I’m probably the last person to opine on this, but what used to be hard media news such as the recurrent prairie floods, the umpteen coups, wars and rebellions abroad has steadily given away to the most banal, clichéd, glandular, mindless infotainment, previously just associated with Entertainment Tonight and The National Enquirer, such as the media obsession with Kim Kardashian’s butt, and Rob Ford’s pathetic, intoxicated public ravings.
Alas, the news media no longer has a credible, serious sense of purpose or common-sense perspective, and had simply caved in to giving the masses what they want–all in the name of approval ratings and the lowest common-denominator, dumbed-down survival. None of this, of course, is surprising with the great decline and deconstruction of traditional education and the mere faddish shift to ultimately unequal, undemocratic political-correctness agendas.
Above all, the masses has shown a stubborn reluctance to think, preferring instead fashionably mindless, non-stop e-media distraction and 5″ screen faux or virtual connections. Important and consequential nformation–which used to be prized in a book and reading culture–has been completely devalued, debunked, and dumbed down beyond belief. By and large, the masses dictate all and they–the ones buying the cellphones–simply don’t want to think for a second, shallowly preferring instead the ‘electrical excitement dream’ of advertising and self-serving fantasy. The rest of the world and its real, serious concerns, issues, and problems are the last thing isolated, alienated people today choose to tune in or address in any way.
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In today’s news, U.S. Labor data shows 83% of Americans do not devote any part of their days to just thinking. North American culture has become largely mindless, mostly distracted, and often alienated from what used to be the real, external, physical, natural worlds.