Feed

Reading "Feed" after "Culture Jam" was definitely a strategic move on the part of Dr. Mortimore. It helped to set the stage for "Feed." "Culture Jam" awakened our senses to exactly what we are letting into our brains. "Feed" put a sci-fi fiction spin onto our reality. It showed you where we are headed if we continue to give up our power to think independently.

One disturbing part was the Schools(TM) system. The explanation was that basically the federal government was unable to keep the schools running in the intended way. As a solution big corporations took over and cleaned up the schools but also gained control over the curriculum. Titus said that in school they mostly just taught you how to use your feed. That idea is scary.

The reality is that our school systems are already in trouble. They are already short on money. Many of the schools now place ads in schools or serve commercial food in exchange for donations or gifts to the school. It is not publicized but it happens.

Even more scary then that was the bodily mutilation because it was "cool." I could not believe that oozing wounds could ever be "cool" no matter how many people had them. I feel Anderson definitely accomplished his goal of shocking the reader. He wanted you to make comparisons to your world. He wanted to draw attention to a lot of the negative fads we all fall accustomed too. The only way to accomplish that was to get the reader to say "I would never go that far to fit in."

The Dumbest Generation?

Unfortunately I really had to agree with Bauerlein on most of his points about today's youth. Even two years ago I would have argued tooth and nail that we are not dumb. Thinking about this caused me to recall when exactly I came to the realization that the intelligence level of children is in fact deteriorating. I remember it vividly. I was trying to get back into college and had to visit my high school to sign for my transcripts to be released.

Two girls came into the office angry because one girl's iPod was had been taken. She had been listening to it during class and became irate because the teacher did not give her a "warning" before she took the iPod. Before I began to judge, I tried to recall if I was ever so fickle. She rudely addresses the secretary with 25 years of tenure about recovering her iPod. The woman informs her that she has to talk to Mrs. Baumgartner the principle.

I'm thinking to myself. Was I ever that dumb? Was I ever that rude, even when I was dead wrong? It cannot possibly be true. In those moments, I felt old. I felt so different from these kids. It had been less than four years since I walked these halls as a student. It had been less than three years that I had been a parent. How had I transformed so much in that time? I am sure that having a child had an effect on how I viewed the world but I also know that post being a parent I still had common sense.

Maybe we are not only dumb when it comes to a knowledge of literary classics. Maybe there has been a decline in our level of common sense. I am really not sure.

I feel that one of my best qualities is that I know I am a work in progress. I understand that I will never be perfect. I understand that I will always need to work towards some change. Knowing that is exactly what Bell Hooks described in her video. She stated that the only way that one can transform their life is to develop an ability to think critically. One needs to think critically about themselves, others, and their environment.

Weather your environment is Yale or an urban community do not let it go unquestioned. This lead to her next controversial point about the Urban childrens lack of entitlement. I agree with her. I agree because I have seen it. I have seen people afraid to try because they are certain they will fail. I have seen an environment of violence and negativity destroy a once hopeful mind.

Another intriguing phrase that Hook introduced was "White Supremicist Capitalist Patriarchy." When I first heard her say this, I thought that she was moving in the wrong direction. I immediately thought that this ideal was going to perpetuate more division. Her explanation of this phrase is what changed my mind. She said that using this phrase helped her to problemize racism beyond race. It's not about color, but about the institutions (government, media etc) that foster inequality. She even notes that these institutions have caused many minorities to destroy other minorities. The point is that racism is beyond one person or a group of people, it is global.