Right now I'm reading my daughter's copy of Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. It's the first book of a trilogy called His Dark Materials. You American-types will not have heard of Northern Lights. That's because the book's title as well as that of the film were changed to The Golden Compass for some reason. While one might assume they changed the title because of other books called Northern Lights, I have to dismiss this assumption. Because the Aurora have such an influence on the human consciousness there must be a great many books with that title. And Pullman's work earns its own distinction by (at the very least) being part of a trilogy and other merits evident to its readers. Anyone with more than a glancing knowledge of the book will realize how perfectly the actual title fits with the book's themes. On the other hand the American title, The Golden Compass is a poor fit for the book. The object referred to, called an alethiometer in the book, is only said to resemble a compass a couple of times. It is almost exclusively identified as the alethiometer. And, while it is important to the story, it doesn't bear anywhere near as much significance as the phenomenon of the northern lights. The simple truth is the publishers assume Americans are too dumb to recognize the difference. And I get the distinct impression they're right.
After all, Americans ate up the first book of another children's popular fantasy series. Everyone recognizes the name Harry Potter. But few people in the U.S. probably realize the title of Rowling's first book was Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Not Sorcerer's Stone. I find this one even more annoying. Not only did they change the title for no apparent reason, but the American title makes no sense whatsoever. One of the things Rowling does successfully in her books is to adapt existing myths, legends, and fantasy figures into her world. There are legends of a philosopher's stone. Stories exist of the alchemist Nicholas Flamel, who created the philosopher's stone. In the stories the stone has some of the attributes that Rowling gives it. Before her book was released in the U.S. did anyone ever hear of a sorcerer's stone? No. If you search for sorcerer's stone on Wikipedia (not that I recommend Wikipedia as an end all be all source of information), you are directed to an article about the philosopher's stone. Are Americans too stupid to know the difference?
It seems so.
Right now corporations are waging a war of misinformation on Americans concerning healthcare. They want everyone to believe a public health option is going to drive the country into debt. The very concept is absurd. If the existing insurance companies, drug companies, and healthcare providers are becoming ridiculously wealthy on the backs of Americans, why wouldn't the government be able to at least make their own program practical if not profitable? The simple truth is those corporations in control of American health care made too much money. And if they spread lies to make Americans afraid of socialized medicine, they can continue to grow their wealth.
The two things may seem unrelated. But they're not. Americans continue to allow big business to feed them lies and treat them like idiots in numerous aspects of their lives. If they treat our children like they can't possibly know the difference, what must they be doing to adults who've grown up on the teat of corporate misinformation?
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