Chris Hedges on Virtual Worlds and Deception

"Is any of it real? I mean, look at this, look at it! A world built on fantasy! Synthetic emotions in the form of pills! Psychological warfare in the form of advertising! Mind altering chemicals in the form of food! Brainwashing seminars in the form of media! Controlled isolated bubbles in the form of social networks. Real? You want to talk about reality? We haven't lived in anything remotely close to it since the turn of the century! We turned it off, took out the batteries, snacked on a bag of GMOs, while we tossed the remnants into the ever expanding dumpster of the human condition. We live in branded houses, trademarked by corporations, built on bipolar numbers, jumping up and down on digital displays, hypnotizing us into the biggest slumber mankind has ever seen. You'd have to dig pretty deep, kiddo, before you can find anything real. We live in a kingdom of bullshit, that even you have lived in for far too long. So don't tell me about not being real: I'm no less real than the fucking beef patty in your big mac. As far as you are concerned, Elliot, I am very real. We are all together now, whether you like it or not." Christian Slater

"This is going to be an unpopular truth, especially in the extremely delusional and deceived world we now live in. But the reality is this: none of what is going on outside is getting better. Nothing improves. Everything in our world feels fake. Our food is fake. Our news is fake. Our politicians are fake. Our history is fake. Even our financial system feels fake. And the people on our TV screens, on our phone screens — they’re lying to us, because everything is like a scripted movie. If you want to believe the absolute garbage that is being spoon-fed to us, then that is your prerogative. But I would hope that by now — five years into this very odd new world, this strange reality we’re living in — most of us have started to recognize that something deeper is going on. Something more sinister. Something more… spiritual, even, behind the scenes. I’ve reached a point where I literally don’t believe anything I see anymore. Nothing. Because after the last five years — maybe a bit more — it’s become clear to me that narratives are being pushed. Distractions are being manufactured. And in the end… we are watching a movie." ashleyhays2.0