Shock and Awe

So, I've been thinking lately about the media and the culture of fear that it tends to inspire and how it's kind of a vicious circle in that people want to be shocked, so the media provides shocking stories because they want to make money. The media provides shocking stories, so that's what the people watch, and it whips them into a frenzy about these shocking things, and they like it and want to be shocked more.

Yesterday, Wonkette showed that CNN, Fox and MSNBC all had the sentencing of Dennis Rader(BTK) on at the same time. I don't even understand why that is news. The guy admitted he was guilty of brutally killing ten people in a state that didn't have the death penalty when the murders were committed. It seems most obvious to anyone vaguely familiar with the law and the case, that he's gonna spend the rest of his life in prison. So why do we care if he gets ten life sentences or just three or four? He's never getting out.

The folks I work with were re-hashing the whole case this afternoon. Now I can think of little else that affects these people less than the sentencing of serial killer in Kansas, but they were really passionate and opinionated about all these "crazies" out there. They're afraid to let their ten year old kids ride their bikes to the corner store for fear of pedophiles in Idaho. They're afraid to take a vacation to Aruba. Mind you, these are the same people that argue about who should get kicked off American Idol or The Apprentice. Again, things that aren't going to affect their lives in the slightest. But nonetheless, they get their panties in bunches over these things.

Same with sports. Sports fans are just about the most passionate lot, when it comes to their teams and who's gonna win the big game. While in today's world winning a national championship does bring significant revenue to a city, the fans generally aren't thinking about that when they are painting their faces and chests with their team's logo.

And I'm just as guilty. I like national politics. When I suppose if I really wanted to try to make a difference to things that will effect me personally and directly, I should focus on local politics or volunteering, or helping out my neighbors and others in my community. But I don't because the drama of what's going on in national politics is much more interesting than most of the local stuff. The shocking incompetence and corruption of the current Administration and the futility and long-term damaging nature of the war in Iraq pretty much trump anything that's going on here in Tampa.

Here in the U.S.A, the standard of living is significantly higher than many other countries. Most of us don't have to worry about where our next meal is coming from. And even if we do, we have sports, missing brides and reality TV to take our minds off of it.

Even though we have the right to protest, vote and petition congress, folks here in the U.S. seem pretty disinterested in things that really matter, compared to other countries where young men are willing to strap bombs on their backs and blow themselves up for something they believe in. It just seems that if we could take the passion we feel for Penn State Football or Survivor and put that energy towards helping people and making the world a better place, we could all live happily ever after.

Now let's all hold hands and sing Kumbaya!