Life in the "Black Box"

The puppet master is omnipresent in our everyday lives, because our lives are no longer our own. Subtly and without warning our comfort systems have been replaced with bloodsucking leaches. Like the "Night of the Living Dead" we wander around while Big Brother pulls our strings. It will take a great deal of strength to wean ourselves off this false mother's milk and stand up to the poison that is being injected into our daily lives. Our normal lives have become so infected with this disease, Americans would have a hard time distinguishing it (like video game reality) from the freedoms of traditional American life. Our educational system has become so indoctrinated "teaching to the test" by "No Child Left Behind" the processes of critical thought, free thinking, and formation of a personal opinion seem to be of no value. "Do only what the Great Oz has said!" Everywhere one looks in modern society, which have been the normal vehicles of communication, have become shining examples of "living in the box." Television began this tirade when it began to give more credence to the black box itself, the camera, than to the actors performances. Likewise in popular music the artists themselves quickly took a back seat to the process of pop music. No longer was the industry interested in the messages of the artists. Instead they took and exploited the system for their own personal gain. No show could be a greater example of this than American Idol, and no person could be more responsible than Simon Cowell. Who was it that made the decision that decisions of Americans were no longer important? Was it Rupert Murdoch? Was it Warren Buffet? Was it Les Moonves? The only media mogul to continue to support the traditions of America is Ted Turner. We must be suspect of the rest. When our senses are bombarded daily with depictions of living in the box, there comes a time when Big Brother will break our will and we will forget. Nature vs. Nurture says clearly environment is half of our selves. When our environment becomes polluted then it becomes that much more difficult to distinguish reality. Try breathing dirty air. Try eating non-nutritious food. Try looking at anarchy every day. Without some glimmer of enlightenment, which traditionally came through schooling, we are destined to fail as a country. Upon what then will the puppet masters live?