Panopticism

In the essay, Panopticism, by Michel Focault, he makes the argument that we live in a society of surveillance. Meaning that our society is based on amalgamation of forces and bodies, all of which act to create the individual. It is this surveillance which forms the basis of power that draws the individual to believe that the world he lives in is one that is continually watching over him. Maybe. But this is America. I may have taken a backseat in many of America's internal issues, but this will not be one of them. We contunually struggle with this idea of "Big Brother" always watchig our every move, making sure that we fill the prescribed roles taught to us from birth. I have a real problem with that. I don't believe that it has to be true. I think that poeple make it true by being lazy about the world they live in. Since Americans strive for wealth more than happiness it is easy to see why the "big brother" idea was ingrained in us. People in America don't want to handle thier affiars so they pass the buck to the government they created only to be their VOICE. The liberty that has been paid for is misused and deluded, because people have lost the ability to speak for themselves. We have created a society that creats us. Everything around us tells us who we are and what we should be. I would hate to think of America as one big advertisement, but essentially thats what it is. Do this and you won't get in trouble, wear this and you'll belong here, be who you want just make sure that I (big brother) benefit from it.
Although these things are in my mind's eyes, I found it incredibly curious that Foucalt usues the black plague to illustrate his point. The balck plague, as you most likely already know, was no doubt the darkest hour of humanity caused by nature...with a little help from our four legged rodent friends! The plague effectively eliminated 1/3 of the population of Earth. That more than all the wars ever fought combined.
However Focault does not remind us of this, instead he uses these dark times to suit his purposes, and as well he should. For there is no time in human history where such total and complete order and compliance was ever to be achieved...not even here in our great America. In the very face of death the governments of the world needed to establish a quarantine of humanity as this was the only way to expose the disease vector, and to eliminate the possibilty of the disease spreading further. Citizens on the one hand, may or may not have liked being watched all the time, but deep down they recognized that it must be done or they would surely die.
Point being, that there was not one aspect of human activity that was not monitored and regulated. Now then that was a great need and is why we survived as a human race. However to carry that all the way over to America is pain insanity. Our "Big Brother" doesn't want to help us, he wants us turned into robots. Easy to handle human beings. It is our own fear that creates this, as in our constituiton we claim that the government is only the representative of the people...it's voice. Instead we have made it our master and we are it's slaves.

Utopia Achieved

"lets all celebrate now. Americans have the proper theory/practice balance--not conceptualizing reality but realizing concepts..."

Do you agree? Yes I do. After reading Jean Baudrillards Utopia Achieved, I began to see America in a way that is not as apple pie as I have been culutred to think. It was a hard lump to digest to be sure, but one that has to be swallowed to move forward. (I know that totally makes sense right)
I began to see America as a whole entity rather than an enormous group of individuals...although this is America's greatest gift to begin with. The promise of freedom and individuality, one can choose to do or be anything, just as long as its the best mind you. This is just what Baudrillard is trying to illustrate. He is painting the picture of two worlds. One old and one new. The old is confined by it's own history in trying to realize the concepts that it has come to realize through centuries of trial and error. This other world is new, and not only has achieved many of these old concepts, but has surpassed them and now strives only to make it last indefinitely.

I like to think of America as an Idea machine. Constantly turning out, not new products, but dreams, hopes, and wishes. America is the land of oppurtunity because it is the land of want. It is a place where anyone can go to find what they are looking for. It is a place where everyone is bound by societies image rather than by society itself. A billboard along a highway says more to us than the daily newspaper calling to us about the distant affais of the old world and it's strife. America is competition. I want more than you.