...while Rome burned.

(The above photo is common on the net and no longer has a credit attached).
.
Nero fiddled while Rome burned; I guess we watch reality shows. That's the reason I cancelled my cable. I keep expecting that things cannot get any dumber and that at some point they'll run out of old programs to pillage. For a generation that likes to rub its street cred into everybody's face, the lack of originality is getting old. I see that they're now redoing Charlie's Angels. I suspect that the bodies will be thinner, but the 'assets', so to speak, will be more enhanced with silicone. They'll still be chasing bad guys in those ridiculous high heels, though.
`
If a person were lucky, they could totally have tuned out and missed the banking crisis, foreclosure situation, Iraq war and the environmental disaster in the Gulf. With all of the drama and staged cat fights between the high maintenance women on various shows, who knew? Pass the Doritos. Yes, it might be overwhelming and depressing at times to know that there could be a nuclear meltdown at any second. But it's in Japan...not China as somebody actually suggested to me. Turn off the tube, or at least stick it onto a news channel every so often.
`
However, even the news isn't what it once was in the day of Cronkite. It's now become a perp walk and shots of somebody being chased by the LAPD; especially if that somebody happens to be a celeb. It seems that more time is devoted to new movie releases and break-ups then hard stories. This is most noticeable on the morning news (ahem), which alway follows its formulaic schtick of a male, female and a weather person who really wants to be a comedian. The weather guy is the only person allowed to have weight issues. All of them want to be in Hollywood and none of them want to be in the field gathering "hard facts." Spare me the talking heads.
`
The same story can be found in almost any print media outlet. Somebody, somewhere releases the copy and it gets reprinted. There is no longer an original or distinct voice.
`
I am actually starting to suspect that people, despite all of their talk of individuality and their bodies adorned with tattoos and piercings are very uncomfortable with anything that's different. They don't really understand it; they need things laid out for them. Gone is that ability to discern that some stories might have one slant, while another displays a different voice. For example, in France there could be numerous papers, some left wing and some right wing. People want their lives, like their music, homogenized. It's safer and easier. It's also really scary.