Hollywood Decoded
I really enjoyed this show on the Gaia network. There are twelve episodes in which Jay Dyer and Jay Weidner analyze movies like the Matrix trilogy, Terminator, AI, a few Christopher Nolan movies, and some others. It's really well done and thought-provoking. It got me watching the Nolan Batman trilogy again and thinking about how much influence Nolan took from Carl Jung for that trilogy and how apparent it is. This show felt like a college course that would appear in a DeLillo novel come to life, so it was enjoyable to me from multiple perspectives. - link
Amusing Ourselves to Death
This book has been on my list for a while and, to be honest, I felt like it was probably antiquated or redundant to my sensibilities. Turns out I was wrong. This book by Neil Postman follows the track laid out by its title - Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. I'm close to halfway through and it's much more straightforward than Marshall McLuhan's work, which Postman acknowledges his book would draw comparisons to. McLuhan has an allure for me, but it's hard to get straight to his point because he tends to speak in declarative riddles, which does draw me in, but I would appreciate a concise thesis. Postman satisfies my desire with this book.
So far, I'm really enjoying the chapters "Typographic America" and "The Typographic Mind". "Typographic America" shows the history of reading and publishing in America from its first colonies to the late 19th century. Postman describes how Americans were ravenous readers and would frequently attend lectures. He tells how the lowest tradesmen of the day were reading at the same level and quantity as the scholars of that time. It was common for Americans to attend lectures frequently. Of course, this was due to the fact that reading and oration were practically the only media of the day.
It's incredible to imagine a world where a crew of carpenters are discussing high-level intellectual topics while constructing a building. Currently, I work as a painter, and if I find myself getting into that mode with a coworker, I'm usually met with confusion or annoyance. It leads me to feeling like an autistic fruitcake, when in reality, I'm probably dumb as rocks compared to someone working in a similar line of work from the 18th or 19th centuries.
Learning this has let me feel better about my consumption of podcasts and old radio broadcasts at work. Sometimes I get in my own head about how I'm dissociating and I should be more present; the reality, I think, is that I'm just someone who enjoys learning and being informed. I could listen to lectures for hours on end without getting tired of it. I reserve music for relaxation.
I'm curious to see where the book is going to end up. I recommend it for sure. It's making me feel more justified in my distaste for the current media landscape. If you use TikTok, you're completely fucking retarded.
USAID
Why would you not be happy that the corrupt money launderers at the United States Agency for International Development are being gutted? First of all, the acronym is USAID, not US-AID, which is a linguistic smokescreen intentionally used to make people believe it's a humanitarian agency.
I'll concede that it can be unhealthy to be hyper-aware of large-scale government fraud or conspiracies and that the mind can tend to see something where there isn't, but I do believe that if you're inclined to this sort of thing, it's generally good, like a wonderful vaccine that is life-saving and effective.
If I weren't aware of how the CIA and FBI worked in conjunction with the mafia, Cuban exiles, and possibly a white and blue flag with a star in the middle to kill President John F. Kennedy, then I would be inclined to believe that the world is filled with random chaotic actors like Lee Harvey Oswald (CIA asset), Sirhan Sirhan (MK Ultra/Project Monarch victim), Charles Manson (CIA useful idiot), and Matthew Thomas Crooks (you guess now).
There's the U.S. history we're taught in schools and echoed by popular culture, academia, and news media, then there are the dirty details, the stuff that's not so glamorous or is intentionally cut from the script, and there's stuff that's put into the script to keep us buying the story and playing along. That's the best way for me to sum up my perspective on this stuff.
My argument is that by being aware and skeptical, you can come to your own conclusions and act with your own free will and judgment. As an example of another extreme, I know a guy who's actually obsessed and eats up every word Alex Jones says. I love AJ, as readers are aware, but I showed up to work on inauguration day because I try to have a cohesive understanding of reality. My coworker doesn't, and he stayed home from work because he was convinced the deep state would kick off WWIII to keep Trump from becoming President.
If you're stunned by what's happening with USAID, then you should analyze who's telling you it's a good agency. If it's certain media figures, then research Project Mockingbird, then look at what's been revealed about USAID's funding of media, both domestic and abroad.
As for USAID funding transgender dance parties around the world, I actually think that's great, and I'm probably going to fillet my cock tonight, toss it on the grill, and eat it with a little Tabasco.
A good place to start to learn about USAID is to listen to Mike Benz on Joe Rogan.
JW signing off.
