- Paris Hilton
- O.J. Simpson
- Britney Spears
- Terrell Owens
- Kim Kardashian
- Madonna
- Alex Rodriguez
- Miley Cyrus
- Tom Cruise
- Rosie O'Donnell
- Lindsay Lohan
- Amy Winehouse
- Victoria Beckham
People We Might Hate If We Had More Information:
- Alan Greenspan
- Rod Blagojevich
- Bill Clinton
- Martha Stewart
- Michael Jackson
Who Benefits From a Society in Which the People We Should Hate Are Not the People We Hate?
The people who are getting away with stuff, such as the people I listed that we might hate if we were given more negative information on them are the ones who are benefiting. I am sure that all of the crooks and criminals out there laugh at our news media when we are focused more on the weight of Jessica Simpson or what Paris Hilton is wearing than on actual news worthy people who have done something good or those who have done wrong.
Who Has Caused More Damage to U.S. Citizens, Paris Hilton or Alan Greenspan?
Alan Greenspan has caused more damage. Although some may think that Paris Hilton is detrimental to our society, she has never done harm or damage to us.
Who Had Caused More Damage to U.S. Citizens, O.J. Simpson or Alan Greenspan?
Again I will say Alan Greenspan. While O.J. "may" have caused harm to the victims of that night I do not think that he has caused we as citizens any harm.
I completely agree here. But what do we do?
ReplyDeleteAmericans are suckers for sensationalism, and our depleted attention spans no longer have the desire -- or capacity -- to understand policy. We do, however, understand celebrity scandal because it only requires a simple understanding of human nature and the temptations that go along with it; EVERYONE understands that. That, and it's sexy.
It's the same reason we still have a bi-partisan political system. It's easy to align oneself with one of two lines of belief, rather than research and develop an opinion based on individual ideals and policies.
It's also partly why our elections are based on mud-slinging. Scandals pique our curiosity, not mundane voting records.
How do we fix this? I'm not sure we can. We live in a society where little to no importance is placed on intelligence and education. In pop culture, it's not cool to be educated. As sad a commentary as it is on our society, people are drawn to beautiful morons. That's cool. Until that changes -- and I don't see that happening -- we'll always have much more time for Hollywood than D.C.
So whose fault is it? Well, the media (which we're all members of as journalists) is simply pandering to what the public wants; otherwise, no one would watch/listen/read, advertisers would pull out, and we'd disappear. But where did the public first start seeing this sensationalist slop? Well, in some medium, somewhere. It's sort of a chicken-before-the-egg situation.
I'm as guilty as anyone, and I think we all are, to some degree. It's just too juicy to not be somewhat drawn to things like this. It's the path of least resistance; it's effortless and entertaining. It's also an escape into the surreal world.
So, even though I'm not sure we can fix it, I just hope we don't slide into a world like that of "Idiocracy." Sure, it's a slippery slope argument, but who can confidently say we won't get there?
All that being said, if I have to hear another word about the Octuplet Mother, I'm going to punch someone in the nads.