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Let's face it; the media controls most of us. Most people can name celebrities and their escapades, but they can't tell us about math, science, history, classical literature, or most importantly global current events. Most of us vote for our leaders and their policies without really knowing the candidates or their positions. Honestly, how many of us were going to read the NCLB policies or that 1000-page healthcare bill, for instance? How many of us have protested the way the U.S. government runs things or questioned why everyone isn't able to partake in the "American Dream (not property but the promise of a better life through hard work) even though there are plenty of resources (but have, instead, accepted the meritocracy myth with all of its glaring errors)?" No, we haven't, and most of us aren't going to, because it's not going to be covered by the media or seen as a worthy topic of discussion at the dinner table. Communication doesn't work that way. Some people have to see and hear things several times over and over again before they believe them, and most people apparently don't want to know.
I just thought I would point at that perpetual elephant in the room, because it reminds me of a painful experience I endured as a child. I didn't fit the "norms" of society, so I was persecuted by my peers as a child. I was hurt at the hands of the worshipers of the celebrities and given almost non-human status, when in reality I needed a lot of help, compassion, and understanding. I'm not angry; I'm only in awe at how people capable of doing so much good in the world just sit on their hands most of the time. I'm not looking for happiness; I'm looking to understand and maybe affect change. Of course, communism, socialism, and even smaller government is probably not the answer. Perhaps at this point no one has a good answer, but I would at least like to hear your thoughts.
The people you describe there aren't controlled by the media - they simply are more interested in those things.
Do you think the media cares what people like? If people loved discussions about mathematics and cared not a bit about football, then there would be Monday Night Algorithms sponsored by Budweiser, and nary a football game in sight (except maybe on public television).
The media is responding to market demands, not the other way around.
OP is of course correct. People will live their whole lives believing that what they see on the tube is the truth. They will dress the way the tube tells them to dress, think the way the tube tells them to think, etc. That's what the movie "the Matrix" was about. People are fed a fantasy, live their lives based on what they're being fed by the culture and world around them.
I have the perfect example. The culture we live in is basically an atheist culture. God does not intervene in the world. God does not exist to most people or just does nothing, as far as most people are concerned. Most give little or no thought to God at all, because that is the culture feeds them.
Yet the Bible, tells a completely different story, that God is indeed involved in life on this world and involved in the lives of believers in a very intimate way. But the vast majority of people would never believe this in a million years because of the indoctrination they've been fed by the tube and the culture around us.
We've all been programmed with a bunch of propaganda. The sooner you learn that, the better off you'll be. We've been lied to so much we can't tell the truth from the lies. I could cite many many more examples.
There's many other examples. Most of us who live in fly over country know all about this. If something happens in NY or DC, its a big story and all over the media. But if a similar event happens in Kansas or Texas, you'll almost never hear about it on the national news. Another example. If a white person in killed while in their safe white suburb, you're far more likely to hear about it than some poor black kid who lives in the inner city.
Global Warming is another example. Tons of our citizens believe in Global Warming and our govt. spends billions on research. Yet "deniers" have shown all kinds of evidence to show that there is no long term man made global warming, yet most people believe in it to some degree.
Fortunately today, we have the internet. There are many alternative sources of information so that we can learn what is really going on in the world and shake off the programming the tube is trying to shove down our throat.
Last edited by augiedogie; 08-20-2016 at 06:54 AM..
Let's face it; the media controls most of us. Most people can name celebrities and their escapades, but they can't tell us about math, science, history, classical literature, or most importantly global current events. Most of us vote for our leaders and their policies without really knowing the candidates or their positions. Honestly, how many of us were going to read the NCLB policies or that 1000-page healthcare bill, for instance? How many of us have protested the way the U.S. government runs things or questioned why everyone isn't able to partake in the "American Dream (not property but the promise of a better life through hard work) even though there are plenty of resources (but have, instead, accepted the meritocracy myth with all of its glaring errors)?" No, we haven't, and most of us aren't going to, because it's not going to be covered by the media or seen as a worthy topic of discussion at the dinner table. Communication doesn't work that way. Some people have to see and hear things several times over and over again before they believe them, and most people apparently don't want to know.
I just thought I would point at that perpetual elephant in the room, because it reminds me of a painful experience I endured as a child. I didn't fit the "norms" of society, so I was persecuted by my peers as a child. I was hurt at the hands of the worshipers of the celebrities and given almost non-human status, when in reality I needed a lot of help, compassion, and understanding. I'm not angry; I'm only in awe at how people capable of doing so much good in the world just sit on their hands most of the time. I'm not looking for happiness; I'm looking to understand and maybe affect change. Of course, communism, socialism, and even smaller government is probably not the answer. Perhaps at this point no one has a good answer, but I would at least like to hear your thoughts.
I probably couldn't name more than 6-7 so called artists today. I don't follow ANY celebrity news other than blur I Ar on the radio CD or sometimes tv in passing. I follow no celebrity nor do I have a social media page. Just don't care about what you had for lunch today. Anyone that I know wants to contact me I have a cell and email. I read, I do go on CD and watch programs that are entertaining to me. I don't find the kardsahian sort big brother entertaining. My wife however watched big brother all the time. I see it as brain dead tv. But it's entertaining to her so I just bury my nose in a book. I just got done reading a home improvement project book on building slider drawers for pantries
OP is of course correct. People will live their whole lives believing that what they see on the tube is the truth. They will dress the way the tube tells them to dress, think the way the tube tells them to think, etc. That's what the movie "the Matrix" was about. People are fed a fantasy, live their lives based on what they're being fed by the culture and world around them.
I have the perfect example. The culture we live in is basically an atheist culture. God does not intervene in the world. God does not exist to most people or just does nothing, as far as most people are concerned. Most give little or no thought to God at all, because that is the culture feeds them.
Yet the Bible, tells a completely different story, that God is indeed involved in life on this world and involved in the lives of believers in a very intimate way. But the vast majority of people would never believe this in a million years because of the indoctrination they've been fed by the tube and the culture around us.
We've all been programmed with a bunch of propaganda. The sooner you learn that, the better off you'll be. We've been lied to so much we can't tell the truth from the lies. I could cite many many more examples.
There's many other examples. Most of us who live in fly over country know all about this. If something happens in NY or DC, its a big story and all over the media. But if a similar event happens in Kansas or Texas, you'll almost never hear about it on the national news. Another example. If a white person in killed while in their safe white suburb, you're far more likely to hear about it than some poor black kid who lives in the inner city.
Global Warming is another example. Tons of our citizens believe in Global Warming and our govt. spends billions on research. Yet "deniers" have shown all kinds of evidence to show that there is no long term man made global warming, yet most people believe in it to some degree.
Fortunately today, we have the internet. There are many alternative sources of information so that we can learn what is really going on in the world and shake off the programming the tube is trying to shove down our throat.
I guess "the media" controls some people.
And the "un-media" controls others.
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