Remembering Marshall McLuhan-The medium is the message

I remember reading Marshal McLuhan best seller released back in 1967. I remember it was not an easy read as a teenager, but I did get his message-the medium is the message.  He also is attributed with a lot of other things such as terms like "global village", "global theater"and predicted the Internet happening including coining the term "surfing".

Further, on-line, it is reported McLuhan personally inspired Timothy Leary to popularize the phrase McLuhan was credited with coining the phrase Turn on, tune in, drop out by its popularizer, Timothy Leary in the 1960s. So, I would really like to re-read some of what McLuhan wrote; updating and modifying what he wrote in 1967 and afterwards until he passed.

Some critics attacked McLuhan for what he wrote at the time. However, what he did write about pop culture rings true today, as it did back in 1967. So if you are an Ayn Rand fan and like trying to find John Galt, you might want to also read what McLuhan wrote on line regarding the various forms of media as we progress due to all this technology we have to deal with.

Moreover, if you understand Ayn Rand and get Atlas Shrugged by yourself the first read, McLuhan will be a simple read for those gifted more than my simple and humble self.

In short summation, what McLuhan wrote happened. Going forward, what we can we try and anticipate and predict about mass media forms, going forward in these difficult political and economic times?

But  first, I want to digress reflectively to those events before 1967 to give both your and my life some relative perspective.  Being a baby boomer, the impact on the various mediums led many including my generation into this mass media addiction-TV, Internet, surfing as described by McLuhan, and various other forms of electronic media available that others may use, but I do not use all. I think if I used less, I would probably be more social with the rest of humanity by turning off.

At my age of 58, I am jumping off the technology bandwagon choosing to no longer leapto each new fad form of media like cell phones, notepads, e-books and Twitter accounts.  Heck, I have one of those dvr things and have no desire or ambition to figure how to use such things.

Back in the fifties and sixties, the medium did certainly shape the message-our culture more than family or institutions.  Maybe even worse, the media propaganda formed not only our culture, but also impacted our values and morals.  My generation, during the late 60's and early 70's rejected most forms of authority including parents and institutions.  Now, many of us old rebels are now the Tea Party folks.

Instead of family and institutions, we relied instead on that TV thing having the 3 major networks controlling programming back in the day.  And wow, when we got a color TV, I felt our family moved socially to the middle class.  My family was now one of those small town "high class" families since we had the luxury of wall-to-wall carpet and an air conditioner.  We even had indoor plumbing, a 3 digit party line phone and no outhouse unlike some of our family still out there living and struggling to hang onto farming in rural America. 

For example, a lot of our baby boomer morals and values makes me wanting a simplier Leave it to Beaver kind of mentality person.  I miss Andy Taylor and that Mayberry kind of feel good morals and values types of programming.  And maybe we might see a resurgence soon in network programming allowing us a distraction and coping mechanism due to all the present doom and gloom mentality. 

John Wayne hero movies and Vic Morrow reruns of Combat are gone, but another John Wayne type hero or heroine many might wish for hopefully will appear soon promoting American morals and values  again, may appear in a similar type of feel good escape from reality format.

Not to mention all that Olympic stuff to watch from London later this summer, while I am waiting for NFL preseason to get underway. I also spent a lot of tv time back then watching sporting events including Jim McKay almost every Saturday on ABC's Wide World of Sports. So athletes were also hero and heroine types lots of us admired.

Right or wrong, leads me to kindly to suggest to others the new message might be "don't turn on, tune out and turn off"  suggesting we let go of this undue reliance on the mass media and technology for the hazards and harm these sources cause effect on our lives leading to avoidance of contact and social involvement with other human beings. Kindly, we need to reconnect with humanity again, fighting the addition and ease related to the tech universe.

Anyway, gotta go.  Time to tune in to cable news and check on my internet and Facebook account; while tending my Internet farm on Farmville. So enough blogging for today.  Probably write some more stuff hardly anyone reads tomorrow.  Thanks to social networking.  Almost everyone is now in some kind of form, a blog-type writer these days. 

