"Those who crusade, not for God in themselves, but against
the devil in others, never succeed in making the world better,
but leave it either as it was, or sometimes perceptibly worse
than what it was, before the crusade began. By thinking
primarily of evil we tend, however excellent our intentions,
to create occasions for evil to manifest itself."
-- Aldous Huxley
"The only war that matters is the war against the imagination.
All others are subsumed by it."
-- Diane DiPrima, "Rant", from Pieces of a Song.
"It is difficult
to get the news from poems
yet men die miserably every day
for lack
of what is found there"
-- William Carlos Williams, "Asphodel, That Greeny Flower"
But we need television. How would we ever find out how to remodel the kitchen or make money selling real estate in our spare time?
If not for Bill Moyers and David Brancaccio I’d shoot the damn thing. Oh and NASCAR and Monster Truck Jam and three different wrestling federations. Oh and Dr. Phil.
Dr. Phil was getting to be such a regular on Oprah that they gave him his own show. Dr. Phil does marriage counseling. Women love to drag their husbands on national television and tell Dr. Phil they leave the empty milk cartoon in the refrigerator.
One lady brings in her husband, a super chic fashionista clothes designer. She lives in a super chic apartment that he decorated. The camera makes a mini documentary of him at the spa getting a total body wax, shopping at trendy stores and sipping fruity drinks with little umbrellas. Their apartment and it looks like lifestyles of the rich and famous. He cooks and cleans and all she has to do is relax with her newspaper.
After watching all that, Dr. Phil asks – why did you come on the show? What do you want me to do for you? And of course, she says – _________________________. Dr. Phil asks – did you know about all this before you married him? and she says _________________.
Dr. Phil says – he obviously knows who he is, let’s talk about your relationship with reality.
~~
We’re doomed.