Mornings
when we wake up thinking this or that, we feel that we own the world, that we
think freely, that we have the ability to judge right from wrong, good from bad.
When our Olympic games are a success, we cheer with joy; when we lose a football
game, we cry our heart out; when our embassy is bombed, we rush out to
demonstrate; when a dispute arises over ownership of some small islands, we
crush Japanese cars with hatred and anger. We believe without any doubt that our
brain is thinking what we should be thinking.
The
Movie, The Truman Show, depicts the
life of Truman, who lives in TV show. He thinks he has a free and colorful life,
but he finds out by chance that he lives in a controlled world, that his
everyday thinking and behaviors are controlled by a program.
How
much different are our lives from Truman's? On the media, we watch the news,
read ideas, topics to discuss. These things are all set up in advance. The
Chinese have a term for it: " topic set." There are rules called
"the regulation of propaganda," "the regulations of
reporting." We may know that the "water force" and "50 cent
army" (- a term of description of people who are paid to post opinion or
idea on internet, like water force
crushing, or like army occupying internet, )are paid public opinion on internet,
but when we cross over the "wall" (internet "wall"
- a block setting on internet to prevent Chinese from seeing outside world) into
the free world's internet, we still see them fighting, who may be paid by the
political left or right wings.
Go to
sleep. Maybe only in our dreams can we be ourselves. When we wake up, a voice
will ask: "Have you been brainwashed today?"
清晨醒来，我们便东想西想，自以为想着自己独立的世界，自由的思维，想着是非判断，想着善恶曲直。申奥成功，我们欢呼雀跃；足球失利，我们痛心疾首；使馆被炸，我们上街示威；海岛被占，我们砸车泄愤……我们深信不疑，我们的大脑理所当然想着我们的思维。
电影《楚门的世界》，讲的是为电视“秀”而生的楚门，以为自己生活自由多彩，偶然事件使他发现，自己所在的是个被控制的世界，每天自己所思所想所作所为，都是计划好的一部分。
我们的生活又何尝不是这样呢？媒体上，我们看到的新闻事件、意见观点，都是预置的议题，对了，专业名称是“议程设置”；我们的喜怒哀乐，都被设计，它们的母体叫做“宣传纪律”
“报道注意”。我们知道一点点，晓得“水军”“五毛”是收钱充民意，但我们未必料到，翻出墙去，看到“民主公器”上，依然是左和右的掮客博弈。
睡吧，也许唯一纯洁的梦还属于我们自己，但，当我们醒来，又有一个声音在质问：“今天，你洗脑了吗？