My protest to #SaveTheOA has five movements. This is the first. I'll be posting the rest as I can.
PART I - THE OBLIGATORY ABSURDITY
To all the people thinking it is absurd to hunger strike over a TV show: I agree. But you want to know something even more absurd?
Tens of thousands of people die in the United States every year because they cannot get help. They cannot afford services to treat mental health issues and medical conditions. Untreated conditions make it harder to obtain employment, making it even more impossible to get help.
It's a vicious cycle. It's a capitalist cycle, because in capitalism, an individual who cannot contribute to the system has little to no value.
Even if that person can be treated and eventually generate enough profit to cover the cost of their treatment (a big if!), it's cheaper to pick somebody else without these upfront or ongoing costs.
So that's what usually happens.
A lot of people fall by the wayside for the simple reason that their existence is not immediately profitable, or not profitable enough to justify the long-term costs.
Yes, there are social programs and organizations out there that provide services free of charge—and some people do get the assistance they need—but these programs are chronically understaffed, underfunded, and have far fewer resources than they need.
Which leads to a very strange truth about our society.
The preventable deaths of tens of thousands of people a year to mental and physical health issues should be seen as absurd, but it's not. It's part of the background noise of how our system functions. It's mundane.
Ergo, it's not so absurd to protest a TV show's cancellation with a hunger strike. In a way, it's also mundane.
Because this is the point where our society is, a point where a TV show can be the best option readily available to someone.
Most television is just meaningless entertainment. Once in a while, a show comes along that speaks to people.
People who need help but can't get it. People who look at the screen, see something resembling themselves or their struggle and their pain, and find comfort in it.
Crucial to the development of benevolent artificial support systems is a lesson I like to call #ThePomegranate. It's a small bit of science fiction that has to do with calculating priorities when dealing with humans. It goes like this:
Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived on a dying Earth. Everything was going extinct, all the plants and animals. All humanity could do was try and make the most of what was left.
I must briefly address corporate capitalism. I can already hear the groans; I'll try to make this relatively short and painless.
Corporations are faceless, emotionless, profit-driven entities that exist to accumulate wealth.
This doesn't mean all companies are evil or even inherently bad. Some have at their core a deep moral stance or philosophy which they enduringly abide by.