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denisn4te · 4 years

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Obey Me characters and their assigned dogs!

Okay, guys, I have a cool idea! What if like as an assignment, Diavolo decided to give everyone a dog from the human world to see how well dogs from the human world could get with demons and the students were allowed to choose which dog breed they'd want it to be. The assignment was to be for a few months long.

Here are my thoughts on which dog breeds they had been assigned and how well they raised them.

~•~☆~•~

Lucifer-Doberman

At first, he wanted to just use Cerberus as his dog, but it had to be a dog breed from the human world.

Obviously, he chose a big and very intimidating dog.

He received a male dog and named him Damien.

Lucifer already knew the basics of raising a dog since he is the owner of Cerberus and all.

Within the first month, Lucifer began training Damien.

By the end of that month, Damien was probably the best guard dog in the entire Devildom.

Despite being a big and scary dog, Damien was actually a big sweetheart!

He'd always follows Lucifer around and get sad when his owner wasn't around. He especially loves doing tricks for treats.

Damien is only aggressive he senses harm coming towards him or Lucifer or when he is ordered to attack.

By attack, he just chases the brothers whenever they make Lucifer mad.

When the assignment was over and the dogs were to be brought back to the human world, Lucifer immediately locked himself in his room and cranked that record player volume to 100 all while claiming he wasn't sad.

Mammon-Italian Greyhound

Tried to sell the dog not even one days after getting it

Mammon didn't know crap about human world dog breeds so he just picked a random breed not knowing anything about it. His immediate thought was 'is this a rat?'

Mammon had received a female dog and named her Jade after Lucifer caught him trying to sell her.

At first, he wanted nothing to do with Jade until out of literally nowhere she had brought him a couple of Grimm.

Suddenly he was very interested after realizing Jade had a strange habit of finding and digging up valuables. From Grimm and small jewelry to literally buried artifacts.

Nobody knows how she does it and it's concerning that they had put her in Mammon's care.

Mammon immediately started to teach Jade how to do cute tricks to random people for treats and such.

Jade was also a very energetic dog always running around and barking at almost everyone except Mammon, MC, and MC's assigned dog.

Jade loves playing with the other dogs even if it's clear that they don't want to play.

Mammon was absolutely sobbing when Jade had to go back to the human world and absolutely didn't want to let her go.

He wasn't okay for a very long time after that.

Leviathan-Newfoundland

Just like Mammon, Leviathan didn't want to do anything with a dog until he realized some dogs were specialized in swimming.

Him being very associated with the ocean was suddenly interested when he heard about the breed Newfoundland. He thought the name sounded cool and picked that in.

Probably should have done more research because he didn't realize how huge this breed was.

He received a female dog and named her Henry 4.0

Leviathan didn't know anything about dogs and boy was it so hard for him at first.

Probably had to learn by watching animes, reading mangas, and playing games about dogs NINTENDOGS.

Actually got pretty used to having a dog really quickly and enjoyed it too.

Henry 4.0 was a really chill girl and likes sleeping on top of Leviathan. Just casually crushing the boy y' know.

She really likes laying with him while he's watching anime and playing his video games.

Their favorite activities to do are taking baths, going out to swim in the nearby river, and cosplay!

Yes, you heard that right! Cosplaying is a thing they did quite often and they always dressed up as duo characters. Of course Leviathan made the cosplays from scratch.

One good thing that this assignment did was getting Leviathan out of his room for when he would take Henry 4.0 out for walks.

Whenever Leviathan got sad he'd just hug Henry 4.0 and put his head into her fur. Henry 4.0 became kind of like an emotional support animal for him.

Leviathan absolutely refused to let them take Henry 4.0 away when the assignment was over. He even tried to hide her and threatened to summon Lotan again (which he did end up doing!)

Was very much not okay after the assignment was over.

Satan-Basenji

Satan is clearly the most educated on human world dog breeds and even though he very much prefers cats over dogs, he always did like the Basenji breed.

They are known as the 'barkless' dog and even have a somewhat reputation for acting like cats.

Satan had received a male dog and named him Benjamin.

Once the assignment began he quickly began to read books about dogs.

Satan actually surprisingly liked Benjamin rather quickly despite not liking dogs all that much.

They mostly just sat down together in the library while Satan read books and Benjamin would nap.

