Aunt Annie's Aligator A a A
The increased apathy in American culture is not a new subject. There is little doubt that it has contributed to the state of things these days - public discourse is on life support, increased sensationalizing by our news media, politicians who more closely resemble the town drunk than the town scholar. And I thought that I was immune. I was wrong.
But failing to prevent myself from catching a serious case of the old apathy also helped me open my eyes. It's a sick fucking world out there, people; and we're beat over the head with it every day. It's a wonder anybody survives. The images of destruction and rape, the onslaught of loud-mouthed egomaniacs spewing misinformation on the radio and television, the constant birage of advertising and stimulation - where does it all end? It ends in apathy.
Let me give you an example. Two weeks ago I was watching my local television news (not out of any desire to be informed - obviously local news isn't a great source for that), the 10PM broadcast. The first six stories that night were about murder - the first SIX. Oh my god, you say, what is happening in Iowa? Do they even get six murders there in a year? Oh, I can see where you'd get that idea. But no, only one of the murder stories was "fresh." The other five were all related to murders in the past - something had happened in the murder trial, an anniversary of a murder, etc. I asked myself, of all the things that went on in my community today, why did they cover those? I know for certain that there were people out there doing things much more newsworthy. People everyday do important work on important issues, but the local news leads off with six murders, 15 minutes on the weather, a couple of minutes on sports, way too much small talk . . . you get the idea. You've seen it.
But that's just the local news. And I can't blame only them. And I'm really not interested in who's to blame. I think we all have a responsibility to improve public discourse, to ask each other questions, to open the lines of communication. It's the only way we can improve things; and I don't necessarily mean politically. (Although it certainly wouldn't hurt.)
Any improvement in our own personal connection to our community helps fight apathy.
We've become apathetic, I believe, because we are no longer given the chance to be participants in an honest discourse, an honest democracy, and honest business to customer relationship. We have become witnesses to idiots screaming at each other in the parking lot. There is very little chance to interject. We need to start our own conversations; and they must be conversations, not the jackass hyperbole of Rush, O'Reilly,Fox News and (yes, it's true people) Air America. Whether it's saying hello to your neighbors or getting to know the guy the owns the local hardware store, any time you take to start conversations in your community will help fight apathy.
So I was wrong. I became apathetic. I allowed myself to get wrapped up in the left vs right shouting matches that pass as discourse and I crawled into a dark hole. It was a mistake. But now I've climbed back out.
But failing to prevent myself from catching a serious case of the old apathy also helped me open my eyes. It's a sick fucking world out there, people; and we're beat over the head with it every day. It's a wonder anybody survives. The images of destruction and rape, the onslaught of loud-mouthed egomaniacs spewing misinformation on the radio and television, the constant birage of advertising and stimulation - where does it all end? It ends in apathy.
Let me give you an example. Two weeks ago I was watching my local television news (not out of any desire to be informed - obviously local news isn't a great source for that), the 10PM broadcast. The first six stories that night were about murder - the first SIX. Oh my god, you say, what is happening in Iowa? Do they even get six murders there in a year? Oh, I can see where you'd get that idea. But no, only one of the murder stories was "fresh." The other five were all related to murders in the past - something had happened in the murder trial, an anniversary of a murder, etc. I asked myself, of all the things that went on in my community today, why did they cover those? I know for certain that there were people out there doing things much more newsworthy. People everyday do important work on important issues, but the local news leads off with six murders, 15 minutes on the weather, a couple of minutes on sports, way too much small talk . . . you get the idea. You've seen it.
But that's just the local news. And I can't blame only them. And I'm really not interested in who's to blame. I think we all have a responsibility to improve public discourse, to ask each other questions, to open the lines of communication. It's the only way we can improve things; and I don't necessarily mean politically. (Although it certainly wouldn't hurt.)
Any improvement in our own personal connection to our community helps fight apathy.
We've become apathetic, I believe, because we are no longer given the chance to be participants in an honest discourse, an honest democracy, and honest business to customer relationship. We have become witnesses to idiots screaming at each other in the parking lot. There is very little chance to interject. We need to start our own conversations; and they must be conversations, not the jackass hyperbole of Rush, O'Reilly,Fox News and (yes, it's true people) Air America. Whether it's saying hello to your neighbors or getting to know the guy the owns the local hardware store, any time you take to start conversations in your community will help fight apathy.
So I was wrong. I became apathetic. I allowed myself to get wrapped up in the left vs right shouting matches that pass as discourse and I crawled into a dark hole. It was a mistake. But now I've climbed back out.
posted by Exiled Doctor at 2:51 PM
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