Post class posting 11/7 E.M

“Our news anchors, our talk show hosts, and our sports announcers have turned into two-bit spiritual guides, representatives of middle-class morality.” (Chomsky 329)

The “two bit spiritual guides” are the panacea that fills the void. The void is created because I believe that we are so inundated with so much information – the “we” being middle class America. Skimming information is the way most people gather their information. The news crawl while we watch CNN and work out at the gym. The path of least resistance is also true of middle class morality. Sound bites are how people gather their daily dose of politics, celebrity gossip, what to eat for dinner. Why not spirituality – Morpheus asks ---do you want the blue pill or the red pill. Chomsky is telling us that we are taking the easy “blue” pill. What is our alternative – do we step back into the morality of our parents or our grandparents – that does not seem like much of a choice. The old out dated modes of morality did not work. Or are they too black and white to work? Does our culture now cry out for shades of gray? Get centered/ Get real/ be balanced. Short easy to remember ineffective salves applied to our quick fix life.
A Second Chomsky quote continues to reinforce my argument, “Our TV philosophers are called in to give meaning to the meaningless, anecdotal, or fortuitous event that has been artificially brought to stage center and given significance” (333) The font of all knowledge/wisdom is handed to us from a talking head inside of a little plastic box. They tell us we must feel grief for those who suffer from the cause du jour – If the “cause” and the list is long 9/11, Tsunami, Katrina, Iraq to name a few/ becomes out dated and irrelevant we are encouraged to leave it behind like a child with a worn out toy. After 9/11 I turned on the Television every day – I was poised just waiting for the next shoe to drop – what would be next – anthrax at Disney World – a car bombing in down town Manhattan. I was fearful to allow myself to fly. My fear was being whipped into a wet hot lather by the news media. They were thrilled – beside themselves – The news media was no longer back ground noise – For a good portion of time after 9/11 we became plugged in. I became weary of the mountains of useless information. I rarely watch the news these days – I don’t want to know about the trivial– If it’s big enough to notice I’m sure some one will tell me. Do I feel out of touch? A bit/ I concentrate on living my life. If I want to know about something I research it – get different sides. It takes a little more effort. Of course my holier than thou attitude is not limited to reading the weird tabloid headlines in the check out counter at the supermarket. I know I saw Elvis – He was buying popcorn in front of me at the movie theater.