Countdown to July 4th: Battle for the Self
The self is assaulted everywhere in America. Commercials for cars, beauty and insurance products, medications and a million items flood radio, television, the print media and billboards. This resembles a market scene in Lagos or Onitsha in Nigeria where traders mill around cars caught in busy traffic. They sing the benefits of their products and beg passengers to buy them. This can be deafening and infuriating.
In addition to these commercial messages that are everywhere like bees in a garden in bloom fierce ideological battles are fought in the theater of the minds of Americans. In subtle ways, newspapers, magazines, and books shock and terrorize the human spirit. Video games and movies numb and dumb the soul, changing the way Americans feel about ourselves, about others and the world.
As I prepare for the 4th of July celebrations I wonder about the state of the American soul. What do you do to be sane in this cacophony of ideas?
Find out more:
Hooked Image Courtesy Ms. Magazine
The Secret Sales Pitch: An Overview of Subliminal Advertising (Paperback)
by August Bullock
Can't buy my love How Advertising Changes The Way We Think and Feel
by Jean Kilbourne
Comments
Who says any of us are sane? :)
Posted by: Debby | June 30, 2008 07:44 AM
What is your idea of sane? What does sane mean to you Debby?
Posted by: Kwami | June 30, 2008 07:57 AM
Nyasha says, "why would anyone be coming to see you (Kwami) or reading your blog if they were sane?" (Note that she does both.) I guess we're still in need of a definition.
Ut oh, she's got the dictionary... Webster says..."Of sound mind, having or showing sound judgment"... Sound? "Free from defect, decay, or damage."
Nyasha says anyone going through life has these defects, so no one is truly sane.
I have to admit that I had the same intial reaction you did, Debby! Perhaps being in the silence of our Eternal Source is the only space of sanity for any of us?
My actual answer to Kwami's question: I don't watch TV at all. I attempt to remember God in what I do, to focus on what I can do for others. I meditate once in a while : )... and I walk in the forest at night. And I'll counter my teen daughter's statement above, and say that visiting with Kwami at the office promotes the chance of my sanity more than anything.
Posted by: Michele | June 30, 2008 12:52 PM
What is Sane? Well first of all, I was making an attempt at humor when I wrote the comment. I don't really know what sane is. It is like reality, different for everyone.
I have heard it said that if you ask if you are insane, you are probably alright. So I make sure to ask myself if I am sane often, just to make sure. :)
As far as how do we as peoples deal with all the stuff out there in the world? I don't know that we do. I know for me, I don't watch commercials. I am a channel flipper and radio changer. I stick to what I know is tried and true unless I am highly recommended something from someone I TRUST, then I will try a new product.
I don't think we are all coping well. Obesity is at an all time high, mental illness is soaring, autism, OCD............. I never hear of these afflictions going away....
Posted by: Debby | July 1, 2008 08:14 AM
Just something to stimulate synapses (is that the plural?)... could it be that concern with and recognition of afflictions is insanity itself? Affirmation in imperfection? Just a thought.
Posted by: Michele | July 3, 2008 01:55 AM