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JonathanBoyerSecondPaper 12 - 03 Feb 2010 - Main.JonathanBoyer
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*UNDER CONSTRUCTION* | | |
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< | David Foster Wallace's highly acclaimed novel, Infinite Jest, revolves around the unknown whereabouts of the master-copy of a film so seductive and pleasure-inducing that its viewers invariably lose all interest in anything other than its perpetual viewing (a scenario perhaps not entirely far-fetched). As a kind of psychological weapon of mass destruction, the captivating power of the film exposes a precarious tension between maintaining respect for freedom of "choice" in the Oh-so-American pursuit of happiness, sacrosanct on the one hand, and advocating for appropriate government intervention on the other, i.e., when the choices of an orphan citizenry beg for parental guidance -- when by reason of undue influence or moral turpitude the citizenry is deemed incapable of choosing for itself. Salty snacks for example. | >
> | David Foster Wallace's highly acclaimed novel, Infinite Jest, revolves around the unknown whereabouts of the master-copy of a film so seductive and pleasure-inducing that its viewers invariably lose all interest in everything but its perpetual viewing (a scenario perhaps not entirely far-fetched). As a kind of psychological weapon of mass destruction, the captivating power of the film exposes a precarious tension between maintaining respect for freedom of "choice" in the Oh-so-American pursuit of happiness, sacrosanct on the one hand, and advocating for appropriate government intervention on the other, i.e., when the choices of an orphan citizenry beg for parental guidance -- when by reason of undue influence or moral turpitude the citizenry is deemed incapable of choosing for itself. Salty snacks for example. | | |
Of course, this calls for an explanation of what terms like "choice," "freedom," and "autonomy" mean, a task which can leave even the fittest and most dexterous of minds exhausted and stretch-torn. Perhaps only in the contexts of outright coercion and total elimination of options is the issue of autonomy vs. unfreedom relatively simple: | | | "Get real. The [irresistible] Entertainment isn't candy or beer . . . You can't compare this kind of insidious enslaving process to your little cases of sugar and soup." --p. 430 | |
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< | Freedom from; freedom to. Freedom from government-induced extinction of those joyfully enslaving McDonald? 's jingles, 3am get-rich-quick advertisements, and creepily strategic facebook ads. Versus freedom to live one's adult life without excessive temptation -- a kind of autonomy via elimination of coercion. If the heralded absoluteness of American freedom, at least for adults, exists as an entirely singular dimension of freedom-from, the tension can be cut with a plastic spoon. Get American or get real. Get to them while they're young, one might say, because a prevailing attitude says that only children need protection. "Adults" in America have a right to encounter infinite seduction and, if they so choose to indulge, the fruits of any and all insidious pleasures? | >
> | Freedom from; freedom to. Freedom from government-forced extinction of those joyfully enslaving MCDonald's jingles, 3am get-rich-quick commercials, and those creepily strategic facebook ads that kindly remind us of pleasures we might otherwise live life without, emptily. As entirely opposed to the so called freedom to live one's adult life without excessive temptation -- a kind of autonomy via elimination of coercion. Does one more accurately represent the kind of American "freedom" often trumpeted boldly and certainly with seemingly unbreakable religiosity, or is there room to experiment and find a miscible balance?
If the heralded absoluteness of American freedom, at least for adults, exists as an entirely singular dimension of freedom-from, the tension can be cut with a plastic spoon. Get American or get real. Or get to them while they're young, one might say, because a prevailing attitude maintains that only children need protection. "Adults" in America have a right to encounter infinite seduction unfettered and, if they so choose, to indulge the fruits of any and all insidious pleasures? | | | |
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