There are few subtleties in America these days. We've lost our
ability for nuanced logical reasoning.
Dominating our media, reality TV reduces complex human emotions and
actions into the most basic caricatures. News is meant to titillate
and stimulate. Entertainment is created to trigger adrenaline
induced reptilian addiction. There is no time for "boring"
reflection and contemplation. In politics, this same game translates
into "shock and awe" and simple, easy to digest pronouncements.
As the media competes for our attention, only the most hysterical
drama and outrageous events can cut through the chatter. Shouting
and violence are used to pierce the mundane: tigers eating people,
I Love New York, CSI and news pundits battling over meaningless
rhetoric.
People are instantly categorized for easy, quick labeling since we
don't have the time or desire to understand each other. You are
either a Democrat or Republican. From a "red" state or "blue" state.
Religious or atheist. Gay or straight. Black or white. The labels
become a dangerous short hand for extrapolation.
This goes beyond the gladiator days of Rome where the Coliseum was
used to pacify the population with popular entertainment. The
Coliseum has become the core of our culture and infiltrates
everything -- from politics to personal relationships.
This dehumanizing apathy and numbness sets the stage for a president
to destroy the country without opposition or impeachment; allowing an
immoral war to continue and a community to turn a blind eye to the
growing unequal distribution of wealth. Spectacle immobilizes us so
that real change and evolution becomes rigor-mortis.
As long as sociopathic corporations rule our politics, media and
culture, we will never be free of formulaic abuse and the systematic
dumbing down of the population. We start by reinstalling our
Constitution; strengthening the arts, letters and history in
education; decentralizing the mass media and limiting lobbyists power
in the political process.
America can still be a melting pot, the grand experiment, where
humanity can evolve and move towards greater understanding and
humanism. But, we are addicted and numb from the adrenaline and it's
time for rehab.