Psuedo-Events and the Devolution of the United States of America, pt. I

Daniel J. Boorstin literally wrote the book on what he termed pseudo-events, “a synthetic novelty which has flooded our experience” with seemingly false happenings that have been formed in order to engage public interest, essentially selling not just newspapers but ideologies and beliefs. Since the dawn of these concocted happenings, they have been used to pressure public perception along a gradient of the seemingly innocuous to the politically diabolical. 

Qualifying characteristics of a pseudo-event are that they are not spontaneous; they are planted for the sole purpose of being made news and therefore a commodity; its ambiguous relation to what truly happened creates a level of fantasy; and is intended to “be a self- fulfilling prophecy” in that it seeds a collective idea — a meme, if you will– that, through collective illusion, becomes at least ideologically real. That is to say, there need not be any truth to anything relating to a pseudo-event — in fact, that would negate the “pseudo” aspect of it. The point is that the event itself will determine what is real for people. 

The common person cannot imagine that those in power would ever intentionally engage in these forms of manipulation and control, however billions of dollars are spent on mind control every year. Instead of calling it mind control, however, we now refer to it as marketing. Because we live in a capitalist society, all institutions are subject to the power of the dollar — America’s true religion & sovereign. For this reason, that sector that was meant to serve the people — the press– has been subsumed into the monied elite’s tool kit just as every other institution has. 

We can look at Citizen Kane by Orson Welles which is based on media magnate, William Randolph Hearst as an example of this. Kane’s power of the people through his media empire was enough to convince him that he ought to be president, an aspiration that proved to be beyond him due to the double edged nature of the weapon that is the pen. Kane’s affair with a younger woman was outed by a rival and this desecrated his chances at winning the election. His wife and son left him, and he was forced to take his young lover on more seriously. He used the power of his newspapers to create an empty career for her that she hated, and they both became laughing stocks.

People have always understood the power of controlling public perception and illusions are something that have existed in every culture and have been used by every faction of power. People do not appreciate honest politicians in their time; they want the illusion as it brings them comfort from the sometimes painful nature of the world. They choose the best looking, most fit person to lead them, even if they know that that person doesn’t know what they’re talking about or is merely a puppet.

We have been given free reign to have absurdly disproportionate expectations which are generally unmanageable and constantly being inflated by the news media. We are admittedly delusional and moreover, we are addicted to our collective delusions, denigrating and crucifying anyone who should try to disabuse us of them. The introduction and much of the first part of chapter one of Boorstin’s book are about this addiction to fantasy and how we as the citizens, constituents, and consumers of this multi-billion dollar machine merrily feed it our power and agency in return for more ignorance and confusion daily. News has become a commodity, and it is manufactured and reproduced at large every day. 

Take for instance the 45th President of the United States. When he began campaigning nobody believed that he would get far because he had no political career or legacy to tap into, however his ability to suck up all the air in a room and demand attention was enough to keep him in the public eye as his constituency grew. His sociopathy came in handy then as he became a larger than life personality, which appealed to those cowardly lot who had been intimidated by Barack Obama’s presidency. This is not to say that charm and appeal are diabolical, because President Obama and President John F. Kennedy both possessed such attributes. This is also not to absolve President Obama of being a war criminal. It is simply to say that an industry like the news, which has always been intertwined with the political playing field and has sadly devolved into another form of entertainment, is the prime space for a megalomaniac. 

Entertainment media is the perfect space for a cult of personality to proliferate and 45 has all the markings of a cult leader. It is no wonder that he was able to use his celebrity to bandy a cult of personality that would become a tidal wave of political power and catapult him to a position that is widely known as the leader of the free world to the detriment of all global citizens. The political climate of 2009 – 2017 was disillusioning to anybody who would support 45 — it showed that the world was progressing out of the colonial framework that dominated society and institutions alike. 

Those who felt comforted and empowered in this framework felt marginalized at the potential liberation of those they and their ancestors’ existence had oppressed for the past several hundred years. Change is frightening. This cocktail of fear, insecurity, and dishonesty supported by the news media — who have economic interest in public anxiety– were the perfect powder keg for 45’s disastrously explosive personality & behavior to finally bring to fore the civil unrest that boiled beneath the surface of this country’s epidermis.

I have been watching more news in the past few days than I have in years while visiting my aunts in Maryland, and that is because I avoid the news as I know that it is a most insidious and diabolical agent of misinformation that deteriorates mental health & wellness. What I can say honestly is that I truly believe that the progression of news media as cataloged by Boorstin– this smoke & mirrors arena is exactly what has created the environment in which someone like 45 can exist and successfully complete even one term of presidency. And that makes the media — those who were venerated and given constitutional protection as servants of the people– the real enemy of the people.