Cognitive Dissonance vs The Way Forward

Cognitive dissonance is the state where your actions and your beliefs don’t line up, and you struggle to balance the two things inside. “Cognitive” refers to cognition, or the mental process of understanding or knowing things. “Dissonance” a musical term, refers to a lack of harmony. When one’s actions and morals are not working in tandem, one is experiencing cognitive dissonance. An example might be in the person who is afraid of government surveillance, and yet pays with their own money to install the hardware of a private security system about themself in the form of doorbell cameras, phones, and other smart devices, all accountable to a private company and whomever controls it.

Some people can handle cognitive dissonance very well. It’s because as Americans, I believe, we’re encouraged to not consider such things as self-reflective thought about how and why we do what we do when we do it. Thinking about how and why we do things sounds like the work of academics and experts to one who handles cognitive dissonance with ease. These people are not bothered by this cognitive dissonance. It exists within them, but so do all twelve feet of their small intestine, and knowing that’s never bothered them either.

Others, however, struggle to ignore the cognitive dissonance of situations once apparent. The two security systems previously mentioned, one theoretical and government sponsored; the other currently installed and very real, privately managed by some corporate person, group, or entity—which one scares the person who cannot ignore the cognitive dissonance? It would be the real one, the currently installed one, the one managed by whomsoever is rich enough and persuasive enough to get a good portion of America to just hand over access to the cameras and microphones they carry and install all about themselves. It would be that one, and, it would also be the government sponsored one as well, but THAT ONE ISN’T REAL so there’s really only reason to be concerned with the actual real surveillance network that so many of my neighbors have willingly aimed at themselves. And sent money to the managers of, just for the privilege of being surveilled. Some people just can’t really ignore the cognitive dissonance of such situations, and a lot of energy has to be spent internally making these two things make sense. The not wanting to be surveilled upon, and the installing of a surveillance system at their own cost. Like in accounting, things must balance. These opposing forces must balance internally, or this conflict will appear externally. 

Such absurdity is the point of a new zine that begs your attention, and includes some of my poems as well. It’s called Free$5, and if you appreciate that embracing the absurdity of this moment in history could be the path through the fever-dream nightmare the next four years hold, please check it out. It’s available as a shareable download in its entirety, or it’s available as a real paper zine if you are local to Seattle. I’m happy to be included in the premier issue, so if you appreciate what I post here, please give it a shot.