George Carlin on Consumerism

this...is...so...awesome.

who knew george carlin was so awesome?

what do we do with this reality?

and no, barack obama is not a revolutionary figure. he is saving america and capitalism one day at a time. it is awesome that we have a black president, but what he does is ten times more important than who he is. i still have his poster on my door. i still love looking at pictures of him and michelle. hell, i still love to hear him speak. but if barack obama is our revolution, then the revolution has truly been co-opted. america and capitalism consumed it: bob dylan victoria's secret commercials. ...yup.

but you know all this. we are all too aware that we are settling. that we are going in to this world because all the alternatives have been destroyed or made to look foolish, outdated, and no longer necessary.

and maybe they're not. maybe capitlism will just get better and better until everyone has a hybrid suv, organic cotton t-shirts, and soy lattes in recyclable containers. sounds like heaven doesn't it?

but what if something else is going on? what if the machine, in its seemingly infinite power, is shifting to keep us engaged. "oh look, we can't get away with what we used to. let's get salads in mcdonald's. let's donate 10% of our profits to charity . let's change our imagery to address the rising awareness that we are killing the earth and oppressing its people."

we live on a land that is not ours. we live in an empire that will do anything to stay alive, including a change of tone when necessary. increasingly, there is no outside. the machine groans on, taking up everything in its path, keeping whatever secrets it needs to to stay alive, including the fact that "successful," "wealthy" people are depressed, suicidal, drug addicted, disconnected, isolated, consumers....they are still consumers! no one is beyond consumption!

Obama quote: “Reagan’s central insight — that the liberal welfare state had grown complacent and overly bureaucratic, with Democratic policy makers more obsessed with slicing the economic pie than with growing that pie — contained a good deal of truth.”

Excerpt from nytimes article about obama: "'The market is the best mechanism ever invented for efficiently allocating resources to maximize production,' Obama told me. 'And I also think that there is a connection between the freedom of the marketplace and freedom more generally.' But, he continued, 'there are certain things the market doesn’t automatically do.' In other words, free-market policy isn’t likely to dominate his agenda; his project would be fixing the market."

now don't get me wrong, capitalism and america are not totally evil. capitalism is indeed quite efficient. and neither is obama, of course. i'm totally psyched that he is president instead of mccain...but that's just it. as my favorite professor once said, "racism is not longer bull connor with a pitbull." it's confusing now. it's grey. it's hard to see where justice stops and injustice begins, where freedom becomes domination. it's slippery now. our vision is distorted. the image is twisted, turned upside down, manipulated intentionally to keep us placated and confused.

there's no room of evil men. there's nothing to be worried about. we just won. we have a black, progressive president..

then why do i feel so strange?

why do i feel so alone?

why am i so confused?

why do streets, cars, and buildings feel sinister?

what is this feeling in my heart?

to where are we truly headed?

the clock stays silent. the road does not talk back. the passerby gives no hidden signals. even the trees have nothing to say.

what is happening? what the hell is happening?

in love,
ge