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The current obsession seems to be Nazis and statutes. Not long ago, it was wedding cakes and pizza for homosexual couples, or Cecil the lion or dumping water on your head and donating to ALS.
Has anyone thought about Cecil or ALS, or wedding cakes this year? While we were all following the directives to obsess over Cecil the lion, or wedding cakes, did anyone give one thought to statues or Nazi rallies (which were both in existence then and for decades before)? Nazi rallies have been going on for nearly a hundred years. Why is it suddenly our most pressing issue?
While we obsess over statutes of people who may have been slave owners, or promoted slavery 150 or more years ago, do we give one thought to the fact that slavery continues today? Anyone bothered by the fact that someone will be sold on this very day?
If we put 1/10 of the energy into current slavery issues as is going into statues of confederate war heros, or the fact that Washington and Jefferson were slave owners, would we find a way to stop it? Why are we more worried about slavery 150 years ago, than we are about slavery today?
It seems that our society is in a constant state of obsession over comparatively irrelevant issues while the bigger problems continue unnoticed and undiscussed. Why is that?
The current obsession seems to be Nazis and statutes. Not long ago, it was wedding cakes and pizza for homosexual couples, or Cecil the lion or dumping water on your head and donating to ALS.
Has anyone thought about Cecil or ALS, or wedding cakes this year? While we were all following the directives to obsess over Cecil the lion, or wedding cakes, did anyone give one thought to statues or Nazi rallies (which were both in existence then and for decades before)? Nazi rallies have been going on for nearly a hundred years. Why is it suddenly our most pressing issue?
While we obsess over statutes of people who may have been slave owners, or promoted slavery 150 or more years ago, do we give one thought to the fact that slavery continues today? Anyone bothered by the fact that someone will be sold on this very day?
If we put 1/10 of the energy into current slavery issues as is going into statues of confederate war heros, or the fact that Washington and Jefferson were slave owners, would we find a way to stop it? Why are we more worried about slavery 150 years ago, than we are about slavery today?
It seems that our society is in a constant state of obsession over comparatively irrelevant issues while the bigger problems continue unnoticed and undiscussed. Why is that?
Maybe this belongs under psychology.
maybe those things are easier for most people to wrap their heads around and form an opinion on, compared to 'big picture' stuff.
but yeah, we are an easily distracted bunch, i'll grant you that.
In regard to propaganda the early advocates of uni*versal literacy and a free press envisaged only two possibilities: the propaganda might be true, or it might be false. They did not foresee what in fact has happened, above all in our Western capitalist democra*cies -- the development of a vast mass communications industry, concerned in the main neither with the true nor the false, but with the unreal, the more or less totally irrelevant. In a word, they failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions.
This is from an essay called "Brave New World Revisited," by Aldous Huxley.
I think that more or less gives you your answers.
We often associate propaganda with dictatorship, but this excerpt came from the section on Propaganda in a Democracy. Unlike in a dictatorship, propaganda in a democracy does not so much aim at telling you what is true or false, but rather what is vitally unimportant. And people like it because it asks nothing of them; it's neither pretentious or critical.
People simply don't care about public policy. As evidence of this, most discourse on this forum is bogged down by the left vs right narrative that, to the critical eye, is a completely fictional story. But it caught on because it's about as complex as a football game. That's not to say football is bad, but it's pretty clearly a problem when everything must be understood as a game or a spectacle.
The public often goes on one "kick" or another, and has for a very long time, but the "fever pitch" level of offense and resources dumped behind one cause or another spreads more rapidly due to the uptick in people on the internet.
I still remember having home internet service when most of the people I knew didn't have any. Remember internet cafes? Smartphones pretty much replaced those, too.
So, maybe it's smartphone use. I might write a paper on how Steve Jobs is ultimately to blame for championing the iPhone and putting a computer into so many people's hands with his idea.
Prior to the proliferation of smartphones, not nearly so many people had such unfettered access to stuff that may or may not be true or that they may or may not need to be remotely worried about.
I think around 2008 or so, I noticed an uptick in click bait style headlines from our local news channel on their FB page. It wasn't all of them, but some were like that. Now? They ALL ARE.
I deliberately don't click titles with "you won't believe" and "X people are freaking out!" types of phrases in them. I just write them off as nonsense and save myself the trouble.
Once a topic hits a place I may read it (like here, on social media via a friend, etc) I will consider what I think of the topic, but if these topics were just being spit out by news outlets, I probably wouldn't read about most of them.
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It is the media. They have been leading people around for years. It is the media that gets people riled up with their hyped up reporting. They give a pass to some stories while pounding on others to push an agenda. Look at the Trump Russian collusion nonsense. We had top Dems say that there is nothing there yet the likes of CNN kept reporting on it. They believe that it something is said long enough and loud enough that people will believe it and they do.
I think it is ridiculous that the do gooders are so riled up about anything having to do with the Civil War that they are wiling to tear it all down while there are still slaves being sold today in this country.
People have become so dimwitted that they will believe anything they hear so it is easy to get a mob going with trigger words like Trump and Racism.
The thing is with most Liberals they don't care about the facts but they are motivated by feelings.
This is from an essay called "Brave New World Revisited," by Aldous Huxley.
I think that more or less gives you your answers.
We often associate propaganda with dictatorship, but this excerpt came from the section on Propaganda in a Democracy. Unlike in a dictatorship, propaganda in a democracy does not so much aim at telling you what is true or false, but rather what is vitally unimportant. And people like it because it asks nothing of them; it's neither pretentious or critical.
