Nov 22, 2009

"America" by Jean Baudrillard (A Response)

America
“It is the only object (the human body) on which everyone is made to concentrate, not as a
source of pleasure, but as an object of frantic concern, in the obsessive fear of failure or substandard
performance, a sign and an anticipation of death, that death to which no one can any longer give
meaning, but which everyone know has at all times to be prevented.” Quoted from the book America
by Jean Baudrillard. I have always had similar thoughts in line with this thought from Baudrillard. That
people are so afraid of death, something that is natural and will happen, that it is always seen as a bad
thing. I can't speak for all cultures, but I know that in the States death is considered to be bad.
Yes, the loss of a loved one is sad, and thats not to say I wont grieve over my parents, but there
is part of me that understands that death is supposed to happen. If everyone was immortal and was
squirting out babies like “Octo-Mom” or that Mormon family with 16+ kids the world would be
grossly over populated. We wouldn't have even made it this far in history if people were some how
immortal. Though not even that, people living for 200 years would offset some pretty big balances.
Look at us now with people living till they are 100+ years old. With the advancements in medicine, we
have been able to extend life and save life where once we were unable to, but at what cost? The world
is slowly growing in population everyday. The CIA Factbook estimated in 2009 that the world human
population is increased by 220,980 people every day. What we really need to worry about now is
radical PETA members who start killing humans to protect the animals. Which is funny to say cause
technically speaking we are animals.