i-sako.com

A fellow technical writer and good friend of mine recently pointed my attention to the following article at Consortium News (which coincidentally reminds me of a discussion I posted here some time ago).

America’s Matrix

“Matrix” and its sequel, “Matrix Reloaded,” offer a useful analogy for anyone trying to make sense of the chasm that has opened between what’s real and what Americans perceive is real. Like the science-fiction world of the two movies, a false reality is being pulled daily over people’s eyes, often through what they see and hear on their TV screens. Facts have lost value. Logic rarely applies.

…

Many Americans so enjoyed the TV-driven nationalism of the Iraq War, for instance, that they didn’t want it spoiled by reality. During the conflict, they objected to news outlets showing mangled bodies or wounded children or U.S. POWs. Presenting the ugly face of war was seen as unpatriotic or somehow disloyal to “the troops.” Only positive images were welcome and dissent was deemed almost treasonous.

This article does an excellent job of elaborating on my long-held view that Americans seemed to view this war as an event with only slightly more moral consequence than the Super Bowl. These days it seems that everyone is just happy that our team won—no one seems to care that the “game” itself never should have been played.

The article goes on to quote Sen. Byrd on the problem that the American people should have (but seem not to) with the war: “Regarding the situation in Iraq, it appears to this senator that the American people may have been lured into accepting the unprovoked invasion of a sovereign nation, in violation of long-standing international law, under false pretenses.”

Perhaps the coalition forces will find some banned weapons some day, but the fact that they have not found some already suggests that Hussien was never really as big a threat as the Bush team insisted he was. To quote Robin Cook: “We were told that Saddam had weapons ready for use within 45 minutes. It’s now 45 days since the war has finished and we have still not found anything.”

It’s seems that Americans want to believe that Bush was right, not matter what evidence comes forward to prove that he is wrong. Deep in their hearts, Americans want to believe that the reality the Matrix presents to them is real.

I cannot help but wonder how much more realistic the American Matrix will seem now that the FCC has undone the rules that for decades have restrained the major media giants, who have recently been stumbling all over themselves in an effort to outdo their competitors with jingoistic patriotism (in a vain attempt to curry favor with the White House?). That’s not exactly what America needs at this moment in history, but it seems that’s what America is going to get!

With Bush more or less in control of our entire government and the servile media portraying him in only the best possible light, I can envision an America that cheers for the Super Bowl once a year and an unwarranted war against a fifth-rate military dictatorship as often as Agent Rove deems appropriate.