Funny thing, that: unlike most changes that happen rather quietly and invisibly, so that we wake up wondering how we turned from human to cockroach, the moment at which “citizen” was redefined to “consumer” can be pinpointed: September 12, 2001, when President George W. Bush said the best way for us to respond to the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington was to… go shopping.
Now we have single and multi player first person shooters with internet connections, and real time 3d imaging on HDTVs. Reality is a rude awakening when you don’t have extra lives.
Back in the late 50s, 9 of the top 10 TV shows were Westerns. In most of them, the violence was very limited, and was usually one on one, and the ‘bad guys’ were painfully obvious. I don’t remember Roy Rogers ever shooting anyone. What’s my point? Seems we can’t get enough violence now, in TV, film, or games. Nothing is out of bounds apparently. On a similar topic; back in the days of emergency services training, it was pointed out that, in a large scale medical emergency, a person would become numb to the carnage (read: bodies) after seeing only two of them, and would be able to function properly after that. My job was communications; we had to ignore the pleas for help and do our job. Tough, but made sense. Let the pros do what they do. Anyway, again, the point is simply that if you see enough violence, real or otherwise, you become inured to it, and it becomes an acceptable state of affairs.
puddleglum1066 over 9 years ago
Funny thing, that: unlike most changes that happen rather quietly and invisibly, so that we wake up wondering how we turned from human to cockroach, the moment at which “citizen” was redefined to “consumer” can be pinpointed: September 12, 2001, when President George W. Bush said the best way for us to respond to the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington was to… go shopping.
PoodleGroomer over 9 years ago
Now we have single and multi player first person shooters with internet connections, and real time 3d imaging on HDTVs. Reality is a rude awakening when you don’t have extra lives.
Packratjohn Premium Member over 9 years ago
Back in the late 50s, 9 of the top 10 TV shows were Westerns. In most of them, the violence was very limited, and was usually one on one, and the ‘bad guys’ were painfully obvious. I don’t remember Roy Rogers ever shooting anyone. What’s my point? Seems we can’t get enough violence now, in TV, film, or games. Nothing is out of bounds apparently. On a similar topic; back in the days of emergency services training, it was pointed out that, in a large scale medical emergency, a person would become numb to the carnage (read: bodies) after seeing only two of them, and would be able to function properly after that. My job was communications; we had to ignore the pleas for help and do our job. Tough, but made sense. Let the pros do what they do. Anyway, again, the point is simply that if you see enough violence, real or otherwise, you become inured to it, and it becomes an acceptable state of affairs.
braindead Premium Member over 9 years ago
Join the Army! Travel to exotic locations. Meet interesting people and kill them.
maybeinthenextworld over 9 years ago
I was very close to a Navy Man on numerous occasions.
Ushindi over 9 years ago
I seem to have missed out on the glamor and fun part.