Increasingly, the more I watch TV, the more I surf the net--as we used to say in the 90's (does anyone say that anymore?)--the more frustrated I get with our culture. People, myself included, are so easily distracted by inane nonsense, but, I suppose, to a certain degree, we can't help it, because it is designed to distract us from what is going on right in front of our faces.
I know I am probably a crazy person with tinfoil on my head rambling my crazy paranoid theories about the world, but I really don't think that I am that crazy or paranoid. While it might not count for much anymore, I am highly educated. I study language, ideas, and stories--how to analyze language, ideas, and stories, and while that might not get me a well-paying job, they are invaluable skills. Especially in the everything goes, misinformation age.
These are skills that we all need to develop, to be able to discern the genuine from the bullshit. That's the real reason that college degrees have been turned into a commodity--why teachers and instructors are marginalized and paid unlivable wages.
If people are really educated, then they will be able to see through the illusions.
Good ideas, facts, sound science, get lost in all the white noise that so easily distracts us. We don't have telescreens, we have the Internet and television. Instead of the "Two Minutes Hate", we have a nonstop, 24-hour barrage. We are inundated with messages, most of which can be simplified to, "Look the other way."
It's time for people to wake up and stop following and start listening. Stop looking the other way. It's time to find what's real, which is mixed in with the noise that makes us so apathetic. Stop being apathetic and start being conscientious.
As far as we know, without a doubt, we only have one life, and the only time you can take action is in the present. Time doesn't stop, it doesn't slow down, and the more of it you waste, the less of it you have. You can continue to go about your life, and pretend there is nothing wrong, or you can begin to face the truth. What are you going to do?
