Zim and Joey

Zim and Joey

Friday, October 2, 2015

The Wasteland-Part I


                                                  The Wasteland-Part I
 
 
 
                         4085624089_73ce581daa.jpg




“There wasn't any limit, no boundary at all, to the future, and it would be so a man wouldn't have room to store his happiness.”
 
                                                                                  John Steinbeck (East Of Eden)




            We are living in a time of autoimmune self- consumption, that epitomizes the fall of civilizations, it is a time of hubris, of unrestrained indulgence, exploitation, density, and separation into “convenient,” compartmentalized fragmentation. Diseases such as AIDS, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, cancer, lupus, arthritis, etc. are diseases in which the body's own protective system turns on itself. Autoimmune diseases are among the number one leading causes of death among women in all age groups up to 65 years, these are one of many symptoms related to the degradation of Feminine values.

The correlate of autoimmune disease on a psychosocial level, is our addiction to information, stimulation, and technology. We are consuming ourselves with information overload, mindless/meaningless communication, and technologic systems, gadgets, fields, and storage that we have become enslaved to that must be fed, not unlike sacrifices to ancient Gods. We see the apocalyptic fears and visions played out constantly in art and film; Zombies, climate catastrophe, and last survivors at end of civilization scenarios are erupting from the collective consciousness screaming for our attention and care.

This is a state of culture and a state of mind Neil Postman calls Technopoly, and it can be seen as a breakdown in normal cultural defenses, which like the body's immunity, are in place to provide balance and protection, but when they become pathologic, actually attack what they are supposed to protect. Postman writes; “Technopoly flourishes when the defenses against information breakdown.”

Technology always increases information, which strains existing control mechanisms to cope with new information, the inability to control the supply, dissemination, storage and consumption of information results in a lose of meaning, beliefs, values, and all other social norms that constitute social order and culture in general. This is  cancer on a psychosocial level, and what we are doing is throwing more and more information and technologic “solutions” to try and deal with the problems created by techno-info glut.

Everyone has had the experience of TMI, too many emails, texts, facebook posts, instagrams, etc. We've all said at some point; “I need a break from news, social media, technology, cell phones, etc!!” But what we're not realizing on a broader sociologic level, is that no one needs the level of contact, communication, information, entertainment, socializing, and stimulation that we consume and transmit daily. All of this supposed “need” has been manufactured, engineered and induced into our individual and collective psyche by those whose job it is to keep us addicted. Just like our food, we are consuming empty calories of psychic salt, sugar, and fat that only keeps us wanting MORE!!

Just as consuming empty calories leaves us feeling empty and malnourished physically, so too are we feeling spiritually, soulfully, and psychologically empty, without meaning and purpose, wandering aimlessly to the next sound bite or facebook post, looking for something that will fill the void.

As T.S. Elliot prophesized in his post WWI work The Wasteland, which follows The Grail legend and the wounded Fisher King, modern and post-modern man has become a wandering, homeless nomad in search of meaning, healing, and balance. We will not cure our dis-eases by the same means which created them!

No comments:

Post a Comment