Does Our Society Purposely Dumb People Down?

"At least 40 million Americans every night, it’s estimated, watch the network news. Seven million of them view A.B.C., the remainder being divided between N.B.C. and C.B.S. According to Harris polls and other studies, for millions of Americans the networks are the sole source of national and world news. In Will Roger’s observation, what you knew was what you read in the newspaper. Today for growing millions of Americans, it’s what they see and hear on their television sets." Quote by

Spiro Theodore Agnew

Television News Coverage

delivered 13 November 1969, Des Moines,

You might ask, what difference does it make, as long as we enjoy what we are watching. Let me point out a few simple facts. In education, you would think that our country as great as it is, would be leading the rest, right? The truth of the matter is that we are average at best. Here's a direct quote."We've been asleep for a good number of years as a country," says Richard Freeman, an economics professor at Harvard. "It's not that we're doing horrible. But the other guys are moving faster."

I enjoy a good reality show just like everyone else, but when the meat of the programming is an insult of our intelligence, it makes me angry!

Our children have to grow up in a society that pushes junk food, celebrity news, fake worldly news, sex and every way under the sun you can rid yourself of savings, in the form of donations!

Every time we turn around, our news media is talking about how the "terrorists" are going to harm us, creating fear! Are there terrorist out there that want to harm us? My belief is that it's possible; however it seems more likely that the media is using the fear in an effort to remove more of our rights as human beings. The more they say the word "terrorist" the more "fearful" we become. When we become "fearful," SOMEONE steps in with the solution to help us with our fears. That might be something along the lines of a FULL BODY SCANNER at the airport. Or it could mean that we have to give up our right to BEAR ARMS! I personally don't know what the real threats are, but when the media continues to talk about a subject over and over, it is obvious that there's an agenda, whether it be control, or profit based. I guess it could be either one.

Then we have things like the latest catastrophe in Haiti. The latest figures shows well over 200,000 killed. That in and of it self is horrible to say the least. But let me ask you something. How many of our own country men, women and children lost lives, homes and property during the "hurricane Katrina?" Where was our government then? Sure they FINALLY did something about it, but they sure took their sweet time! It was only moments after the announcement of the earthquake in Haiti and President Obama was on the TV talking about the aid and MILITARY action to be taken. It was only a day or so and we are SWARMING the island of Haiti. If that wasn't enough, we even had our past presidents "Clinton and Bush" get on the TV announcing to America to give give give! Bush was quoted in saying "I know a lot of Americans want to send blankets and water,'' Bush said, with a knowing nod, looking at the cameras: "Just send your cash.''

I can understand the reasoning behind simplifying donations and letting the powers to be to decide on the best ways to apply aid, but something about this smells funny!

As my wife and I sat through a few hours of TV mind development the other night, I couldn't help but notice that 4 out of 5 commercials stated just how important it was to send in your donations to the people of Haiti.

Again, I feel just as bad as most Americans do about the horrible conditions in Haiti, but there seems to be an agenda, and our media is working hand in hand in convincing our citizens to send money.

Now, let me get into the real reasons I bring up this topic. Has everyone forgot that our country is in the middle of one of the worst recessions of all time? We have a deficit that has caused each one of our youth to be over $38,000 in debt before they even get out of kindergarten! Our unemployment has surpassed 11% percent country wide and the job market is getting worse NOT better! People are losing their homes. Hard working citizens are having to file bankruptcy, that never had a financial problem in the past. The average American can't afford to go to the doctor, let alone to college! So in the middle of all this turmoil, our leaders thought it best to continue the spending on a country in need yes, but NOT our own! They've used the media to convince all of us, that it's the right thing to do, when instead they could have taken that same amount of money and helped the HOMELESS in our own country. They could have used some of that money to set up an AMNESTY program to help relief some of the DEBT that is drowning our very own. They could have used this money to IMPROVE our current educational system and get our children the books they need, or our teachers a little increase or possibly save a job or two! We all know that it cost a FORTUNE to advertise on TV, just take a moment and see just how many celebrities are on TV talking about the effort in Haiti, and how MANY commercials are on...do the MATH!

There isn't a night that goes by when our MEDIA isn't talking about the lives of some Celebrity. They take these people and use the infidelities or run of bad luck and ENTERTAIN us! Just think about it for a moment. These people are all human beings, just like us. Now it's true, many of them have a LOT more money, but they are still human beings and deserve to be treated as such. But they are NOT the only ones being treated with disrespect. We, the people, are sitting at home, grabbing a quick normally UNHEALTHY bite to eat, in front of our TV'S! We just can't wait to hear the latest gossip. Meanwhile our neighbors down the street, just lost their home. Someone else just lost a family member to cancer. Or 57 "men, women and children" were just killed in Iraq, while we are all making fun of Tiger Woods.

It's not just the celebrities that are used in the senseless warping of our minds, but the media loves to throw in another fear based LIE of supposed pandemics because of the Swine Flu! Personally I don't know of ONE person that's contracted this FLU. The ones that I read about, were just sick for about a week and back to their normal lives. So is it control, or PROFITS that are feeding the push on these things? Regardless of the motive, it goes to show you how EFFECTIVE they are!

When we are not shuffling through our wallets to send in donations, or laughing at how ridiculous it looks to be pregnant with 8 babies, we are wondering if we are "Smarter than a Fifth grader!" Why don’t our media focus on things that help to educate our youth, or even ourselves? Why isn't our government truly doing what Obama promised, by making our government transparent, allowing us to get a good picture as to what's really going on in our country?

Wouldn't it make more sense for our media to tell us the TRUTH, instead of a mixture of lies to keep us in the dark?

I'm only one person, but I do know that this country that I live in USED to be a great place. I was proud to see our Olympic team compete against the other countries and come out on top. There was a time when I felt proud to see our men and women in uniform. But now even though I respect our young men and women serving our country, I have to question the reasons we (our country) have chosen to go. Is what we see on TV and in the media, the truth? Do you really believe what they tell us? Think again, look back and do the math, do your research and voice your opinions. For now we have the Constitution of the United States of America that says we have a right to free speech. I challenge you to USE that right and voice your opinions. Are you proud of how the media has used their propaganda to create a country that is only middle of the road?

If you think I'm exaggerating, just watch the clip below.