The Poison of Modern Culture

I took a trip last week. I went back to the city where most of my relatives and in-laws live, for a wedding. Not an unusual event, but an expensive one I might add. While I was there, I made a few observations. These observations do not involve the wedding (though in a distant way it is tied to them). These observations pertain to the way the average American lives their life.

I live pretty far out, in one of the last remaining wilderness states, New Mexico. As such I am shielded from the daily life that most Americans consider to be their "normal" reality. While the normal American reality revolves around shopping, driving, and doing such things as going out to eat, my realities involve many things totally alien to this. Case in point, I have 25 chickens I have raised for slaughter fattening up in my yard. I live so far away from anything resembling "normal" America that it takes me at least an hour and a half to get there. My daily life is at a pace much slower and different than the average Joe, and it allows me to see things that are missed by people caught up in the Matrix of daily life. When I returned for this trip, this fact was never more clear to me.

We drove less on our 8 hour trip to get to our destination than we did just getting around in the 15 square mile area where we were staying. Very Sad. The Average American spends as much time in their car waiting in traffic than they do at their destination. If you want to get anywhere in the typical urban environment, you can count on at least an hour trip in the car as a minimum, even for a short 10 mile jaunt. 10 miles to me is a little less than 8 minutes where I live. And it is nearly impossible to do anything without a trip like this. It is very wasteful, bad for the environment, and expensive. I think the average person would be shocked at just how expensive and wasteful it really is. However, most people a pretty firmly connected to the "Normal" reality that says this is OK, and will never be able to see it. It would take a shocking event or a personal epiphany or some type to "unplug them from the Matrix". For most, it will never happen.

The average American has become pretty thoroughly poisoned against anything that does not support this "normal" world-view. Most of my relatives simply think I do not know any better. Because I live a simpler life that does not partake of the excesses and inadequacies of this world, they think I am "Simple". They look down upon me for choosing to live in a village with less than 1000 people, buying organic produce, and paying more for things that I feel do less damage to our world than the cheaply produced mass market garbage currently flooding the US (made by our enemies, I might add).

The world has become, to most Americans, a race to buy the cheapest things, the biggest automobile, or the flashiest stuff to impress others. The daily grind for most people is simply to make more money to spend in a world of loud, over the top, Big Box stores and own the biggest, most prestigious home in a sprawling generic suburban wasteland. Nothing means anything anymore. The old American values are fast disappearing, being replaced by a drive for excess consumption not seen before in modern civilization. The quest to acquire cheap consumer goods at all costs and the flashy throwaway lifestyle associated with it has become a drug to the American public. They literally cannot stop. They cannot stand being without it either. When these folks visit my house, they literally cannot stand-it. They typically leave after about two days, and complain about utter boredom the entire time. Nor do they understand why we choose to grow and prepare our foods the old fashioned way instead of buying more processed "dog food" from the nearest big box.

PS - Anything made of Gluten or High Fructose Corn Syrup is "Dog Food".

One other thing. Nothing is marketed for it's usefulness anymore, now you buy it for the experience, or for the lifestyle. Even the old standards of rebellion have been co-opted, as anyone who has seen such shows as LA Ink, or the Orange County Chopper guys can attest. Now anyone can buy into it. Loud flashy TV screens are set-up in the store to grab your attention. Most retail stores try to create an environment that is loud or flashy or noisy, to disrupt your train of thought, so that their advertising can deeply implant itself in the subconscious. Any Hypnotist worth his salt can attest to how affective this can be.

Everything is for sale.

One thing is not. The Soul of America. It is not for sale because it is already gone.