We Are All Idiots

Samuel Center

1-7-06

Best Selling Novels, Hour 5

"We Are All Idiots"

Our biggest fault in society today is that we use our eyes, ears, and mouths far too

often while we seldom seem to involve our minds. The media has noticed this pattern

over the decades and, using the power of our intellectual handicap, has become both

societies' most influential figurehead and societies' most corrupt evil. "The average

household has the television set in use for about seven hours per day. That means the

average person watches about thirty hours per week" 1. During these hours, we are

bombarded with political critiques and commercials for material products that attempt to sell us a mindset or agenda that is paid for by the highest bidder. Whether we

realize it or not, these messages are sinking into our subconscious on a subliminal level

and influencing our views on the way we live.

There is a large problem in the fact that we not only allow our minds to be affected so easily, but also that we are beginning to trust in what the media tells us above what we are told by government leaders. At this exact moment in time, 54.4% of Americans do not approve of the job George W. Bush is doing during his second term as President. I ask you, is it not possible that the media has turned us against our President? After all, whom do we look to for information on his administration? For that matter, who took the poll on his approval? Are we all idiots following the voices from the television and radio so blindly?

Animal Farm is a one hundred and twenty-eight page political satire written by George Orwell. While the book may have been written as a parody of the Russian revolution, it can be used as a more relevant parallel to modern America. In the story, animals living on a farm grow tired of their mundane living conditions and incompetent owner, Mr. Jones, after a beloved prized pig rallies them by preaching against their way of life. "It is crystal clear, then, comrades, that all the evils of this life of ours spring from the tyranny of human beings?" (Animal Farm, page 20) It is not long before the animals revolt against their human masters and take control of the farm. After freeing themselves, they begin to organize their values and goals to create Seven Commandments. This revolution process could be compared to when America gained independence from England and formulated the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The animals live by the commandments and begin to live happy, fruitful lives under the leadership of a wise pig named Snowball. Snowball represents democracy - a government that is run by the people and for the people. Under democracy, America has thrived as a nation.

Snowball is not the only pig on the farm, however, and about midway through the book, another pig, Napoleon, that had been arguing with him at every turn has him ran off the farm by a pack of specially trained dogs. Napoleon is a parable for the media and his trained dogs are propaganda, rumors, and scandals. Using everything from slight exaggerations to flat out lies, the media is spoiling our views of our leaders and proverbially chasing them off of the farm. This is where we are as a people today. While I will admit that we have not come close to overthrowing democracy as a whole, we have allowed our thoughts to be influenced by programming designed to turn our prospective sour against hot-button issues such as the war on terrorism. The news tends to only depict visions of soldiers returning from Iraq to finally be reunited with a crying wife with a newborn child in her arms. While being separated from family is a harsh reality of war, the scene is always spliced with another featuring protestors chanting against the fighting and screaming violently over the supposed hidden agenda of white house officials