 - Old hippies opinions wanted...

This is something that I wrote, and I would like to hear what you have to
say about it.


1984 IS HERE!

98% of American families have at least one TV in there home. People in the country watch a lot of TV, and there are only about 2 corporations running the TV. People normally watch hours of TV a day, and that has to do something to your thought pattern. Especially because all of the political ideas expressed on the news channels are the same. The system actually has people so convinced that this system of government will protect them from terrorist attacks and anthrax that they just listen and respect it. I grew up watching the stock everyday when I was young, and if it wasn’t for a band named anti-flag I wouldn’t be writing this. Anyways, these people in silly suits rant at you about things that really aren’t important and you know it. All I’ve seen president bush do is say “we will do better! Stop terrorists! I love freedom!” if you think about it, that’s all his message is, and somehow people still trust this man. A leader is supposed to be someone we can look up to, not nearly half the population who hate him. What these people that live rich lives fail to realize is that if every stoner, punk, burn out, bum, fade away, old hippy, and every alternative person would have voted this would be a much safer world right now. Anyways, because of this one party view point on the TV, the TV has turned more into the Telescreen in the book 1984 than most people would think. In the book the telescreens message is simple, “WAR IS PEACE – FREEDOM IS SLAVERY – IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.” Now look at our society. Not what you see on the TV?

Of course not, they wouldn’t be that stupid, they would not spell out things like these to you, they bring about bad vibes, they would rather tell you to be nice and calm. They tell us we’re in Iraq for a good reason. Almost half of the people I see will tell me the war is wrong. Where is the anti-war side of this whole thing? It doesn’t exist on the TV. They do tell us that War is peace, and we believe it. The TV also send a message that the job that you are stuck doing all day is fun and exciting. In the book 1984 people just do jobs that they are assigned to, the character in the book doesn’t talk to people much, he just types things. He sometimes looks at the other people that are working, and has thoughts about them, but hardly ever says anything. Remind of you a large corporation? There is also a segment of the book called “the two minutes of hate” where it shows a man screaming on the television but his words aren’t there. The people get all alarmed and throw swear but look deeper. The man is a radical, who tries to get his thoughts about the society on the air, but he can’t because he’s just there during the two minutes of hate, where the people who watch get angry and begin to yell. But if you look to differing viewpoints on American news, you’ll find there aren’t any. Millions of people showed up to march against this war for profit, yet the media did not show any of the speech, or any part of the message were trying to scream to the world. Then you look at the conservative reaction, a lot of people say that protesters actually make them angry, so basically the TV has silenced the radical viewpoints, and it makes people mad who watch it, just like in the book. These people can’t get themselves on the air, so they actually go out into the streets to shout there opinion out to the world. Millions of them take a day out of there busy lives to go say that something isn’t right here. I wish the rest of you could just grasp the concept that maybe they have a point. If you think I would ever go to kill people I don’t know for some old guys profit, you can think again. Just read this and think a little… that’s all I ask. Just think… maybe there’s something more to things than what I’m told. I hope people will sit down their Venti Caramel Mochas from Starbucks, take off their khakki’s, unplug the TV, and think a little.





Peace



-Ben Thompson

 

There's no question that the U.S. corporate news TV media ignored the protests, not just in the U.S. but the ones all over the world. I'm fortunate that I can pick up foreign news stations on dish. I didn't realize how biased the U.S. media was until I started watching news networks outside the U.S.

We're fortunate today that we have the internet which isn't yet regulated by corporations and the govt. I was amazed at how many people gathered at the anti-war protests in Britain, Italy, Spain, and many other countries. The most I saw on the U.S. media was a few seconds of those events, if any, and usually only if something violent happened.

Another good example was the women's rights gathering at the mall in DC a few months ago. All the corporate cable news networks ignored the event. I had to watch the dish and use the internet to see the huge crowd that turned out for the event.

Still another example is the 911 hearings in the Senate in the summer of 2002. A number of people testified and some of the information was quite embarassing. The only U.S. news network to cover it was CNN. C-SPAN deliberately ignored it. They have a couple channels that are supposed to be dedicated to covering the House and Senate and they completely ignored a hearing about the most tragic event in the U.S.

The stonewalling of the 911 investigation for 3 years by Bush and denying media access to Dover Air Force Base is yet another example.

In the end, ordinary people are the ones who can and will change things. It's been this way through the course of history. All the attempts by the govt and groups to try to stifle the will of the people have always failed in the end.

 

Secondhand Thought. This is what the Media presents us with. This is what most humans come to think of as reality. Secondhand thought is the reading of others opinions in books, newspapers, magazines and now the Internet. It is also hearing the opinions of others over the air waves. What it does is to filter the feeling out of life. You don't experience the reality of what they're saying and writing, so you don't Feel it. And Life without feeling becomes what secondhand thought brings; an existence devoid of feelings... or in other words; Un-reality.

Around the age of 20, in human brain/mind development, a neural network is formed. This network is called the Frontal Cortex/Temporal Lobe Net. It is when the neural pathways in the areas of the brain come together; the Temporal Lobe, which allows speech and language; and the Frontal Cortex, which allows to experience a sense of... for lack of better words... right and wrong, control of out-of-bounds emotions, and the ability to utilize future thinking. When this Net is hooked up in our 20's, we are then able to figure out what we wish to do with our lives. It is the reason why teens have so much trouble answering adult's questions as to where they want their lives to go. Before the age of 20, with very few exceptions, true, forward thinking is just not possible because the network is not fully connected.

It is at this age that we become very seperate from the other animal species we share this planet with. The reason? Simple, we become victims of our own culture. We rely on others to think for us. We accept their opinions as fact. We forget that we have another neural network that serves as a very independent brain.. in our gut. The nerves in our gut pick up on the energy of others around us... they allow us to sense our immediate envioronment... They allow us to feel.

Animals develop their own neural network called the Temporal/Limbic System Net. This Net allows them to function fully in their environs. It is a network based on feeling, thought, experience and learning. And IMHO it puts them far above us as far as living a full life goes.

We have allowed ourselves to become seperated from our gut feeling by the acceptance of secondhand thought. We have cut ourselves off from our own Limbic and Gut neural networks. There are clinics and retreats which offer ways to get back in touch with ourselves and Feel life again. But if one recognizes this condition, studies it within themselves, and accepts the fact that we, all of us, have within ourselves all the emotions, characteristics, and tendancies - across the board - Then, and only then, can we break away from the 1984 syndrome.


As far as our vote... I nearly slipped into the trap that was set by the party in power now. The last presidential election was stolen... and we, as a nation, Allowed this to happen!

I felt for a time that the only power that I had; My Vote, was made a joke of. I had almost given up on America in entirety.

Now, I see it for the plot it was. How better for the incumbants to win again if the populace of the country has lost faith in the power of their individual vote?

Become Aware. This is the responsibility of each and everyone of us... to become aware of what is going on. To learn to trust again in our gut feelings. To understand that there is a real physiological process of communication and understanding that goes on in our gut. It truly has a brain wholly distinct from the one in our heads.

And for heaven's sake... get out there and vote!

1984 is fictional story. But, like all sci-fi fiction, it was written from a large base of thorough research. I believe that if we do not become aware, if we allow what we have called down upon ourselves in the self-deception of wanting "Protection" from all things that 'upset' us... that the reality of what is to come in the near future will far surpass the plot, as written, in the book; 1984.