There is a subtle yet ubiquitous attribute of our existence in society, which molds our minds and controls our activities, but can be used for great benefit as well. Speak do I of the Force? No. The Matrix? Negative. I am talking about cultural engineering.

Two good examples of cultural engineering are traffic lights and propaganda. I consider propaganda as including everything from TV commercials of William Shatner singing, to press releases of George W. sticking his tongue out at the Senate.

Usually, propaganda is that which tries to convince us of how things are; whether it be the necessity of a product or the benevolence of the federal government. One might consider the law as well, as it does curb some elements of society.

For instance, one is not encouraged to ride naked with a six pack and three unlicensed rifles in the bed of a pickup truck with no exhaust pipe up Interstate 93 at 13 MPH (at least not until you get to New Hampshire).

Now that you know it exists, how can you use cultural engineering to your advantage?

Be a cynic. Get information (or disinformation) from more than one source. If the Chinese knew back in the 50s and 60s what they know now, would Mao Zedong have been able to control billions of people to do whatever he wanted?

The point is, you are being programmed. Americans are not lemmings, but they are still gullible.

The question is, do you care that you are being manipulated? You might not, if your standard of living is high.

Watch out for new gimmicks by the government and large corporations. However, you might show support for some ideas. Here are a few examples of ways society could be enhanced:

-The Bad Pun Tax of 2002

-Recommended Daily Allowance of the word “like”

-The Baggy Pants Regulatory Commission

-Cone of Silence Kiosks

-Deification of the Osbournes

-Ban all photos of milk mustaches, real or staged

-National Squirrel-kabob Ad Council

-New MPAA Rating of “DUH” for movies that actually make you more stupid.

I am sure you can think of a few yourself. Remember, you might not be able to adjust the picture, but you can always throw the TV out the window. Now I leave you with the words of Unicron:

“Destroy the Matrix.”