Weapons of Mass Distractions
Writer, Os Guiness, is credited with coining the phrase “weapons of mass distraction,” in his book, “Fool’s Talk: Recovering the Art of Christian Persuasion.” His use of the phrase was in a religious vein whereby people are distracted so that they avoid immediate issues such as a belief in God and other matters of faith.
Steve Harvey has a wonderful motivational talk that can be found on YouTube in which he uses the same term, weapons of mass distraction. My understanding of Steve Harvey’s talk is that we use weapons of mass distraction to avoid the present. We use them so that we don’t get out of our own way to achieve success. I’m a fan of Steve Harvey and he’s an outstanding example of someone who was able to achieve great success by getting out of his own way.
We have other weapons of mass distraction that are being taken for granted as we spiral into a nation of the all-important, individual “Me.” How many hours a week do we spend gazing absent mindedly at the entertainment streaming services now available through television? Speaking personally, I’m a sucker for all of them, from 24-hour news, to sports, movies, drama, adventure, etc. Sometimes I think I need an organization like Alcoholics Anonymous for TV viewers. “Hello, my name’s Patrick and I’m a TV addict.”
Let’s go back a couple of thousand years to Rome when the Colosseum was built under the Flavian era of rule. One theory is that it was built to solidify the Flavian’s hold on power by providing distracting entertainment to the populace of Rome. If you keep the populous occupied, they don’t notice that things are deteriorating around their ears. As anyone would know who has seen Charltan Heston in late-night re-runs of the 1959 movie, “Ben-Hur,” or Russel Crow in the more recent movie, “The Gladiator,” the entertainment at the Colosseum was robust. It provided a safe view of savagery and death through miniature wars, combat between individual humans, and between humans and wild animals. Sometimes unarmed humans against wild and hungry beasts. Pretty chilling stuff!
Let’s admit it. For years we have had the same savage display of entertainment available to ourselves and our kids. Distraction at its finest! You don’t even have to leave home for it. Television series, streaming and movies promote violence, often featuring two-faced actors who abhor guns in their public lives. Violent television programs can be unsettling enough. However, with computer games, a youngster can kill two hundred people and then go have dinner with his mom. Is it a surprise that readily available, violent programming must have a desensitizing effect?
We as individuals probably can’t do much about television and streaming programming. As long as it sells it’s going to be in our faces. What we can do is turn the thing off and do something else. If you can’t read learn how. If someone can’t read this blog you, the reader, find someone who can’t read and help them learn. If you don’t want to learn to read there are other things that can stimulate your imagination. Collect toothpicks and build a miniature log cabin. Collect bugs or rocks. Whatever! Get your mind off the television and into the world around you. Most of the visual entertainment we receive does nothing to stimulate the imagination. You sit there, open mouthed, and absorb what is being presented. At least radio makes you form pictures in your mind.
Having recently returned from living overseas for decades I see this country differently than the typical, non-traveling American. To my eyes the change in this country is shocking and quick. To those living here the change has probably been slow and insidious. Our country is spiraling out of its orbit in the world. We will be reduced to the level of a third world country if we don’t grab ourselves by the boots and lift ourselves out of our deepening quagmire of ignorance.
I know this article is strong and preachy, but it’s heartbreaking to see what’s happening to The United States of America. It’s been a symbol of success to hard-working, strong people from all over the world for over two hundred years. It’s a sad and sorry state into which we have been evolving.