Benjamin was a pretty active dog and liked to play with the other dogs every now and then.

But just like Satan, he got mad a lot. Whenever someone got into his personal space while he was tired he wouldn't bark at them, but he had a pretty spooky growl.

Other than that Benjamin is actually really chill.

Satan also taught Benjamin a few tricks which may or may not be targeted at Lucifer and his assigned dog, Damien.

The number of times Benjamin was seen running away from Damien and/or Lucifer with Lucifer's paperwork in his mouth was pretty impressive.

One surprise was that Benjamin and Damien got super well with each ther much to Lucifer and Satan's dismay.

Besides the antagonizing Lucifer tricks, Benjamin didn't really know any tricks other than to sit and fetch.

Just like the other brothers he was truly sad to see Benjamin go and had one last trick to play on Lucifer before the assignment ended.

Asmodeus-Samoyed

A lot of people were expecting Asmodeus to get a small dog, but he really said no❤

He already knew about all the most beautiful dog breeds from the human world and the Samoyed was absolutely elegant.

He had received a female dog and named her Opal.

He already followed a few dog pages on the internet so he had a few basics down.

You already know he's one of those absolutely extra dog owners and honestly good for both him and Opal.

He loves taking her baths and always makes sure the dog products he uses are the absolute best.

Asmodeus even bought her a gemstone collar and I'm not talking about those leather collars with those flat little slabs, I'm talking about these kinds of collars

Yes, he's that extra and no he's not ashamed.

Opal had to be the most spoiled dog in the Devildom by the end of it.

She didn't like to play all that much unless it was with Asmodeus or MC. Pretty people only.

She almost never growled ever and she would have to be really pissed if she ever did. For example, when Mammon accidentally spilled some wet dog food on her fur, she never forgave him.

As you already know, Opal got the best kind of food a dog could eat. Asmodeus being one for best self-care, he didn't want his beloved Opal eating low-grade kibble. Only the best for his little girl.

You already KNOW he dresses her up and takes her out to the club. Loves showing her off to the fans. Likes dragging MC and their assigned dog along with them just to have fun.

Do not ever pet Opal unless you have clear permission from both her and Asmodeus and also clean your hands first. Opal's fur is too delicate and beautiful to get ruined.

Whenever Asmodeus gets drunk he always hugs Opal and cries into her fluff which she doesn't mind.

Asmodeus wouldn't stop posting pictures of him and Opal on social media and even after the assignment ended he still posted older pictures of her.

Couldn't hold back the tears after Opal went back to the human world after the assignment was over. He took her on one last spa day before the day the assignment was over and gave her the best meal.

Was crying on Devilgram Live later that day.

Beelzebub-Saint Bernard

A pretty obvious one. Just like Mammon, he knew nothing about human world dog breeds and chose a Saint Bernard because Satan suggested it.

Satan purposely suggested a big dog because if it were a small one, Beel would have eaten it.

He received a female dog and named her Biscuit. The alternatives were Big Mac and Burger, but Lucifer didn't allow it.

Ome thing these two had in common was a large appetite. Beel quickly got attached to Biscuit mostly because of that.

Beel has to be supervised while feeding Biscuit her dog food cause sometimes he'll try to eat some of her food.

Biscuit loves cuddles and is a big softie just like Beel. Though she seemed to be more of a dog for Belphie since she was always tired and sleeping.

Beel never minded though and always enjoyed walking into a room and seeing Biscuit laying with Belphie and Belphie's assigned dog.

Biscuit gets along with literally everyone including the other dogs. She always lets them do whatever just as long as they aren't harming anyone.

If you do harm her owner or his family she'll go from 0 to 101 in a second. Saint Bernards actually have a very powerful bite so it's best not to piss her off.

But out of her entire time in the Devildom with the brothers, MC, and the other assigned dogs she only really actually bit someone once and it was in self-defense.

Of this assignment had taken place during the whole Belphie attic incident, Biscuit would have been a huge emotional support animal to Beel.

If it didn't take place during that time then Beel would have loved her the same way.

Whenever he would try and work out, Biscuit would always lay on him and get in the way. She's too precious.

The only workout she wouldn't interrupt with cuteness is morning walks/runs.

One problem however is how much Beel would forget to brush her and she'd leave fur absolutely everywhere.

