The gerrymandering controversies in Texas and California underscore the prophetic warnings of Jerry Mander in his books Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television (1978) and In the Absence of the Sacred (1991), where he critiques technology’s role in distorting human perception and undermining democratic processes. In Four Arguments, Mander argues that television, as a medium, inherently manipulates reality by prioritizing spectacle over substance, dulling critical awareness through information overload, and fostering passivity. In Texas, where Republican-led redistricting in 2021 was accused of diluting minority voting power to entrench political dominance, and in California, where Democratic-drawn maps have faced criticism for favoring incumbents, television amplifies these issues by reducing complex gerrymandering debates to simplistic soundbites and partisan narratives. This aligns with Mander’s assertion that television’s sensory limitations—engaging only sight and sound—strip away nuanced understanding, leaving voters “powerless to reject the camera’s line of sight” and susceptible to manipulative framing that obscures the undemocratic nature of gerrymandering.
 

In In the Absence of the Sacred, Mander extends his critique to technology’s broader societal impact, arguing that it alienates people from natural and communal contexts, enabling exploitative systems like capitalism and centralized power to thrive. Gerrymandering in Texas, where districts were redrawn to favor one party despite demographic shifts, and in California, where maps protect political insiders, exemplifies how technology—through data-driven mapping software and media dissemination—facilitates the “colonization of experience” Mander describes. Advanced algorithms allow precise manipulation of district lines to “pack” or “crack” voter groups, while television and digital media propagate narratives that normalize these practices as mere political gamesmanship. Mander’s warning that technology serves institutional power over individual or communal well-being is evident as these tools empower elites to pick their voters, eroding the democratic principle of fair representation.
 

Mander’s foresight also connects to the cultural and ethical erosion he associates with technological societies, which prioritize expansion and control over human values. In both states, gerrymandering controversies reveal a moral disconnect: political actors exploit technology to undermine fairness, reflecting Mander’s concern that industrial systems lack the ethical constraints found in indigenous cultures that live in harmony with their environments. Texas’s redistricting, criticized for weakening Black and Latino voting strength, and California’s, accused of entrenching Democratic dominance, demonstrate how technology enables “the brute advantage” of those wielding it, as Mander notes, to suppress dissent and maintain power. By flooding the public with televised propaganda and oversimplified debates, the media environment Mander critiques ensures that gerrymandering’s deeper implications—its assault on democratic integrity—remain obscured, fostering apathy and disconnection from the “sacred” principles of equity and community.