What Is The New American Reality?

Reality show survivors eating mealy worms and bugs to win a competition, cartoon video game characters using guns and swords to kill each other, lonely people developing virtual friendships on the Internet, and politicians espousing their version of the truth: are these all new forms of reality that the American public has come to accept as fact today?

Whose reality is it anyway? Is it the reality of the producers of reality shows, the script writers of video games, the originators of Internet networking Web sites, or the talking points of government officials hoping to get elected, gone awry? Perhaps it is all of these things combined into what is presented as fact to the viewers and readers of these varied forms of modern day communications.

Modern day forms of communication such as radio, TV, magazines, newspapers, blogs, and video games serve as agents that afford us the opportunity to process information and interpret what is being said to us as we wish, coloring the so called facts as we desire, forming judgments as our minds eye dictates, and allowing politicians to convince us of the truth that they hold is self evident.

Deciding what is real and what is a public relations effort devoted to fostering ones program or position is not an easy task. The truth is it has never been easy to determine what reality is. Methods have always been available to distort the truth, prejudice our sensibilities and confuse our ability to reason. Modern forms of communication have only served to intensify the ability to distort the facts and speed up their delivery to the general public. The methods may have changed, but the ability to distort, alter, and shape the version of reality that we perceive to be the truth remain the same, and make it difficult to grasp what reality really is in America.

Americans today run the same risk of being misinformed, or just plain lied to that they were exposed to over two hundred years ago. Going back to the founding of our nation, people were being told things which were put in evidence as facts, and which have not stood the test of time. The real difference is that today, modern forms of communication have made it easier and quicker to disseminate misinformation, but have also provided the mechanism for uncovering distortions of fact on an almost instantaneous basis.

Bloggers on the Internet will pick up any misrepresentation of the facts immediately after they are presented, and then provide a correction based on what they believe to be true – their own version of reality. Cable TV news shows will via with each other to tell the American public whose version of reality is the correct one on a daily basis. Newspapers will endorse a particular party line depending on whether they hold a democratic or republican viewpoint. Magazines will use their political orientation to promote their own point of view. Competing video games will challenge each other over whose version of death and destruction is the right one to accomplish the complete virtual annihilation of an imagined enemy. Scientists will tell us what they believe reality is based on what they consider to be physical facts of the universe based on formulas, which themselves are based on theories not facts. Religious leaders will tell us what reality is based on their interpretation of what the bible says. But who amongst us can take as gospel which one of their varying interpretations is the only one that we should accept as real.

What is the average citizen to do? Who can you believe? Which version of the various realities one is offered a steady diet of is the truth? I think the real question should be is anyone really looking for reality anymore, or do we just want to hear and see what calms us down, makes us feel good, and assures us that we are doing the right thing.

Make no mistake about it; the new American reality is anything you want it to be. It can be a belief that we are spreading democracy by invading Iraq or Afghanistan. It can be justifying getting divorced rather than staying faithful to ones marriage vows when the going gets rough because of the catchall excuse of incompatibility. It can be an individual being absolutely convinced that only his or her path to God is the right one. It can be the concept that social equality is a form of liberalism, or that the whole concept is a misconception. It can be the ability to confuse want and desire with real need. It can be any and all of these things and much more. The new reality for Americans today is what you make of the information that is put before you. It is whatever you want to believe.

The new reality for Americans today is that as we develop and refine our ability to separate what we believe to be fiction from fact, as we refine our capacity to reason, we will have the opportunity to become more united as one nation, more dedicated to searching out the real truth, and more capable of creating a new reality that will be in our common interest. We can develop a belief system that will provide us with the strength to survive and prosper as one people with different versions of what reality really is, but with a shared vision of what we want our future to be. We can seize the opportunity to make the new American reality a force for good.

The new American reality can be a clarion call for a better future for ourselves, our children, and all the people of the world. It can be a manifestation of our innate desire to have peace. We may reach this new reality through different paths, and by reaching different conclusions about the facts as they are represented to us, but we can share a common goal of drawing a conclusion that will be in the best interests of all of us.

We may differ in our interpretation of the facts and what the new American reality really is, but we can all come together in a common desire to make our American dream come true. That’s what the new American reality should be about, turning dreams into a reality that will help each of us attain our goals in life, changing prejudices that have kept us from realizing our dreams, forming bonds that will protect us from the evils of terrorism, and sharing a common virtue instilled in us by our Creator.