When the assignment was over he felt like he lost a part of himself.

He woke up the morning after looking for Biscuit to take her for their morning run and remembered that the assignment was over.

Still has her collar and leash.

Sad lad hours

Belphegor-Basset Hound

Belphie definitely was one of the brothers who didn't want to do anything with dogs and in fact, he didn't even choose a dog breed so they gave him a random one for the assignment.

Clearly whoever chose the breed for him knew their breeds well because Basset Hounds are some sleepy dogs.

He received a female dog and named her Floppy. Very creative I know.

To be honest, Belphie would be the most irresponsible of the brothers when it comes to raising a dog.

Usually, he had to be reminded a lot to care for this damn dog. Whether it's be reminded to feed her or take her on walks, he's just really lazy.

At first, he didn't like Floppy at all and thought she was ugly until Beel pointed out how much they sleep together.

It was true how much they slept together, wherever Belphie was sleeping, Floppy was either on top of him or next to him.

That's when Belphie actually began to care about her and trying to take better care of her.

He'd forget a lot of the times to do things, but he was trying.

Floppy didn't know any tricks or even bother to learn any. She didn't beg for food or play with the other dogs. She never growled or barked at all either.

Someone would literally be getting stabbed in front of her and she'd yawn.

Even though Floppy never liked getting along with the other dogs, she did like to nap with Beel's assigned dog, Biscuit.

Nobody else though. Not even MC or their assigned dog.

Floppy hated going on walks and any other activity that included having to put any effort into it.

She'd just let Belphie drag her across the ground by the leash.

Belphie was the least sad when the assignment was over. He does really miss Floppy, but he knew he wasn't the best dog owner and she deserves better.

He just wishes her well and hopes she finds a better family. Oh god, he's crying now-

~•~☆~•~

tl;dr: The brothers get dogs, get attached, then get really sad once the dogs are gone.

Oh lord, this took so much longer to make than I expected. Online classes haven't been nice to me. I was going to make some art for this, but this already took way longer than I expected so I'll probably save that for another time!

If anyone of you wants you can add to this by saying what your MC's assigned dog is! Anyways hope you all have a good day and maybe I'll even make a part 2 for the Undateables! ;)

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kittykatanimelove22 · 6 years

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Sonic/Equestria Girls Au Information and Lore

It's finally time to show you all something that I've had in my head for years and I promised myself that this year I would introduce it, AND TODAY IS THAT DAY. This crossover isn't like any other story where "sonic and his friends travel to the world of equestria girls because eggman messed up the timeline or mephiles miraculously came back and sent them there on a magic portal thingie for revenge" Nope, this is vastly different. Before I begin, I'd like to clarify that this takes place in a hybrid universe where the IDW/archie comics/games take place. I love the archie characters too much to NOT let them be a part of it. Basically, it's the IDW/game verse but with archie characters in them, along with a few events that happened and some cities that are in the old comics (i.e Knothole, Meropis etc.). Another note is that some of my ocs, and their species, are in this au as well! The species is called Novians.

