The most offensive TV commercial ever made and its geopolitical implications

If you've watched television at all in the last decade then you've been subjecting yourself to a subliminal process of indoctrination by corporate media which is now approaching the level of fine art. The writing, directing, acting, technical wizardry and soundtracking of some commercials by mainstream standards compare with any academy award winning film. Their most astounding accomplishment however lies in the fact that there is virtually no alternative being presented to the idea that we're now all successful entrepreneurs reveling in our prosperity and comfort. We all seem to be young, beautiful, sideburned and tattooed, with six figure jobs driving powerful sexy cars and investing online as we sip martinis and make out. Or if we're old, God forbid, then we can thank Paine Weber for our two million dollar designer home right on the lake in splendid isolation.

The award this year goes to the DiscoverCard commercial: A traditional looking Tibetan man instructs his 18 year old son to go out into the world and find the meaning of life and 'become a man'. Of course he heads straight for America and in about nine and a half seconds he is shown whizzing through this irresistible virtual high speed mind boggling state of the art commercial magic trip which supposedly represents our ideal lives as 21st century humans. Bedazzled and enlightened, this boy sees his archaic former life reduced to a quaint pleasant joke. However, still loyal to his poor misguided father he returns with the single most relevant object from this amazing civilization - the latest video game. Having charged the whole thing, he and his father now joyfully bond in front of their new TV and toy thus having "discovered" the true reason for their existence - Violent competition, completely disconnected from any truly creative or meaningful pursuits,- and I'm sure, forgetful of their 19% interest on the payback.

This is arrogant, state of the art bold faced indoctrination on it's cutting edge. The word is never used anymore after the Nazis gave it a bad name during WWII, but Propaganda is what it is. In the early part of the last century when corporate media was in it's infancy it was acknowledged by the powerful elite that the collective public mind had to be shaped and controlled. In a democracy where at any moment the general public could conceivably wake up and realize that they're getting screwed, a system designed to shape opinion and consumer wants was absolutely necessary. Corporations used to actually have propaganda departments as did the U.S. Government and they were called just that. Much of the public school curriculum in the 50's and 60's was anti-communist, pro consumerism provided by a government/corporate brain trust.

Nothing has changed, it's just more slick and interesting now. In a dictatorship, state propaganda is usually ignored and known to be lies as the people are kept in line by threat of military violence. Here and in other "Democracies" this system of manufacturing consent is so much a part of the culture that we welcome it and are entertained by it while we unconsciously carry out its orders. Perfect examples: The Harry and Louise anti-healthcare reform commercials, the one-sided picture presented by CNN rallying us to support the Gulf War, or the myth that the Media has a liberal bias. It's been called "friendly fascism"- the Walt Disneyfication of totalitarianism. If you confront media people with this challenge they invariably deny that there is any agenda or conspiracy in what they do. But they themselves are so entrenched in this consentual reality that they are incapable of thinking outside of the box. And if they ever seriously questioned the fundamental assumptions of this system they never would have made it to the position they're in.

Let's imagine our own TV commercial - A small effort to counterbalance the flow of mind control that we're bombarded with: A white middle aged corporate executive sends his 18 year old son off to Harvard Business School to find the meaning of life. Instead we see him take off to the Columbian rain forest. We see him drinking ayahuasca and smoking DMT with primitive tribal shaman, having visions and inner journeys, (depicted in state of the art computer graphics) living in harmony with the environment and "becoming a man". The young man sees his former life reduced not to a quaint joke but a cruel one. He returns to his father with the single most powerful object from this ancient culture - a bag full of psilocybin mushrooms. He and his father are then shown not in front of a TV but in front of a blazing fire in their backyard having discovered the meaning of existence -The use of the human mind as a device for contacting hyperdimentional worlds, infinite in variety and novelty, providing endless entertainment and adventure without indirectly exploiting or destroying any life or ecosystem. Better than a video game! Right?

As U.S. corporate/military/cultural hegemony moves toward completion, the remaining small pockets of ancient wisdom and wonderfully unique customs are in desperate need of preservation. Their music, art, languages, humor, religions etc. are disappearing as fast as the natural environments in which they live. They are called "underdeveloped" as if anything short of our Western ideal is inferior. Try not to just accept this imperialism as inevitable as we are told it is. Question every assumption made by this media and put everything through an actuality filter and the next time you watch TV you might just become infuriated instead of mildly amused.

Jim Matus Ancient Ecstatic Brotherhood of Paranoise