Amused to Death

I was ready to give up on the human race.

A slow drive in busy morning traffic forced me to read all the newspaper headlines posted on the way. It didn't make for pleasant reading.

The headlines shot case after case of murder, mayhem and misery my way. The odd headline about a sex scandal and yet another government corruption case brought little relief as I inched forward.

Then quickly back to the murder, mayhem and misery. Was I supposed to feel better to learn that other nations also kill, rob and suffer? I didn't.

I haven't read any of the so-called news publications in a few years. I also gave up on television 'news' about a year ago. I'm not ignorant, just selective. And I'm better off.

The fascination of the media and the public with sensationalist drivel is beyond me. Why are people so interested in an unfortunate murder case that it warrants a dedicated tv channel?

I'm sick of it. I'm sick of the tv, the newspapers, the tweets, the comments. What's become of us?

Twenty odd years ago, Roger Waters (ex Pink Floyd) wrote the album and song Amused to Death. The following lyrics from the song sums up the human condition as I see it:

… And when they found our shadows
Grouped 'round the TV sets
They ran down every lead
They repeated every test
They checked out all the data in their lists
And then the alien anthropologists
Admitted they were still perplexed
But on eliminating every other reason
For our sad demise
They logged the only explanation left
This species has amused itself to death

The lyrics are now more true than ever. We are amusing ourselves to death, at the expense of our fellow man.

Like I said, I was ready to give up on the human race.

Then I read this quote: “The world suffers a lot. Not because of the violence of bad people. But because of the silence of good people.” – Napoleon

Like a kick in the groin, that part about the silence of the good people, isn't it? We are the good people, right?

Then let us break our silence and raise our voices against the sensationalism in the name of news and reality. Stop supporting the vulgarity passing as journalism and public interest.

The violence of the bad people must be stopped, no question. Our ever connected state gives us a voice, a voice that reaches far and wide - use it responsibly.

Speak up, good people.