Perhaps the most important part of the new American reality has been shaped in our minds by the natural disasters and acts of terrorism, which have befallen our people. We cannot change this part of the reality that we know to be true, but we can find a better way to deal with our problems in the future. If the new American reality is to be one of great promise, if it is to be within our grasp, we must find it in our hearts to accept that which we cannot change, and to change what inhibits us from achieving true greatness as a nation. We must exhibit the courage to believe that what we stand for as a people is real and has true merit.

We must find a better way to create a new American reality based on the common understanding that one person’s reality may not necessarily be the same as another’s. Sometimes we will have to compromise if we want to see our dreams of a new American reality take place. Sometimes we will have to take each other’s good intentions on faith.

The new American reality is within each and every one of us. It holds the potential for providing us with a new perspective that will allow everyone to participate in the great adventure that the new American reality is becoming. It gives us the opportunity to discover the last great frontier of a new world where reality is in the mind of the beholder. It gives each individual a chance to determine what his or her reality is. It gives you a choice of what you want to believe in.

You get to decide what’s real.

Who Am I – Who Are You?

Do you sometimes wonder if you are real, if the world we live in is real, or are we all part of some virtual reality game being master minded by some alien game master for his or her own purposes?

Do you get the nagging feeling that you’ve been here and done the same thing before?

Do people you just meet remind you of someone you remember or thought you knew?

Are you repeating the same mistakes, having the same emotions, worrying about the same old fears? Thinking the same old thoughts?

How do you know that you are real and not just some bit player in a universal game being controlled by a game master for his or her own entertainment.

Maybe the game master is what we think of as God. How do we know the truth? How can we be sure we are real?

Maybe we are all part of some giant quantum computer simulation. Are new age computer techniques ruling our lives?

Is everything we do preordained? Maybe our lives and our thoughts are being manipulated by a supreme being, but to what purpose?

Are we here merely for his entertainment or do we serve a higher purpose? Why bother with all this scurrying around: falling in and out of love, having children, having illicit affairs, having evil thoughts, trying to make a difference, trying to be successful, searching for recognition, craving acceptance, feeling pain, feeling joy.

If we’re not really here than how can we make a difference?

So many questions and what I really crave are answers, but how do I know that I really want the answers. Maybe the answers are to frightening for us to contemplate. Maybe we don’t want to know the truth.

And whose truth is it? Is its God’s truth? Am I real because I believe in Him?

I like to think I can make choices in my life. The choice I make is to believe in God and believe I’m real. It’s a matter of faith. It’s a matter of personal belief. It’s a matter of religious indoctrination. It’s a matter of spiritual conviction. It’s a matter of how I choose to live my life. It’s my reality.

What other choice do we really have?


Hi, this is Arthur Levine, the author of the novel Johnny Oops. To read more of Johnny’s views please access http://johnnyoops.blogspot.com

We Are Becoming A Nation Of Skinny Zombies

The government knows best. It is now telling us what to eat, when to work, how to get healthy, what drinks we can take to cure our thirst, how much we should weigh and on and on and on. New Czars, new committees, new councils, new regulations: the government is going to tell us how to live, what to do and when. We are becoming a nation of skinny Zombies walking through life at a shuffling pace as we leave it to the government to do the thinking for us.

Help!

No more junk food, no more addictive drugs, no more smoking, no more drinking: what is there left for us to do? Are they going to ration the number of children we have next so we can afford the social entitlements like government sponsored healthcare that we are being forced to accept against our will.

The government’s new motto is TAX, Tax, Tax, and Trust Us you don’t know how to manage your life, Big Brother knows best. Big Brother knows how to redistribute our wealth. What happens when they decide it’s your wealth that needs redistributing next?

HELP!

What happened to our rights? I think us citizens need an Amnesty type program like the illegal immigrants are going to be offered so that we may be allowed to think for ourselves once again.

Who legislated away our right to think and breath free? Whose greater good are we working for: the people that administer the government? I want out of this nightmare of legislative frenzy and administrative over think.

I want my vote and my opinion and yours to count again. Even the people that are fine with what the government is doing are going to wake up one day and wonder why their children don’t have any rights to their own destiny, and what happened to their freedom, but it may be to late.

HELP!

When are we going to come to our senses as a Nation and fight back at the ballot box? When are we going to decide to elect Congress men and women who represent us not a misguided political elite? When are we going to return to the principals our founding fathers inculcated in the constitution to protect our individual rights?

When are we going to come together as a free people and say No More? No more government control. No more government taking away our freedoms. No more government telling us what is best for us. No more having our wishes disregarded by our Congress and the Administration.

