Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Imperial Undertow

Surefire sign that I'm getting older: science-fiction posthistory is increasingly difficult to distinguish from fantasy-fiction prehistory. Because the tide is going out on this Empire, and the undertow is pulling millions of Americans under.

It's a familiar undertow. I know all too well what they're going through. The rage, the frustration, the steadily increasing desperation, the spiral into near-suicidal depression -- been there, done that. Long ago, the first ripples of that undertow almost carried me out to sea. This was almost a decade ago, when my chosen profession (the teaching of literature in the US) went and shot itself in the head. I shudder to think of what would've happened if I hadn't discovered the world of media studies.

The ripples became waves, the waves became a flood. The horrible tragedy is that most Americans still don't realize it isn't their fault. It is the fault of this dreadfully corrupt and unjust system we live in, this dying Empire collapsing under the weight of trillion dollar military boondoggles and trillion-dollar bailouts for corrupt banksters. Trillions for war and theft, while schoolteachers are fired to save pennies and children are test-milled into oblivion.

We must disassemble the monster, before it disassembles us all.

In happier news, I've posted some new theory-rants posted here (the first of six, they're all up now). Also, I finally scored a cheap webcam, which means more webcasts will be unleashed in the near future on an unsuspecting planet. Next up: thoughts on the postneoliberal era.

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