I found this clip from back in 2009 where the late comedian talked to Tavis Smiley about how the country really works. He points out that by limiting the number of actual choices that people have about the major things that affect their lives, they can be more easily controlled. And they are aided in this by the collusion of the media, the politicians, and the legal system.
Mano Singham
Just another Freethought Blogs site
I’m a big fan his disc “George Carlin Class clown 1972” was one of the first records I bought. On its first run. It was mildly transgressive. We were listening to it and my best friend’s father was studiously ignoring it while appearing to read the newspaper. The illusion was shattered when the term “Tater Tits” was used and he laugher so hard he fell out of his Barcalounger.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7YDCXS5gc4
Classic. The man is a genius.
I miss that Old Fuck.
It’s the same tactic I often use with my kid. The illusion of choice. There are 50 shirts in his drawer, I pick two, and let him choose between them. Either way, he’s doing what I want because I eliminated all his other choices.
I think Carlin’s point about the huge range of unimportant choices is also well made (of course I do, because it was the first thing that occurred to me when reading the OP :-p).