Outside - Inside - Democracy

Toxic Sludge

What does democracy mean to me? Democracy would be a place without PR as we have come to use it in this country. If we were to have true democracy in this country, we would have less of this PR crap and more of this education stuff (education as it was defined in this chapter). A single view wouldn’t be imposed on us all the time so there wouldn’t be any “mass culture,” instead there would be many people with very varying opinions that were well informed. There would be a richer culture if we were to have a real democracy, but it would be richer in discussion, education and opinion vs. richer in the pockets of PR representatives. I feel like after reading everything on toxic sludge I have realized that a lot of our “well informed” people that make up our “democracy” are just people that have been varying amounts of PR and are basing their opinions on this. I personally have been trying to figure out how I’m going to be well informed without subjecting myself to all the PR out there, I know I’ll find a way though. I feel like we have to combat this capitalist country one person at a time, for example I’ve started telling my friends and family about the PR on the news so that they are more aware and I’ve got some good responses. I think the key as a little person is to take charge of your personal life and the people you come in contact with, bring education to as many people as you meet and hope that they do the same. Also, you could write to your local news companies and ask them to stop doing PR and start writing their own stuff (who knows what will happen). It’s the little things that count. I have hope for myself and the people I know and I’m sure everything will change, I just know I won’t be around for it and that is okay. I think a bunch of NIMBY’s should run the country and everything would be just fine, but until that day I’ll just try to convert everyone I know to one.

LIFE IN THE WOODS

At first I really wanted to leave. Seriously. I parked myself on a rock by a stream in the woods and felt really lonely. I just wanted to talk to someone, at one point in the first five minutes I was on the verge of tears. However, something happened. I laid down on some leaves and dirt right in the sunshine and felt more comforted than I have in a long time. Screw you tempurpedic bed, the mountain floor was more forming to my body and more comforting to my soul than you’ll ever be. I felt like a small child as I inhaled the dirt smell and was reminded of playing in the woods as a five year old. At one point I had a craving to listen to Pink Floyd and go back and get my blanket and stay outside all day. I closed my eyes and soaked in all the smells and feelings of being cradled by leaves and it was the most peace I’ve felt in a long time. When it was time to go I was saddened, by the end of the half hour all I wanted to do was camp outside for the rest of the day and night. I grew really attached to my little area and didn’t want to return to life. All in all I was really happy to do it and I think I’m going to make it a part of my week until school ends; I need that kind of peacefulness in my life every so often.

LIFE IN THE TELEVISION

I have not watched television without doing something else at the same time in so long. I chose to watch half an hour of MTV for it something that I never watch. The entire time I was watching it I felt so absent of thought. I ended up watching a full 15 minutes of commercial during the half an hour and the commercials all felt like PR. There was even a commercial put on by the Dow Chemical Company that was advocating clean water!!! I felt so forced to watch the television as if I didn’t have control over what was going into my mind. I felt literally dumb because of the fact that I couldn’t think of anything. When I was in the woods I had all these thoughts coming into my head about various things that I was contemplating but when I was watching television it was if I had not thoughts, I was just consuming. I never want to feel like that again. It was a rather disturbing experience - in fact I’m cutting television out of my life for a little while as a result of it. After I was done with the half hour I literally had to lay in the dark with nothing on to try to gain some sense of brain (it was kind of like watching television put me into shock). I laid in the dark trying to hear no noise, and then ended up taking a 4 hour nap. I don’t think I’ll ever watch MTV again.

PSA

We’ve actually finished the entire PSA and it is now currently on a disk. The only thing we have to do is have someone else watch it to make sure it is good and put on a DVD player compatible disk. I would say our group works really well together, obviously. Our concept hasn’t changed at all. We were each actors and filmers and producers and directors in our video. By the end of our next class we will have this on a DVD and have someone watch it to make sure it looks good.