Here's a list of the Archie characters: Sally Acorn and her family (Elias, Max etc.) Uncle Chuck (I'm a bit unsure if I want to add Sonic's parents since I'm still figuring things out) Scourge the hedgehog Fiona Fox The Freedom Fighters (Bunnie, Nicole, Antoine etc.) Mina Mongoose Shard the Metal Sonic Razor The Shark Coral the Betta Pearly the Manta Ray Honey the Cat Nack and his gang Hope Kintobor Rob O' the Hedge Some of the Echidna clan (which is honestly a huge maybe because I want Knuckles to have at least SOME of his people alive) Snively Robotnik (Also a huge maybe) ..and that's it so far! I'll update the list if I forgot a character. Some of the character's backstories are a mix of what Archie had and what the post-genesis wave had for them. For example, during the war with Eggman, King Max sent his wife Alicia and their son Elias to Angel Island to escape to safety when Sally was a baby. When they crash landed, and were presumed dead, Max groomed Sally to be the next heir for the Acorn kingdom until her father was banished in The Special Zone years later, he came back though. Alicia and Elias came back the same way they did in the Archie comics. Another thing to know is that some of my ocs, and their species, are in this au as well! The species is called Novians, they coexist with the equestrians. My OC's that exist in this au Isis Minorel Pacifica Catrine Jackson Somber and a few more that I haven't introduced yet! Jack and Isis are not energy vampires in this au but they still have their powers. NOW ONTO THE PLOT!! ~__________________________~ Basic Information: In this au, the Mane 7 are all sisters and Celestia is their mother, Isis is their adopted sister and Derpy is their first cousin, making her Luna's daughter. Celestia is queen of the equestrian humans, while Luna and Cadence are her royal advisors. Jack's father, Fredrick Somber is the monarch for all of the Novian species, he has a good friendship with Celestia. They reside in the kingdom of Equestria on Mobius, while the Seaquestrians live in the deep blue ocean not too far from where the kingdoms reside. They aren't from Mobius originally, they come from their own separate planet but it became uninhabitable. The equestrians are on peaceful terms with most of the species on the planet, especially the Mobians, and do whatever they can to help. Equestrian Human Species Info: Equestrian humans look the same in the original EG movie but the difference is that they have abilities based on their pony counterparts. Pegasi-based Equestrian humans can summon their wings at will, just like how Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy did in the first movie and so on. Magic-based (AKA unicorns) Equestrian humans can use their magical abilities to lift things or use them as a weapon for self defense, they DO NOT have horns. Earth-based Equestrian humans are just like regular humans but with a slight enhance of strength. Alicorn-based is just magic and pegasi mixed together. The Mane 7 and the Elements of Harmony: The Elements of Harmony were assigned to the 7 princesses at birth, much different to how the elements were assigned to their previous users. There are seven elements: Honesty Kindness Magic Laughter Loyalty Generosity Forgiveness There used to be six, but their late father had unleashed the element because of his forgiving nature and heart. Isis doesn't have an element but is still considered very powerful. ALL of the Mane 7's abilities in this au are the same powers they have in the fourth movie and mini series, the only difference is that they don’t transform unless they use their elements. They do have different transformation designs throughout the story, like how Sailor Moon does. I wanted Sunset's element to be forgiveness because she started out as an arrogant and cruel person when she was introduced. After her defeat, she had worked so hard to not only become a better person, but to also receive forgiveness from the people around her, including herself. Sunset is the literal reason why this au exists and I love her for that. An important fact about Sunset is that she has pyrokinetic powers in this au, which she inherited from her mother. It is dubbed, The Royal Flame. Pyrokinetic Abilities - Can control ANY kind of fire - Can breathe in fire - Can control her body temperature in cold weather - Her fire won't burn people she trusts, unless she commands it too - If she gets wet her powers won't work for a little while - When angry or frustrated, her body gets super hot - If she becomes emotionally unstable, she turns into her she-demon form, it happened once Mane 7 Ages and Birthdays (From oldest to youngest) (These birthdays are not canon to MLP, I made them up)

Sunset Shimmer: Age: 19 D.O.B: June 16th Species: Alicorn-based (yes she has wings sHHH-

Applejack: Age: 19 D.O.B: November 29th Species: Earth-based

(Isis would be here)

Rarity: Age: 18 D.O.B: February 14th Species: Magic-based

Fluttershy & Rainbow Dash: Age: Both 17 D.O.B: March 4th Species: Pegasai-based

Pinkie Pie: Age: 16 D.O.B: April 1st Species: Earth-based

Twilight Sparkle: Age: 15 D.O.B: December 3rd Species: Magic-based

((Before you ask, equestrian humans reproduce fast and the gestation period is at least 6-7 months)) Relationships this is what happens when the creator is a huge shipper-

Sunset Shimmer x Shadow the hedgehog (ShadowShimmer)

Sonic x Isis (Sonisis)

Pacifica x Jet the Hawk (Jetcifica)

Jack x Blaze the Cat (Jackaze)

Applejack x Elias Acorn (EliJack)

Rarity x Knuckles the Echidna (Knuxity)

Fluttershy x beret-wearing jackal from the Jackal Squad (Crimshy)

((Crimson is my headcanon name for him))

Rainbow Dash x Gadget the Wolf (GadgetDash)

Pinkie Pie x Espio the Chameleon (EspioPie)

Twilight Sparkle x Silver the Hedgehog (SilverSparkle)

Celestia x Infinite (Celestifinte)

Derpy Hooves x Scourge the Hedgehog (Derpourge)

