Nineteen Eighty Four Revisited

I am writing my memoirs and by doing so, I discovered that I am a rebel.  It's not that I never knew I was a rebel, but because of the process of writing, I've decided to own up to it. 

Being rebellious is not a negative thing though it does sometimes mean going in the opposite directions of the general drift of society or established opinion.    

I never saw myself as a political rebel, though I must say that today I feel that the more corporate America takes over almost every facet of our lives, including buying our “elected” officials, the more we are thrust into having to submit to regulatory restrictions, and the more “big brother” interferes with the truly personal choices of our lives, the more I think we should rebel.

I am not suggesting we take up arms and start an insurrection but I do recommend thinking about some of the propaganda we’re exposed to on a daily basis simply by watching television.  We're being brainwashed either by the commercials or the lies our politicians toss out there, freely and without remorse or regret. It is immoral and degrading.  But, it’s just politics, right?  And, I don’t need to remind you that there are at least 10 minutes of commercials in every half hour of content. Think about it!  We, the public, are supposed to own the air waves. 

Included are the news media. All of our broadcast networks as well as CNN have basically the same news content which they regurgitate over and over ad nauseum especially if it is salacious or has a racial component; to wit, Ferguson and Baltimore.  There are real journalists out there, but I rarely see them on our news channels. Anything that is the least bit sensational will take precedence over "hard" news.  

As a rebel, I have stopped watching the standard networks. I watch the BBC, The DW from Berlin or Al Jazeera America.  At least I can find out what is going on in the rest of the world.

I have to admire the so-called “free range” parents who had the audacity to allow their children to walk home alone and were turned in by (no doubt) well meaning neighbors. Of course there are sick people out there and we should protect our kids, but we cannot hover over them for the rest of their lives keeping them safe from every event that might occur in the future. These parents are considered deviant.  Or are they just rebels?     

It takes courage to be a rebel because as a rebel, you are taking a risk, putting yourself out there, opening yourself up to criticism, or even derision. If we err against the current mantra of "political correctness" we are in danger of becoming a victim of the "thought police."  

Have we indeed become the fictional society imagined by George Orwell, controlled by newspeak and afraid to utter a thoughtcrime? 

Read. Think. Write letters. Boycott.  Speak out against the pap shoved down our throats by media, politicians and their corporate bosses.  Speak out against the utter lack of accountability, against sameness and conformity.  

Be a rebel.