Thoughts on Feed invading my brain

So, I’m getting dressed this morning, listening to the Today show and a woman is on promoting a book--- something like Everything Goes with Green. The book is about small steps each of us can take to protect the environment and to protect ourselves from the effects of harmful chemicals in our everyday lives. Apparently, this woman’s young son became extremely ill (I only caught the end of the story) as a result of chemicals that are in all of our homes –cleaning, personal care and home maintenance. She discontinued use of the products and he has been healthy since. The EPA gave a statement that it cannot be determined what quantity of the chemicals is dangerous to human health. As if that is supposed to make this mother feel better – obviously some quantity is bad for human health we just are not sure what that quantity is yet.

This got me thinking about Feed and the environment it portrays. The forests are gone. The ocean is toxic. You have to wear a protective suit to play in the sand on the beach. People are developing lesions as a result of the toxic environment. Are we headed in that direction? Would our government hide from us the obvious dangers caused to the environment by our consumerist behavior? Would we, as a society, be blind to the danger preferring to pursue pleasure and economic gain?

Feed may be a hyperbole, but if we believe Al Gore, it’s not that far from where we are headed. We, as a global society, are consuming our natural resources without replenishing them. Despite efforts by public watch groups and government agencies, corporations still are allowed to pollute the environment because it is economically not feasible for them to operate in an ecologically safe way. Our government assures us with platitudes such as those provided to the author cited above … everything is being done to protect us, there is no evidence of what quantity of these chemicals are bad for human health… the same 1984-style doublespeak used in Feed to keep people from becoming overly concerned about their world’s problems.

In Feed, Anderson pokes fun at our gullibility, not only in our belief in our government but also in our trust in corporate America. Through his use of the lesions, for example, Anderson shows the influence of advertising through the media and the influence of celebrities. Instead of an extremely frightening epidemic, the feed, through the use of popular celebrities and advertisement, turned the lesions into a fashion statement. This reduced public fear and made desirable and otherwise unattractive condition. In the same way, Anderson seems to say that if the advertising is good, society will accept just about any unacceptable condition more readily.

I see more people than ever trying to do the right things to protect our environment whenever they can. I hope that this helps. I hope our government does what it is supposed to do with regard to enforcing environmental regulations and I sincerely hope that at least some corporations put the environment before the bottom line at least some of the time.