Indeed, substance abuse is beginning to take on terms that reach far outside of the traditional senses and, one could argue, the mass media, an effective and far reaching “drug,” is the one that hides in plain sight. Why is this the case? Why does every single one of us have an increasing need to stay connected, to admire others, to experience the unexperienced, to fill our lives with things that make us feel happy? Well, the thing is, if you were to read such powerful literature, if you were to experience their thoughts as your own, allowing you to change the way you think and speak, you would be one less customer — a customer that they count as dear as their own mother.

Mass media preys on the fact that, as a society, we are bleeding internally. We have wounds that reach far and deep to the core of the very fabric of our first flags, wounds that have yet to heal. When wounds do not finish the healing process, infections flare into existence which creep into daily stream of thought. To heal these wounds, we distract ourselves from pain and carry on. We are taught to “carry on.” To do anything different, to transgress outside of comfort, is sorely forbidden, and it is carried on through patriarchal methods. Mass media prays that we stay ignorant and divided. If we do not, who can they cater to or undermine?

Still, though, the question remains: Why do we need to have, or in better terms to be filled, in order to be? It is because, as young as a child, we are melted down through patriarchal education, then hammered through corporate wage-slavery; we are taught to have spatialized minds. We are taught to treat “deposits” with utmost respect, especially given from places of authority, and we are taught that creativity is met with resistance. This drudgery of education — which only exhausts most who, after graduating, tell you it is barely worth it — is an education that constantly reinforces patriarchy. The values are timeliness, accuracy, obedience and “within-the-line” thinking. Students are treated as objects, not as subjects, and do nothing but take in predetermined “deposits” from their professor. They then do their best to withdraw this education during stressful “tests” to prove their worth. It is an education that, quite honestly, is not worth preserving — maybe in a future museum, to be provided as a codification of compartmentalization and militarism that students can gasp at in horror. Only then can it serve a worthy purpose. Next to this monument of the “old ways” should be a statue of bell hooks, the powering figure I write about, to exemplify the beginnings of praxis — a praxis of a unique pedagogy that loves, liberates, inspires and transgresses far from the current patriarchy.

When we see nothing but an onslaught of those who are ahead of us, more educated than us, more paid than us, more positioned than us, then we start to idolize them and alienate ourselves. That is where we are at in our current society, everyone is alienated. Some alienate with others in varying degrees, but it is nonetheless digressive. We fixate on how we become a better version of our current selves, with less responsibility, fewer chores, fewer “to-dos,” and it leaves us with a society that cannot truly transform the world. We treat work as a safe place to “disconnect” ourselves, where we do not need to genuinely think, where we daydream of when it will finally end. We use monetization, from work, to buy things that make us feel happy, but they can never bring happiness. That is why, across all class levels, we cannot stop procuring “deposits.” We are desperately trying to heal serious wounds with consumption, any other type of distraction, and we are finding that patriarchy is not cracked up to what has been promised. The “American Dream” no longer exists for everyone and, surprisingly, it has an impact on a multitude of people (the benefit of the internet is the massive information share), an impact that severely dampens productivity, happiness and transformation. We are at risk of becoming a stuck society with band-aid solutions, that Freire calls assistencialism and massification, that cannot heal the wounds that need redressing.

The work of such a respectable and inspiring figure is one that cannot be surmised in a letter or column, in a feeble attempt to honor a passing trailblazer. However, the work can be highlighted, given credit to and read by any person. To do so, is to begin to understand love and genuine education. For me, when I read bell hooks, I am in utter disbelief of how her work penetrates every aspect of our life and how she provides an insight that is captivating and loving. I am grateful for her work, as every person should be, and I hope to possess a fraction of the character that she exhibited.

We all could use more bell hooks in our life, instead of the negative attention-craving mass media. If we empower ourselves, to know that to free ourselves, to be human, is to transform our world through education, commitment and emotional development. When we commit to this education, not in a gradualist manner that only benefits those in power, we can look forward to a healing society that values creativity, reconciliation and a time when people can feel true love.

Chandler Peterson is a fifth-generation Utahn and former electrical engineering major now studying economics and pre-law at the University of Utah. He believes inclusive and equitable transformation begins with critical reflection of the world. Follow him on Twitter @Chandlahpete.