dAPF Club
dAPF Source Library
dA Religion Forum
dA Science Forum

=====================================

In 2007, April 11th was a day that passed without many people noticing any change. I noticed one distinguished loss that meant more to me than maybe the slightly greater half of the world that is inexperienced or disinterested in what one World War II veteran had to say about humanity, dignity, and respect. That man experienced an atrocity -- the absolutely terrifying and horrific firebombing of Dresden. It was a sound he carried with him the rest of his life. It gave him a dark, often pained sense of humor about things we might otherwise not even have the courage to cry about.

That night on April 11th, I went looking for a t-shirt of his iconic self portrait from his webpage but was surprised to see only his sketch of an opened birdcage. I didn't know it but it meant he was freed. He joked once that when he dies, we all ought to rejoice that old Kurt Vonnegut is laughing at us all from heaven. The joke of course was that he championed this life -- only. The one common thread in all his novels and stories was that you get this life to do something -- so do it.

In Mother Night he evoked Nazism to remind us to be careful of what we emulate for we are what we pretend to be. In Player Piano he warned against the loss of dignity and respect to technology. In Galapagos he highlighted the absurdity of traditions and the sacred that drives us to ultimately pointless endeavors. In The Sirens of Titan he set forth his biting criticism of religions -- that we all ought to instead treat each other as unwilling participants in a random series of accidents.

In God Bless You Mr. Rosewater he championed the good will of those with the means to make the world better -- eventually that we can all be Mr. Rosewater if we can disentangle what matters from the distractions. In a host of short stories he beautifully imposed human affection to a military artillery guidance computer (EPICAC), he criticized the debilitating result of a completely egalitarian society (Harrison Bergeron), and he built a dystopian future supportive of suicide (Welcome to Monkey House). All of this in the last 40 years.

On April 11th Kurt Vonnegut died. And like the brilliant writers before him, I expected to find respectful obituaries on television. He touched millions of people with his works, his most acclaimed, Slaughterhouse Five being required reading for many high school and college students which criticized the modern ability of society to marginalize and ignore the suffering and plight of our fellow man. Instead they were content to believe that it was how life worked epitomized in the phrase, "so it goes." Imagine my shock when not one news outlet mentioned him the following day. There was nothing. Not even the cursory "Kurt Vonnegut dead." in the ticker below the anchors and pundits.

As the day drew on, I kept looking, waiting for someone to mention him. Instead, on every channel was discussion, speculation and ignorant outrage over radio personality Don Imus's "nappy headed ho" comment. I was furious. I had to dig deep online to finally find a short obituary honoring the work and achievements of Kurt Vonnegut -- the man who championed humanity and respect in the face of abject horror and indignity in the world. His life and his writings, and now of course his death were the perfect juxtaposition of these things. But this indignity, the ability of the entire television news media to be absolutely paralyzed by the FCC's puritanical censorship and the single phrase 'nappy headed ho' when one of the worlds greatest writers lay newly dead, I could not stand.

News on television had been spiraling out of control for years by April 12th. Where CNN had fought their way to the top during the first Desert Storm campaign, forcing others to follow in their step and report the things we might not have the stomach to see, by 2002, that integrity had withered away to a shallow shell faithfully propping up the president and his staff. When the Congress failed to reign in the powers of the executive branch, the next line of defense -- our news media -- failed to see anything but bold politics, courage and strength while we shouted until we were blue in the face.

So by April 2007 my respect for news on television was hanging by a precarious thread. When there was no remembrance of Kurt Vonnegut -- when there was no reciprocation for the works of a great man toward human dignity, my remaining respect for the industry was lost for good.

That night, April 12th 2007 I watched my final news cast on television as switched for something lighter -- turning to The Daily Show enjoying the familiar antics of Jon Stewart. I recalled the last time I saw Vonnegut alive -- he was promoting what was now his final book: "Armageddon in Retrospect." He was promoting it on The Daily Show, where his sense of humor was respected, revered, and continued. I saw a glimmer of hope in that night's "Moment of Zen." As Jon Stewart introduced the clip he was noticeably saddened. It was an unseen clip from the earlier interview. The ending text over silence displayed "Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007)."

Since that night I have not watched a single television news broadcast -- except those of the Daily Show. I will continue to withhold my respect for these institutions because in the two years I tossed them over my shoulder, they have done nothing remotely worthy of redemption. The few glimpses I get vicariously have only strengthened my will to disinterest.

I just don't respect it anymore.

There's no dignity, no candor, and no regard for the intellect of the viewer anymore. Instead every news station has sold out their crews for ones that have fuller busts and hollower thoughts because kneejerk outrage is all anyone watches the news for anymore -- what should I be disinterestedly outraged at today?

Is there a rich white girl missing somewhere?

Who broke a law, served their sentence and is now back on the streets that we can turn into a pariah this week?

It's all a complete farce. Why does it deserve my time? For all I care, every one of them can go take a flying fuck at the moon.

Do yourself a favor; Pick up one of Vonnegut's books. Don't know which one? Ask me, ask someone. They all cater to different tastes -- they'll all change the way you think about things. You certainly won't get that from television which in the words of another great, underrespected writer "does not give you the time to question" (Ray Bradbury). The world can only be as stupid and lazy as we make it.