I pod therefore I am!
I fear that the late-capitalist technocratic society is becoming just like the iPod. The iPod allows you to carry many more tunes than you’ll ever need on one journey or even before the batteries fails.
The latest models allow you to carry 60 GB’s of music (that’s 15,000 songs or about 1000 CDs). This reminds me of our dear consumption driven society. We desire and have many more things than we could ever need, but still we are not happy. We are driven (especially during the December months on the run up to Consumptmas Day) to buy things for our loved ones that they probably do not want or even care about. And yet we see starvation, poverty and disease reported daily in our newspapers and on the TV. Do not misunderstand me; our generosity towards these plights can be overwhelming. But still this generosity is the product of a reductionist mindset. We give not to solve these problems but to alleviate our own conscious; to make ourselves feel better about the most deprived within our societies. If we truly cared then we would reform the very institutions that cause these problems; the very world economy that traps these people in poverty. Yet we do not do this. This is because of our second commonality with the Ipod
The Ipod allows us to switch off. To listen to music and ignore the events unfolding around us. We no longer have to listen to the homeless woman begging for spare change in the street, or the person crying out for help. This is our neo-liberal attitude at its cruellest.
We must also not forget that, this Christmas, those fighting in the shops for one of the remaining precious Ipods, do not desire one just to listen to mp3’s but so they will look “cool”. the Ipod has become a much desired item not just because of what it does but how it looks. Our attitude towards one another is similar. We no longer care about other peoples’ emotions, only their appearance. This is neo-liberalism at its crudest. What has become of humanity? Is this the world we want?
It is no mistake that there is a I in Ipod; it is the symbol of our own selfishness. We have the power to unite, let us work towards that goal. This is my Christmas message to the people of our great lands. Enjoy your mince pie and, of course, your fancy new Ipod.