Is it better to know the depressing reality or happily marinate in a warm bath of partisan propaganda?

I hate to break it to you, but we live in what political philosopher Sheldon Wolin called “inverted totalitarianism.”  Although I do understand why some cling to the “we live in a democracy” fantasy. Reality can be a real bummer.

What I’ve surmised is that most Americans prefer propaganda over reality because confronting the possibility that your whole life is a lie is almost impossible. The Matrix got it right with its portrayal of a simulation of reality that the average person welcomes. Of course it’s a different story for the professional/managerial/class who’ve internalized their own narratives to a point where where stupidity now defines much of US elite culture and ideology.

The corporate media shares much of the blame for this sad state of affairs. Our founders envisioned a Forth Estate role where the press would hold the powerful accountable. Instead the corporate media has embraced a new business model where partisan propaganda is the product. This dynamic became turbo-charged after the election of Donald Trump and the efforts to defenestrate him that morphed into Russia-gate when the corporate media and secretive intelligence agencies realized they could lie about everything and suffer zero consequences.

Sometimes it seems like the only option is to wait for the Ponzi scheme to collapse. The anarchist side of me would enjoy watching this thing burn to the ground. However, I recognize that scenario means incredible suffering and a huge loss of life because these sorts of affairs don’t usually result in a Hollywood happy ending.

One clear advantage of being fully appraised of our dim situation is that you can tune out advertisements for products or political candidates that will solve your problems. “Hope and Change”, “Have it your way” and “fine Corinthian leather” are all empty, cynical advertising slogans that will not make your life better.

You are poor because since about 1980, the predominant policy in the US has been to immiserate workers, especially wage workers. This was possible because the New Deal and post-war eras had made workers well enough off that they had some surplus which could then be stolen from them.

We spend all of our resources on war because our leaders are sociopaths who seek to maintain the US empire in order to rule the world. Here’s a thought. Maybe the reason why the entire political/media/deep-state establishment was so obsessed with getting rid of Trump was because if Trump was still President, then he would never have given the go ahead for the US proxy war against Russia in Ukraine? 

Global weirding is accelerating because it’s profitable to regard the natural world as a resource that is inexhaustible.

Etc.

I have a feeling that we’re getting close to the point where they are going to cease with the psych-ops and go full on authoritarian. Lately you can see that’s where we’re headed. It’s like Frank Zappa said: “The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.”

It will certainly be the end of the happy American shopping simulation as well as a bunch of other unhealthy illusions. There’s also a good chance radical events will force us to be citizens again instead of consumers. To put it into perspective–it’s evolution. Every species eventually hits a point where it either adapts to extreme situations or goes extinct, and as we accelerate toward nuclear war and the destruction of our biosphere it’s clear that that crucial juncture is right now.