Ezra has been testing out one of his pet theories.
Wait a minute. 'Pet theory.' Who came up with that expression? At some point along the winding stretch of evolutionary black top, between the domestication of the first chicken and hatching a sheep in a test tube, humans actually found time to house break theories? That could explain why we invented the newspaper.
Ez has a yellowing stack of Ithaca Journals in a corner too. Unread. Even the cats have little interest in the IJ. They much prefer the granular, bumpy Sahara-like surface of their cat litter to the soggy feel of newsprint. Do they imagine they're little Lawrence of Arabia's when they sit on the john? Who knows?
And that's exactly the point. Who knows. Ezra has decided to cut off the outside world, stop reading newspapers or watching tv news, eradicate talking heads from his diet, go cold turkey on MacNeil Lehrer, end the madness.
The other day Ez was walking down Cascadilla Street. A bunch of anarchist, dumpster -diving, drop outs he knows lives down there. They live on the margins of Ithaca society and are having a ball. Ez lives on the fringe and that's a different story altogether.
Anyway, the closer Ez got to this little nest of ultimate naysayers the more signs of political disenfranchisement he noticed. Chalked messages on the sidewalk. That kind of stuff. Then he spied an Ithaca Journal dispenser with the slogan 'Buy a Lie" grease-pencilled on the front.
Exactly.
Everything that's fit to print is a lie. Ezra would prefer not to know what's happening in Iraq. Who cares if they're remaking Baghdad into another Las Vegas? What ever happened to Tariq Assiz after he gave himself up? Are they working him over with a leather truncheon in some bunker? Where's Saddam, bozo? Tell us where Saddam is or we're make you eat your beret. You wouldn't know what's happening to all those guys even if you did listen to the news. They kept those people in outdoor enclosures for over a year in a prison camp in Cuba and nobody cared.
America is becoming a closed society. You only know what they want you to know. A lot of progressives may spent their time huddled over computers, getting the latest buzz off the newswires, but they're only working on their social tunnel syndrome.
Imagine working as an ace commentator on Counterpunch, having to come im every day to make up a new conspiracy theory. Bush knew about 9/11 in advance? Sure, he did. And Madonna is dating Pat Sajak.
Anyway, Ezra's theory is that it's better not to know than to know. It's better to be clueless than to think that you know what you really can't know. Better to let your imagination wander willy nilly where it will than to be just another duped consumer of the world wide knowledge industry.
Congress is talking about deregulating the media biz. That means that Time Warner can own the Ithaca Journal, the Ihaca Times, Channel 10, Channel 78 and the Pennysaver. What kind of news do you think you'll get then?
It's time to let go and free float above the ocean of information. Comments invited at: ezrakidder@gmail.com - Peace, Ezra at 8:31 AM
