A functioning Democracy requires an informed public

I cannot help but blame the media for it’s role in the de-evolution of our cultural desires. We no longer have a functioning press in the way that our forefathers intended, preoccupied instead with entertainment and ratings, rather than the dissemination of useful and enlightening knowledge. One need not look past what happened to Michael Moore recently to come to this conclusion.

I heard this morning that Michael Moore was scheduled to give a one hour interview with Larry King discussing his new documentary “SiCKO”, on the abuses and realities of our health insurance system. He instead was bumped out of that slot by Paris Hilton to discuss her adventures in jail, whom CNN apparently has decided is of greater importance to the American public than an actual real life public concern. What does this say about our values and aspirations when a pop cultural icon trumps real news? Our health insurance industry is a band of legal thieves and the public is seriously under informed, disconnected, desensitized to and unaware of the truth. It’s no wonder this has occurred when considering the value of what the media sells. Money is what ultimately matters in our materialistic culture.

Consider the national obsession over Anna Nicole Smith‘s death, the popularity of demeaning shows like American Idol, and together their connection and place in the media. Consider now the war we are in, the lies and illegal sidestepping our leaders have used to get us into the war, the poverty on our streets, the lack of basic health care for the citizens of the wealthiest nation in the world, the unequal distribution of wealth and opportunity, our faltering educational systems and so on and so forth, the list goes on and on… yet turn on the news and you are far more likely to be informed about the trivial life of Paris Hilton, or who may get voted off of Idol next, rather than of anything of real life importance. We need to refocus on issues that matter and awake from the day Dream so many of the prosperous in this country seem to be preoccupied with. The individual desire to profit is to blame.