The Century of Self

The BBC had a series a few months back called the century of self. I have started watching it on download and have seen 2 of the 4 episodes which so far has covered the turn of the century up until the start of the 1960s. It talks about Public Relations (meaning that a consumer is sold something they want rather than need) and then the effect of psycho-analysis on many areas of life including government trying to repress people's 'irrational' hidden feelings in order to prevent terrible events like Nazi Germany.

One of the most interesting points that has been made is that consumerism is a form of control exerted over the population. By telling people that they want your products, you provide an anaesthetic to life in general. The people feel like their needs are being met so they stay quiet and don't interfere with society (in a negative way). It was seen as essential to democracy although several people pointed out that the opposite is true and it is a form of control to maintain an authoritarian state - even if it has a democratic form. Any distractions the governments of a country can produce help to keep the masses under control.

I then saw today that Sony are releasing Playstation Home, an online multi-player virtual reality where you can create an avatar for yourself (a graphical 3d person) and then interact with other people who are controlled by real people somewhere in the world. Of course this is pure fantasy. How many people who are overweight/underweight or unattractive will simply produce an avatar looking like Tom Cruise or Penelope Cruz and live out a lie online to avoid their real life. How sad it is that the businesses are actively promoting something that like the BBC documentary makes people avoid real issues in life which are 1) dealing with problems you have and 2) doing something positive for others. Consumerism like online role-playing games do neither.

As a Christian, I think that the only way to achieve either to any degree is by letting Jesus deal with your issues either once or ongoing depending on the issue and then for a positive affect, telling others that God wants to help them too. Of course being a Christian is not allowed anymore!!! It is wrong to tell people that Jesus is the only way to get genuine contentment but if what He said in the Bible is true then He is the only way to 100% peace in life. He is the Son of God and told us that He was the only way to God so there isn't really much room for debate there. It often makes me chuckle when a mere human being says that Jesus was wrong or mis-quoted, how terribly unqualified compared to God are we to have any strong opinions! As someone said in a book I read recently, if there is any doubt as to whether something is what we think or what God says, it is much safer to go with God's point of view :)