To those that avoid libraries and books, here is a link source below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_McLuhan

2033-One Hundred Year War: The End of Progressive Socialism Era in the United Red States of America

Fairy Tale NO. 1:

2033-One Hundred Year War:

The End of Progressive Socialism Era in the United Red States of America

United we stand, divided we fall.

In a few short years, the progressive socialist movement in the United States of America caused a historic collapse of one of the greatest nations to have ever existed on the planet earth.  So fundamental, so basic, focused on the rights of the individual, with freedoms unlike any other nation before it.  And it was so sad; to watch the last 100 years of progressive socialism destroy what was once the greatest nation known to date.

How did this once great nation become a victim to leaving behind, the intent of its founding fathers and move farther and farther along the path of progressive socialism after doing quite well for a couple of hundred years? What was cause of this nation’s collapse allowing this great nation to merely become a slave nation controlled by foreigners?

It all started during a great economic depression that hit the country in 1929.  Shortly after the first President of the Country’s policies failed to end the great depression, the electorate voted for Franklin Delano Roosevelt who was elected.  (FDR hereafter).  FDR clearly believed the United States Constitution was a “progressive” document that was subject to changing times. 

Further, FDR to deal with the Great Depression and high rate of unemployed started a massive federal takeover of paying individuals to work.  The states lost and forfeited some of their most precious rights to keep the federal government limited to the narrow scope intended by the founding fathers. 

One of FDR’s major changes other than job entitlements through the WPA was the creation of the Social Security Administration System-which continued to grow and grow, taking up more and more federal revenue sources.  In the late 60’s, the SSA program continued to be expanded as more and more Americans became more reliant on their own selfish interests, as compared to merely relying on self, or the right of their state, county and local governments.

As time progressed, the various states, county and local governments also started relying on generous connections with the federal government’s progressive socialism and also demanded a fair share of federal tax revenues to run their varied governments.  And the people were not held accountable directly, for this huge expansion of all levels of government spending.  And due to this, progressive socialism administered by the federal government continued to grow unabated.  

The state, county and local governments concurrently also benefited and grew in their own respective size including doing their own progressive socialism plans to which the people of each governing body merely hoped someone else, but not they would have to pay for all this progressive socialism. 

During lean times since 1933, the federal government merely kept expanding the debt load of this once great nation. And politicians all across the nation merely kept opening their hands out expecting the national government to fund all kinds of projects.  So, the politicians did and they kept getting re-elected, sometimes for decades conditions on how much their electorate benefited, while minimizing federal, state, county and local taxes.  

During the early 21^st century, after over 8 decades of progressive and expanding federal progressive socialism, the federal government no longer had the economic viability due to all the mounting trillions of dollars of debt.  So, slowly, there was a huge cutback in the early part of the 21^st century that trickled down to state, county and local governments.  There was a massive deterioration of all those things to run the national economic engine. 

If the federal government was not paying for public infrastructure of this great nation, the entire national economy slowly started collapsing.  Jobs were scarce.  People were losing both their jobs and their homes.  Banks refused to loan but the most credit-worthy any financing.

By 2021, several of the states decided to withdraw from the federal government tentacles and form their own national government. Naturally, the national government opposed the formation of independent nation, within its own national borders.  So, there was an internal war fought among the people of the several states-a massive revolution that further caused more debt to be incurred by the massive federal government. 

After a lot of bloodshed, the revolution was put to an end by the declaration of marital law, capital executions, and imprisonment of many of the revolutionary leaders.  However, the entire infrastructure of the nation was in such a sad state, foreign powers took advantage of the dire situation and took over the national government.  

This ended the era of national progressive socialism and the way of life for all Americans including taking away their precious freedoms so many of their forefathers had given their lives for, and that many Americans had taken for granted so long.

United we stood in our own self-interest, and we still fell after 100 years of progressive socialism.