Enough is enough.

It is time to start Helping ourselves.

Johnny's Worried

Johnny hears that Medicare patients are going to be limited to one test instead of getting four or five to find out what's wrong with them. What happens if the first and only test is wrong or doesn't show the problem?

You know what happens. You're screwed.

I guess the current administration has decided it's time for the older generation who have paid medicare taxes all their lives to give up the health care they thought they were going to get to make room for younger uninsured people who haven't worked for long, or don't work at all.

Doesn't seem fair.

So?

So what are you going to do about it?

How Do You Know You Are Real?

Please feel free to use this article as long as you give credit to the resource box.
© Copyright Arthur Levine 2010
Words: 438
Keywords: Real, Worthwhile, Love, Faith, Dreams, God




How do you know if you are any good at whatever it is that you like doing?

How do you know if the person you love really loves you back?

How do you know if what you are doing is worthwhile?

How do you know that God is real?

How do you know if you are real?

How do you find the faith to follow your dreams?

How do you know if you’re doing the right thing?

How do you know what the future has in store for you?

How do you know how to make choices and avoid doing evil?


I guess none of us have all the answers



I guess the answer to all of the above questions are to follow your instincts. If you don’t believe in yourself and what you are doing, how are you ever going to succeed?


We can rely on various experts and even on the search function of Internet Companies such as Google and Yahoo and Bing, but in the final analysis, the only ones we can rely on to help us find the answers to our questions and help us solve the questions that are plaguing so many of us are ourselves.

We have to learn to have faith in our abilities and follow our instincts. We have to learn to believe in God without questioning whether He is real or not. We have to care about others so that they can find it in their hearts to care about us.

We have to believe in ourselves and the choices we make so that we may know that we are real, and serve a worthwhile function, and have a purpose in life, and have a unique promise to fulfill for ourselves and our loved ones.

If you do all you can do, you will discover that you are a worthwhile person who is entitled to believe in yourself. You will find confirmation that you are good at what you do by the recognition of your peers, and the encouragement you receive from those that care about you. You can achieve theis confidence of faith by believing in yourself and your God, but don’t worry if you still have questions. That’s only human.



Hi, his is Arthur Levine, the author of the novel Johnny Oops. To find out more answers to your questions on how real you are, please go to http://johnnyoops.blogspot.com


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What’s My Genre?

Please feel free to use this article as long as credit is given to the resource box.
© Copyright Arthur Levine, 2010
Words: 421
Keywords: Genre, Virtual Reality, Prophet, Charlatan, Sex Maniac, Real


I feel like a cross dresser. I’m not sure in what category or categories my novel falls. The thought occurs to me that my book is having a schizoid fit. My principal character has a badly split personality, or is that just a result of the alternate reality worlds he slides in and out of with all their attendant quantum entanglements

This must be the literary equivalent of who am I and where am I going. Is Johnny Oops maturing, growing up, or devolving into a transient human being who thinks he’s a prophet and immortal?

Maybe Johnny is dwelling in different virtual reality worlds that suit his purpose at any one particular time. Maybe the world he lives in is all too real for the level of inner turmoil he is capable of dealing with. Perhaps this is Johnny’s way of protecting himself from his sexual excesses.

The sex maniac in him seems to come in undulating quantum waves as his qubits are distorted by passion and insecurity. Johnny wants it, needs it, and has to have sex with a whole bunch of beautiful women, but to what end? Is this the human weakness in the Guru or is he just a Charlatan at heart?

Tumbling from one world to the next reality, Johnny doesn’t know if he is real, or the puppet to some super intelligent Game Master. Is he part of a speculative fantasy? Is this the coming of age process for a Genius? Do other people have an inner self that’s one foot tall and dresses in a Boy Scout uniform? Do his love scenes trump his deification, and his human transgressions prevent his salvation and redemption?

Why does Johnny question his relevance? Does he have so many second comings or near misses or rebirths because he is in effect a messenger of God, as he sometimes believes? How do you classify Johnny when he jumps from one sense of reality to the next in a flash of emotional response to whatever force is driving him on to try and change the world we live in – which ever world that happens to be at that particular moment in time. How does Johnny fit in when he doesn’t really think that he does? Is this madness, debauchery of the soul, or the refinement of a life well spent?


Hi, this is Arthur Levine the author of the novel Johnny Oops about a young man who can’t decide if he is a Prophet or a Sex Maniac or a Charlatan. Find out more at http://johnnyoops.blogspot.com.