It’s tough to quantify or qualify what the people think, feel, support, etc, but what is easy to tell is that the populace has been indoctrinated by some form of the “Shock and Awe” doctrine, the one Naomi Klein so greatly expounds upon in her book The Shock Doctrine: the Rise of Disaster Capitalism.
A good metaphor right now for America is Robin Williams.
I saw Robin Williams on Thursday night when he did a show at Purdue University. The timing could not have been better. Right before the House bailed out Wall Street’s mob of casino capitalists or derivatives junkies, right before the vice presidential debate that would make or break Sarah Palin, Robin Williams came on stage to do one of his many shows he has scheduled for his “Weapons of Self Destruction” tour.
Robin Williams is an idol of mine. Right up there next to Ralph Nader, Dennis Kucinich, Ron Paul, and Mike Gravel, George Carlin and Robin Williams are included as people whose great service to this country has been their ability to point out the absurdities of life and use them to make great comedy.
At a glance, Robin Williams is an absurdity. He is not normal or representative of anything and definitely appears to be polar opposite of George Carlin. But, if you think about it (and this is what happens when you cannot handle thinking about how Wall Street always gets it way in Washington), you realize what he is doing is what all Americans should be doing.
I’ll explain.
First, his tour, which is called “Weapons of Self-Destruction”, is not just a play on the infamous weapons of mass destruction euphemism now paraded around in the media and in government to describe weaponry we do not think countries should have but is also a description of the addictions Robin Williams has dealt with.
Robin Williams has dealt with cocaine and alcohol (and possibly other drugs). He recently checked back into rehab for alcohol, and this tour could be characterized as his way of rebounding from his relapse.
Like Robin, we Americans are addicted to a few drugs of our own. To name a few, they are: oil, guns, religion, nationalism, exceptionalism, consumerism, and capitalism. (Not to mention the fact that Americans are actually addicted to a lot of real drugs.)
One of those in particular, consumerism, is what we think can remedy our problems. Our solutions for world hunger, AIDS, and global warming involve shopping and buying items so a percentage of profits will go to the cause.
We need these tangible and intangible drugs to live our every day lifestyle. We need to get hopped up on these or else something doesn’t seem right. We become irritable and close-minded.
Second, outside of the pure artistic aspect of Robin Williams’ improvisation on stage, his act of pointing out absurdities is basically a result of love for humanity and/or the country that he lives in.
It would behoove us all to follow the lead of Robin and get up on stage literally or figuratively and magnify all of the wretched insanities and inanities in life that we become hung up upon so often.
An army of Robins, whether they can masterfully move from impression to impression, joke to joke or not, would surely get Washington and Wall Street up on their toes and fearful of the power of the people.