Princess Skystar x Razor the Shark (Skyzor) ((I haven't seen the movie yet so please no spoilers))

Zecora x Uncle Chuck?? and many more I have yet to introduce~ ~~~~~~~~~ History: Before they arrived on Mobius, the Equestrian humans weren't just one of Mobius' "inhabitants" and Equestria wasn't just a series of kingdoms. Oh no, it was once an entire planet bursting with life. The Equestrian race and the other inhabitants of the planet, Novians, coexisted together in peaceful tranquility. Throughout the years the two species would adapt and expand, turning villages into towns, towns to cities, cities to kingdoms. With the Novians vast knowledge of elements and alternative fuel, and the Equestrians intelligent and superb skills in magic, it seemed that it would be perfect... but like all harmonious times, the destructive flames of war will soon come when unexpected and burn it all to the ground. There was another species among the Equestrians, Novians and Seaquestrians. They were the Centaurs. The Centaur race currently has a very rocky relationship with most of the other races from Equestria, the reason why is because of one single Centaur, Tirek. Many years ago, when he was just an organizer at a scroll store, Tirek had a huge dislike towards the Equestrian race, he hated them because the Centaurs didn't have much land nor much help at all. He thought they were selfish and greedy, hogging all the land for themselves and not leaving any for his people. He studied the arts of Dark Magic along with his brother Scorpan who also shared the same disdain for them as he did, Once Tirek mastered it he had a battle to the death with the Centauran leader with him being the victor, after he disposed of him he took it upon himself to become the new leader of the Centaurs and wage war on the Equestrians and every other race that dared go against him. The Centaur War was the most brutal war ever, countless soldiers were killed, innocents were slaughtered, and kingdoms had fallen.Scorpan, now seeing the consequences of all of this tried reasoning with him. Feeling betrayed, Tirek murdered him out of anger and continued with his plans. For many, many years the Equestrians and Novians had fought long and hard but it seemed that they had reached a stalemate, they started to lose hope. It wasn''t until Galactus Centauri, a vigilante from the Crystal Empire had stepped in to help. Without knowing it, his kind heart and forgiving nature had revealed the lost element of harmony, Forgiveness. With the power of the 7th element, Galactus, Celestia and the other elements of Harmony had forced the Centaurs into submission. Most of them gave up and surrendered to the Equestrians, but not Tirek. Tirek, along with his minions and followers had disappeared. After they left for the time being, Galactus and Celestia married and had seven beautiful girls which would later on be eight when they adopt a 5 year old Novian orphan named Isis. Things seem to slowly get better for the Equestrians.....until Zecora had a horrifying vision. She had quickly told the king and queen that the planet was slowly dying and forming dangerous volcano's everywhere, the reason being all of the magic Tirek took during the war. She stated that in approximately 7 months the planet would become nothing more than a volcanic wasteland. With no time to lose they informed every citizen and species on Equestria that they will be evacuating the planet. Every spaceship was filled with Equestrians, Novians, the animals that were saved, and even some Centaurs. Galactus thought it would be okay, that they would finally be free from the war, and Tirek. Until he heard that his daughters Pinkie Pie and Sunset Shimmer were kidnapped by the centaur warlord. Galactus and a few soldiers went on a rescue mission to save them, unbeknownst to them that the volcano's were coming toward to where they were. In the end, Galactus, Sunset and Pinkie were the only ones who escaped Tirek. When they had reached their home castle the ships had already left because it turns out that planet's core was ready to burst early. After confronting, and defeating, Tirek once again in the castle, the three had reached to a magic teleportation chamber. There was another chamber on the ship that could teleport them back, but it required a lot of magic to do so. Galactus was heavily injured from his battle with Tirek, he didn't have time to heal because a volcano had formed under the castle and would burst any second. He had to act quick, he only had enough magic to teleport two people. So with every last bit of his magic and energy he teleported a heartbroken Sunset Shimmer and Pinkie Pie back on the ship, leaving him to die as soon as they were gone. Equestria had mourned for it's lost king and their lost home, but soon they would find a new home, with new allies and new foes as well. They would rebuild, adapt, expand and help those in need, just like they did all those years ago.... ANNNND THAT'S MY AU FOLKS!! I HOPE TO DRAW IT REAL SOON! I didn't go into full detail on the history part because I want to keep some things secret for now ;3 I really hope you love it as much as I do!! I poured my heart and soul into this au, it's one of the best creations I've ever made ;v; it felt so good to pour out all of this after keeping it to myself for so many years, especially the ships TwT Feel free to ask questions and tell me what you think! ^O^/

