Menacing the Public Consciousness

As I mentioned recently, Christmas Day happens to also be the birthday of Rod Serling, creator of the iconic mid-20th Century television program “The Twilight Zone.”  According to the Writer’s Almanac, “Serling believed it was the writer’s job to ‘menace the public consciousness’ and considered television and radio as a means for social criticism.”

If I had to explain this in brief, I would point to a single episode called “The Shelter.”  Here are Parts One, Two, and Three. I hope you’ll take 30 minutes and check this out; you won’t be disappointed.

Our Western Civilization comes from a long line of social critics, dating back at least as far as the ancient Greek playwrights.  Having said that, I’m betting that our indignation is just starting to heat up, along with the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere.  When we come to grips with the long-term damage to our health and the environment that is in process, we’ll see the dawning of a new age of unparalleled anger directed against the forces that will have brought us to that terrible point.

Of course, let’s remain hopeful that we can obviate the need for all the feelings of hatred and blame.  We have the technologies at our fingertips right now to put our civilization on a path towards sustainability.  All we need is the political will to demand that the implementation of these technologies supersedes our addiction to cheap but lethal fossil fuels.

Let’s make that happen in 2013.  Happy New Year, everyone.