People simply don't care about public policy. As evidence of this, most discourse on this forum is bogged down by the left vs right narrative that, to the critical eye, is a completely fictional story. But it caught on because it's about as complex as a football game. That's not to say football is bad, but it's pretty clearly a problem when everything must be understood as a game or a spectacle.
This is a very good post, Dusty. The "game or spectacle" proposition is valid online. Very much so. It's not "how do you feel about X topic?" It's "which party do you belong to?" And, once a person knows which one, they begin to fit people into neat, tidy boxes. Just like the Home and Away sections at a sporting event.
I'm not a Republican. I'm not a Democrat. I agree and disagree with both party platforms on various topics.
This either annoys most people or makes them think I'm lying. Or both.
People have this deep longing to categorize folks. Friend. Enemy. There's no middle ground.
__________________
When in doubt, check it out: FAQ
The current obsession seems to be Nazis and statutes. Not long ago, it was wedding cakes and pizza for homosexual couples, or Cecil the lion or dumping water on your head and donating to ALS.
Has anyone thought about Cecil or ALS, or wedding cakes this year? While we were all following the directives to obsess over Cecil the lion, or wedding cakes, did anyone give one thought to statues or Nazi rallies (which were both in existence then and for decades before)? Nazi rallies have been going on for nearly a hundred years. Why is it suddenly our most pressing issue?
While we obsess over statutes of people who may have been slave owners, or promoted slavery 150 or more years ago, do we give one thought to the fact that slavery continues today? Anyone bothered by the fact that someone will be sold on this very day?
If we put 1/10 of the energy into current slavery issues as is going into statues of confederate war heros, or the fact that Washington and Jefferson were slave owners, would we find a way to stop it? Why are we more worried about slavery 150 years ago, than we are about slavery today?
It seems that our society is in a constant state of obsession over comparatively irrelevant issues while the bigger problems continue unnoticed and undiscussed. Why is that?
Maybe this belongs under psychology.
Can you tell us what you have done to stop modern slavery so that we could emulate it?
It is the media. They have been leading people around for years. It is the media that gets people riled up with their hyped up reporting. They give a pass to some stories while pounding on others to push an agenda. Look at the Trump Russian collusion nonsense. We had top Dems say that there is nothing there yet the likes of CNN kept reporting on it. They believe that it something is said long enough and loud enough that people will believe it and they do.
I think it is ridiculous that the do gooders are so riled up about anything having to do with the Civil War that they are wiling to tear it all down while there are still slaves being sold today in this country.
People have become so dimwitted that they will believe anything they hear so it is easy to get a mob going with trigger words like Trump and Racism.
The thing is with most Liberals they don't care about the facts but they are motivated by feelings.
I don't exactly disagree with you, Todd. You're making some valid points here.
But, you need to also acknowledge that there are liberals who do care about facts and there are conservatives/Republicans who are just as hysterical as liberals/Democrats on one topic or another.
It's not unique to a party or ideology. Some people are more wound up than others most of the time.
In fact, some are so wound up that they see others as just as wound up as them. It's self-fulfilling prophecy, really.
The media, all branches of it, gets some people more riled up than others. My solution has been to avoid taking most of it too seriously. If I'm genuinely concerned, I'll flip to media from another country, believe it or not, and compare it to what's coming out of the US.
In fact, the less provocative the news story, the more I'm inclined to believe it.
I see friends on social media (from both sides of the political aisle) post the most RIDICULOUS links to stuff that is absolutely not true. And, they are worked up. And, they believe this stuff.
Human nature says that the ones I generally agree with the most surprise me and the ones I tend to mostly disagree with are the ones I look at and think it's just like them to post such a thing, but then I check myself and think "they're not any different, not really."
Stepping back to look at the big picture usually sets me right.
__________________
When in doubt, check it out: FAQ
The current obsession seems to be Nazis and statutes. Not long ago, it was wedding cakes and pizza for homosexual couples, or Cecil the lion or dumping water on your head and donating to ALS.
Has anyone thought about Cecil or ALS, or wedding cakes this year? While we were all following the directives to obsess over Cecil the lion, or wedding cakes, did anyone give one thought to statues or Nazi rallies (which were both in existence then and for decades before)? Nazi rallies have been going on for nearly a hundred years. Why is it suddenly our most pressing issue?
While we obsess over statutes of people who may have been slave owners, or promoted slavery 150 or more years ago, do we give one thought to the fact that slavery continues today? Anyone bothered by the fact that someone will be sold on this very day?
If we put 1/10 of the energy into current slavery issues as is going into statues of confederate war heros, or the fact that Washington and Jefferson were slave owners, would we find a way to stop it? Why are we more worried about slavery 150 years ago, than we are about slavery today?
It seems that our society is in a constant state of obsession over comparatively irrelevant issues while the bigger problems continue unnoticed and undiscussed. Why is that?
Maybe this belongs under psychology.
Very beautiful! We(humans) want confrontation and polemic. A positive news will last maybe two weeks, Kim Kardashian getting slapped a lifetime.
I don't have such a poor opinion of these issues gripping the American psyche, because I view them as a jumping off place for digging deeper into the underlying issues and their significance. This latest monument controversy has inspired me to learn more about a variety of topics related to the Civil War and slavery, which has broadened my knowledge of American history as a whole. We as individuals decide how to treat these social distractions. Some people are shallow and reactive but not all are.
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