I had an epiphany moment this morning. Karl Marx's quote about religion being the opiate of the masses. It keeps people quiet, as does the Hollywood entertainment complex and sports complex. If all that were shut down people would have to pay attention to the greatest show on earth - Government!! I started thinking about this in relation to Greta and climate change. People don't pay attention to it because it is complicated and there are way too many other distractions. We're working our asses off and going deeper into debt, and we're not vaccinating our kids cuz Jenny said so. We know more about the Kardashians than we do about the Amazon buring. People get passionate about football but not about millionaires ripping us off and species extinction. Maybe it is time for a do-over. Maybe we're just too far gone to survive as a species. I am not optimistic.
Distraction is easy and denial is always the least line of resistance.
I made a reply yesterday about this very subject and quoted a reason why this is and how it has become so prevalent today. One thing that I constantly remind people is it is complicated and all encompassing. A big part of the problem is with liberals in their not understanding how important the anthropogenic contribution are and the uncomfortable steps we must take to reduce it.
Religion provides an emotional escape valve, because all will be well after the world ends.
I have long thought that religion exploits some vulnerability in the human brain. A vestigial part?
People, generally, have very limited attention spans for Anything. They MUST have something to focus on. The idea if you take away immediately pleasurable things, that that would Make them "start thinking" is not reaiistic! Ask th Romans, heck, ask Moses..........
@desertastronomer ummm, I was referring to the shenanigans his followers got up to when he was up on Mount Sinai. They Had to have something to worship &
a Golden Calf dance in front of.
Well, DUH! I have watched this slow extinction of intellectual curiosity for years. Having a TV was a low priority when I was first on my own. I had to work to pay the bills, no more drunken late night parties and goofing off. At work co-workers chit-chat was always what they had watched the night before on TV and thru the years that was the conversation at work.
The big news was always background noise to what comedy, drama or distraction the network programming could supply. Then ya throw in sports and music and and and well shit there is just no time to be interested in anything else. So intellectual curiosity took a back seat to being entertained.
Not a new story, human nature from the beginning has always been about various levels of survival - who has power and who doesn't. Religion has been used to control the masses since man first conceived it. Romans used blood sport to entertain and distract.
Modern media has killed intellectual curiosity.
The memes posted are great!! Thank you!
I love your post and the memes. I can identify with every word here. The older I get the more I see that others are not stable and they do not live in my world. They are simply people I have to put up with in order to survive. Try not to fall for the distractions. There are many of them. Try not to be working your ass off for something just because you have become the product. As my life goes on I see plainly why others do not have anything. People are deceived.