DA Link: Here

#sonic/eg au #kat writes lore #my ocs

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marcjampole · 7 years

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If you want mainstream media to like your book on American decline, blame the 60’s. Fantasyland latest to do so

It seems as if no social critic can get a fair hearing in the mass media unless she-he blames it on the sixties. If you Google the expression “blame it on the sixties,” you summon up references to a wide range of articles and books in which experts and pundits blame a variety of current social and economic problems on changes in the attitudes, customs and mores of the 1960’s. My perusal of the first three pages of search results found the 1960’s and early 1970’s faulted for the rise in child abuse, our economic decline, political correctness, the vote in the Electoral College for Donald Trump, the increase in obesity, crime and growing drug abuse.

You’d think that most of the sixties-haters would be religious and social conservatives, because, say what you will about that decade, it did witness the sexual revolution that led to more open attitudes and greater social acceptance of sexual rights for women and all kinds of sexual experiences between all kinds of people. But as it turns out, a substantial number of sixties critics are self-flagellating liberals, you know, pundits who claim to be liberal but butter their bread by always blaming liberals for their own predicament. For example, after the election, a slew of Democrats blamed Clinton’s loss on the Democrats depending too much on “identity politics,” i.e., caring about civil rights. With friends like that…

The latest liberal self-flagellator to blame the sixties for the deplorable state of the world is novelist and journalist Kurt Andersen, in his glib and often superficial Fantasyland. Anderson’s description of today’s American Fantasyland is attractive and largely accurate. The insidious spread of fake news; the new level of lying by politicians; the basing of social and economic policy on disproven or bad science; the great numbers of Americans who believe in demons, the absolute existence of a god with male features and/or a literal interpretation of the Judeo-Christian genesis myth; the large number of adults whose lives revolve around electronic games, comic book superheroes, cosplay and other escapist fare; the climate change deniers, the evolution deniers, the birthers—these snapshots of the irrational are but a sampling of the evidence that Andersen musters to show that current American society is based on lies and myths, that we surround ourselves with fantasy.

Andersen is also right when he asserts that fantasy has played a major role in American society since the search for the Northwest Passage and the Salem witch trials. His history of irrational thought in America reads like an outline or a greatest hits list: each major figure in an irrational movement or trend gets a paragraph or so. For readers who want to delve into the long history of irrational thought in America, Fantasyland can serve as a syllabus that sends you to the right people and primary sources to read.

But the third part of Andersen’s thesis—that the sixties marked a turning point, after which instead of being a peripheral trend, irrationality took center stage—is dead wrong.

In sixties terminology, Andersen’s mistake is to conflate “do your own thing” with “believe your own thing.” Yes, a lot of people believed in some pretty weird stuff in the 1960’s. Like the First (1730-1740) and Second (1800-1860) Great Awakenings and the Roaring Twenties, the sixties saw an uptick in interest in the occult and the irrational. But lots of the doing of your own thing in the sixties and early seventies involved overthrowing old myths and lies and asserting the truth of empirical science, such as the anti-Vietnam War, Civil Rights, Women’s Rights, Gay Rights, environmental, anti-nuclear, organic gardening and sustainable living movements. All products of a very rational sixties. And in every case, it was the government or the majority of those with influence who were living in a fantasy.

Andersen takes particular note of the rise of the Pentecostal movement and televangelism in the 1960’s. True enough, but morality is not inherently contra-factual. Morality motivated a lot of the antiwar activists and poverty workers. Remember, too, that a Christian left and right wing have existed in this country since at least the abolitionist movement got its start. Even if we accept the core beliefs of the Christian right wing that have persisted for at least 140 years, a rise in a concern for moral issues doesn’t in and of itself suggest the society is entering a fantasyland. I can be against a woman’s right to control her body for moral reasons and still be living in the real world. I enter Fantasyland only when I believe that an abortion causes future health problems, that life begins at conception or that vaccines cause autism.

