We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

The Age Of Mass Distraction

by Active Minds

/
1.
The Seeker 06:43
I have looked into the future, and I don’t like what I saw - the wreckage of the lives of innocents washed up on the shore. I have looked into the faces of the ones who are to blame - who sacrifice the lives of others like the pieces of a game. Just as the past has always been, so will be the future unless we intervene. And as we now sow, then so shall we reap. A handful of herdsmen. A nation of sheep. I have looked for signs of progress in the things that matter most. I have seen faint signs of justice - as fleeting as a ghost. I have seen the mounds of plenty that are never fairly shared. I’ve searched the corridors of power trying to find someone who cared. I have looked hard for a reason, but no matter how hard I stare I’ve had to come to the conclusion that there is no reason there. I’ve been asking for an answer to the simple question: “Why, if we’re so proud of our achievements, are so many condemned to die?”
2.
Why should I give a fuck about celebrity? Why should I give a fuck about royalty? Do you think they give a fuck about you or me? They mean nothing to me and my life. Why should I give a fuck about who they wed, or about who’s sleeping in whose bed? Would it matter a shit if they all dropped dead? They mean nothing to me and my life. And the sheep contentedly graze on the turgid tabloid dross - a soap opera being played out upon their pages, whilst the agents pull the strings of the puppets they control who play out their lives in spotlights on their stages. They mean nothing to me. Who are these people you have displayed? What contribution have they made? Will they be missed when the spotlights fade? They mean nothing to me and my life. Who are these people who seem to need a daily dose of vacuous crap to read? Don’t expect me to follow their lead. They mean nothing to me and my life.
3.
Healthy scepticism, or wishful thinking, or just people covering their ears? Can we afford to take them seriously? We don’t have the luxury of time. Are they really questioning the science, or just refusing to change?
4.
It’s so easy to be critical. It’s so easy just to moan - you can do it without having any ideas of your own. It seems that everyone’s an idiot except for you, but armchair criticism is all you ever do. So tell me, what do you believe in? What do you hold true? I’ve heard you say how shit it is, so now it’s over to you. It’s so easy to be negative - easy to deride. If you don’t put your own thoughts to the test then there’s nothing to hide. Shouting at the telly, or ranting in the bar - do you really think that’s going to get us very far?
5.
Society has lost the concept of the “quality of life” and replaced it with a new goal - the quantity you can devour. Democracy has no future in such a consumerist society when it’s the corporate marketing men who really hold the power. “I shop, therefore I am” is the philosophy of the day. If you want a life then you’re going to have to pay. “To consume is to succeed” - that’s the bullshit that we’re fed. Will you eat it ‘til it chokes you, or will you not be led? They’re marketing the shopping malls as if they’re amusement parks - “A fun day out for all the family” - see just how much you can spend. “Everything you’ll ever need under one convenient roof.” Who cares about the real world, when you can play pretend? Advertising plays on people’s insecurities and fears so that they gladly buy what they’re told, and believe they have free will. 57 varieties of the same old corporate message - we are all the victims of the triumph of the till.
6.
When you’re swimming against the tide sometimes it feels like you’re drowning - it’s much easier to go with the flow. But, if you think it’s not worth the effort - if you stop struggling and just give in, you’ll no longer be in control of where you go.
7.
I know that controversy sells papers and boosts the ratings of shows. I know controversy is newsworthy, and that’s the way it goes. So they take some total fucking clown who’s living in the dark ages, and make them a social commentator on the airwaves or news pages. But why don’t we just stop giving the oxygen of publicity to vile, bigoted opinions, as if they’re just an eccentricity? Yes, why do we pay attention to these idiots at all? The voices in the media can be very influential - putting these morons in the spotlight gives their viewpoints false credentials. Yes, controversy is entertaining - it may stop people being bored, but there are some opinions which are best to be ignored. So why don’t we just stop giving the oxygen of publicity to vile, bigoted opinions, as if they’re just an eccentricity? Yes, why don’t we just stop listening to these idiots at all?
8.
The globalisation of economics is a dream of huge corporations who want to exploit the breaking down of the barriers between nations. A single market most benefits those who have the most to sell. No trade tariffs and a single currency help them more as well. Don’t be conned into thinking that it’s benign internationalism - it’s a vital component of the growth of global capitalism.
9.
Side By Side 00:20
Neither a leader, nor a follower be. Walk beside me and be my equal.
10.
Today’s generation expect so much - we’re told that we can have it all, as if we’ve got the Midas Touch - learn to spend before we can crawl. Today’s generation are apathetic - self-interest is the philosophy of the times. Modern life has shaped those values. Consumerism pollutes our minds.
11.
No, I don’t want to follow you on Twitter. I don’t need your fancy smart-phone scan. I don’t want to know any more about this tin of beans, so why the website details on the can? So, I don’t want to follow you on Twitter and find out every single thing about you. Just because it’s possible to put everything online doesn’t mean that that’s what you should do. The world is drowning in pointless information on things about which nobody should care. Why do people put their whole lives up on Facebook? It’s not necessarily always good to share.
12.
The history of human civilisation is largely one of imperialist aggression - the power-hungry and the powerless. No wonder the world’s in such a mess. There’s no need to mourn when the empires are gone - let’s tear them all down, every last one.
13.
Some people take their vanity to the lengths of insanity, and the plastic surgeon’s knife is the dominant influence in their life. In a search for eternal youth they try to hide the truth - they clearly fear rejection if they don’t achieve perfection. How much did your face cost? How much money? How much pain? Has it made you happy, or will you do it all again? They mutilate their looks to copy pics they’ve seen in books, but those images are “corrected” so that flaws can’t be detected. The media hold up as ideal looks that simply are not real, and those who buy into this stuff feel that they just aren’t good enough.
14.
The luxuries of our forefathers are the “necessities” of today. Have you thought about the consequences if we continue in this way? Where are the resources to come from which everyone will “need” to consume? And where will we put the rubbish when there’s no longer any room? You don’t need to be particularly clever to see this can’t go on forever. We can’t take more than the Earth has to give, unless we ignore the way that others must live. Now I don’t expect people to live in absolute purity, but it’s vital that we dismantle our false sense of security. We can’t put off until tomorrow what we should have done yesterday, and we can’t expect new technologies to always show us the way. You don’t need to be particularly clever to see this can’t go on forever. Don’t try to tell me that you need more proof - just take off your blinkers and see the truth.
15.
Inside a padded cell is a man who doesn’t fit. He tried looking at the world and he couldn’t understand it. He struck out at authority because he couldn’t take any more. Meanwhile people are starving, and food is rotting behind locked doors. “Insanity” is relative to what’s perceived as the norm. If our “leaders” are the lunatics, how do we convince them they’re wrong? Power lies in the hands of industrialists and politicians. The system’s run on the basis of theft and corruption. Yet the prisons are full of people doing time for protesting against injustice or for non-payment of fines. “Crime” is relative to what’s perceived as the norm. If our “leaders” are the criminals, how do we convince them they’re wrong? If you hear “fuck” on the TV, or see nudity on the screen, then the conservative establishment will complain that it’s obscene. Meanwhile, the TV news sanitises the horrors of war. They award knighthoods for the butchery, and the public sit eager for more. “Obscenity” is relative to what’s perceived as the norm. If our “leaders” are obscene, how do we convince them they’re wrong? They’ve got away with murder right from the start, so now it’s time to confront them and tear their society apart.

credits

released August 18, 2017

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Active Minds Scarborough, UK

contact / help

Contact Active Minds

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Active Minds, you may also like: