Linda Bowles' Weekly Column
If your local newspaper does not feature Linda Bowles' column, you should ask why.
05 MAY 98 - Eric Fromm, internationally acclaimed social philosopher and psychologist, viewed the novel 1984 by George Orwell as a warning "that unless the course of history changes, men all over the world will lose their most human qualities, will become soulless automatons, and will not even be aware of it."
George Orwell's story takes place in a futuristic society where the minds, emotions and bodies of citizens are under the tyrannical control of Big Brother. One of the techniques of mind management used by this totalitarian state is to fabricate a loathsome threat to the national well being -- and then have Bog Brother step forward to protect the people from it.
Every day, workers are required to gather in groups to participate in a Two Minute Hate. The face of a hideous enemy, known only as Goldstein, is projected onto a huge screen. Goldstein is the epitome of evil; he is "the primal traitor, the earliest defiler of the Party's purity."
These Two Minute Hate periods are orgies of screaming emotional outbursts. People curse and rail and throw things at the leering image of Goldstein. Then, at a moment when the rage and fear has reached a climax, Big Brother appears on the screen, speaking words of encouragement and reassurance. His powerful presence wipes away the threat of the enemy.
A typical reaction is that of a woman in the audience who cries aloud, "My savior!" and extends her arms toward the screen. All is well once again. Big Brother has made it so.
Orwell's description of government deceit and manipulation in the future is background for a discussion of government deceit and manipulation in the present. The subject is tobacco. For purposes of this discussion, substitute "Joe Camel" for Goldstein and "Big Bubba" for Big Brother.
Before continuing, let's get the usual obligatory disclaimers out of the way. Tobacco products are harmful. Those who smoke tobacco should stop. Those who do not smoke should never start. We need to do something to prevent our children from ever lighting up that first cigarette. The people in the tobacco industry who have committed crimes should be indicted and tried.
Having agreed on these points and principles, it's time to talk plainly and think realistically about the implications of our government's approach to solving the problem of smoking.
What we have in view are proposals that have very little to do with curing the ills of tobacco. What we see is a scheme by government autocrats to takeover a private industry, plunder its wealth, raise taxes -- and look like heroes in the process.
It is a scam. For the scam to work, tobacco executives must be demonized. It must be repeated over and over again that every dirty dollar they own came from selling death-dealing, addictive drugs to hapless adults and innocent children.
These cold-hearted tobacco moguls don't deserve what they have and being stripped of it is pure justice.
It is a format for the advancement of tyranny. Where will Big Bubba next focus our hate? Will it be on those responsible for secondhand exhaust fumes from oversized autos and trucks? Will it be on parents who smoke in homes where children are present? And how about those filthy meat packers, greedy pharmaceutical houses and liquor barons? How about Ronald McDonald as a target?
The opportunities for the government to further intrude into our lives, with our enthusiastic consent, is boundless.
It is frightening that for the scam to work we the people have to view ourselves as victims, needy and powerless, and convinced that the true causes of our problems are out there somewhere, not inside ourselves.
This sense of helplessness impels us to exchange our freedoms for security. We have given politicians and bureaucrats a mandate to pass laws and institute programs premised upon our helplessness, our dependency and our incompetence.
Eric Fromm wrote a book called Escape From Freedom, in which he takes exception to the conventional view that mankind always struggles to be free.
He points out that freedom carries with it the considerable risks and substantial burdens of self-responsibility. Many people, he says, perhaps most, are desperately searching -- not for independence but for some person, institution or government willing to take care of them, assume their burdens, make their decisions and give them packaged answers to life's questions.
How lucky we are that Big Bubba stands ready to answer our prayers, assume our burdens and take crib-to-tomb responsibility not only for ourselves, but for our children and our parents, as well.
How long will it be before our gratitude is such that at the very sight of the beneficent Big Bubba, we will be unable to resist extending our arms and crying out, "My savior!"
