This is another book that Tezcatlipoca wanted me to read. The title caught my eye, since I’m in the fantasy business myself. Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire, A 500-Year History. Hmm. Could this Kurt Andersen guy have something here? It called to me from the library shelves, but do I have the time?
Then I saw it super-cheap at Goodwill. Okay, okay, I can take a hint, you don’t have to send a nagual with a copy in its fangs to my door . . .
The good news is the American Dream is Alive and well, so sorry about that Hunter S. Thompson. The bad news is, it’s not what most people think it is.
It goes back over 500 years. When the Europeans “discovered” the so-called New World and decided that it was uninhabited even though people lived there. If you don’t consider them human, it looked empty. New. Ripe for the taking and filling up with . . . DREAMS!
The Founding Fathers had a fantasy of a world without kings, and their 13 colonies weren’t big enough, so they took most of the northern continent. People from all over liked the idea that you could be free to believe anything you want. The fantasy-industrial complex was born.
From that perspective, American history makes sense. It’s the one thing that all American dreamers, from hippies to Puritans, have in common. Fantasyland is possibly the best American history book ever.
There are problems with this. One is that this diversity of dreams leads to conflict—a lot of these beliefs-systems want to destroy all others. Your utopia is always someone else dystopia—and when you believe in something that doesn’t jibe with reality, sooner or later, something’s gotta give.
Our technology allows you to fine-tune your input so you seem to be living the dream of your choice, and everything else is just Fake News. People are also capable of believing anything. But as Philip K. Dick said, “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it doesn’t go away.”
I’ve said that in elections we vote for the future we’d prefer. Politicians are the sales force of the fantasy-industrial complex. They are just as delusional as the voters/consumers.
And a side-effect is that nowadays people will believe anything. Especially if it appeals to your hopes and desires. What you want to hear is always hard to reject.
Yes, I’m talking about Trump, and so does Anderson.
A country running on fantasy is doomed. Like it or not, policies—like the best fantasies—need to be rooted in reality. As a science fiction writer, I know that well. We need a reality-based America, society, civilization.
I’m not saying that we should stop pursuing dreams–that is, after all, what really makes America great—but we need to keep in touch with reality. I’m reminded of an Islamic saying, “Trust in Allah, but tie up your camel.”
Meanwhile the fantasy-industrial complex keeps grinding out product, we’re stuck in a world of clashing fantasies, and reality isn’t going away.
Do you know where your camel is?
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