All of society bases part of its existence on fantastic notions, typically related to ethnic superiority, national character, religion and the convenience of rich folk. Certainly since Columbus made his voyages, religious and irrational beliefs have harmed the United States. Our economy before the 1860’s was largely based on the myth that Africans were inferior people who needed the white man’s guidance and therefore benefited from slavery. What about the medical, economic and social impact of the myths that led to the anti-marijuana laws of the 1930’s? TR, Henry Cabot Lodge and William Randolph Hearst shoveled a lot of bull hockey at Americans to build support for the Spanish-American War and our later atrocities in the Philippines. I would like to prove that the inflection point at which belief overran rationality was during the Reagan era, when so many edifices of lies were built and then used to justify horrific policies; lies and myths such as welfare queens, supply side economics, the failure of government, the failure of public schools and the benefits of the unimpeded free market. But reading history books like Stephen Kinzer’s The True Flag about the Spanish-American War epoch and Matthew Karp’s This Vast Southern Empire: Slaveholders at the Helm of American Foreign Policy about pre-Civil War U.S. foreign policy demonstrates that the Bush II and the current administrations aren’t the first times the United States has been run by a band of reality-denying ignoramuses guided by myths with no basis in reality and representing a sizable minority but not all the people.

If we, as I do, place primary blame for the growth of the American Fantasyland on the increase of lies and myths knowingly perpetrated by the news media, we can’t really locate in the 1960’s the inflection point after which fantasies begin to dominate the media and, by inference, American society. Since the original scandal sheets and yellow journalism of the Gilded Age, mass media has been growing inexorably, and as it does, so has the ubiquity of advertising, the focus on celebrity and the increase in myths being presented as truth—in commercials, by televangelists, well-funded rightwing think tanks and rightwing television and radio, on alt-right and UFO websites, in social media and fake news. Let’s look at some of major events in the history of media’s creation of Fantasyland: yellow journalism emerged at the end of 19th century, free market commercial radio developed in the 1920’s, the first radio evangelists started broadcasting in the 1930’s and 1940’s, the rise of commercial television and the beginning of the right wing creating alternative distribution channels for their myths occurred in the 1950’s, the federal law that allowed companies to own more TV and radio stations passed in the 1980’s, rightwing radio was born in the 1990’s, the Internet was the 2000’s, the Citizens United decision in 2010. You get the idea.

Why then blame the 1960’s? We would have to read into Kurt Andersen’s heart to know the answer as it pertains toFantasyland. I am, however, quite confident that the larger phenomenon of blaming the 1960’s (and early 1970’s) for every social and economic ill since then results from the mass media applying a screen: Blame the sixties—we like it; blame another decade—reject the article! For the most part rich folk who like the status quo own the mass media and the companies which support media outlets with advertising. While rich folk include a spectrum of beliefs from left-leaning to ultra-right (there are very few socialists of any ilk among this group), they mostly lean right and mostly want to protect the prerogatives of the wealthy.

And they don’t like the true story of what happened in the sixties: It was the absolute high point for equality of wealth and income in U. S. history and the high point of union power (if not of union membership, which occurred in the 1950’s). While not the inflection point for American irrationality, it certainly was for the movement to provide equal rights in courts, the marketplace and workplace to all Americans—plenty happened afterwards, but the turning point certainly came in the 1960’s with the maturing of the Civil Rights movement and the start of other inclusion movements. The 1960’s thus represent the start of the threat to the special position of white males.

In other words, the real “evil” of the 1960’s is not that it created an American Fantasyland, or that it led to a decline in morals or educational standards or the work ethic. No, what the mass media hates about the 1960’s is that for a few brief years we saw a way to institute a true social democracy in a fairly equitable society with a fairly level playing field, kind of like the model developed in Europe after World War II. The Reaganites saw another way, but to make it work, they had to denigrate the real ideals of the sixties—government spending to solve social problems, a level playing field that did not favor individuals of any group, the importance of ending poverty and giving people a hand up, enlightened stewardship of natural resources, a foreign policy not dependent on America bullying other nations. These core beliefs—all based on facts and science—contradict everything the right stands for. Thus the desire, even today, to blame everything on the 1960’s.

I stopped reading novels about writers or university teachers about 30 years ago. I think it might be time to stop reading books that blame the 60’s.

#mainstreammedia #60s #american decline

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