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Saturday, March 2, 2013

The People on TV


I've spoken of the virtues of tuning into the immediacy of the moment. You know, being more mindfully aware, more fully conscious and present to whatever is happening right now. Well, what about the idiocy of the moment.

Think about it. "The idiocy of the moment." The thought occurred to me just a few minutes before while switching through the television channels and not being able to find anything worthwhile to watch, and realizing that at that particular moment in time, at least from my particular point of view, idiocy completely ruled the television airwaves. Every single channel was a medium for idiocy.

What do I mean by idiocy? Complete and utter mindlessness. Ignorance. Like babies crying, with the yearning to be fed, comforted, and held. But in this metaphorical scenario, there is no one there to hold them. No tangible way to feed them. No way to teach them, communicate with, or get through to them. All that you can do is passively watch them, crying, helplessly...and this is supposed to be entertainment?

You see, this is when you're supposed to turn the TV off. When you realize that a) you are not being entertained, and b) you are not learning anything useful, and c) you are hating every moment of what you are seeing. Yet, you continue to watch, because you are enslaved to the boredom and the misery of this televised absurdity of life.

Television. Not all of it is bad. But very little of it is good. In many ways it is a mirror of the darkness, the confusion, and idiocy endemic to the collective consciousness of humankind. What I dislike on TV, I dislike face to face and in the flesh. People acting like ignorant, stupid assholes. Yeah, not everybody is a super intelligent, intellectually, morally, spiritually evolved, advanced form of life.

I'm not saying that I am. I lack compassion. I feel hatred in my heart more often than not. But if you are looking for the best that humanity has to offer, you are likely not going to find them on TV. Which is not to say that they'll never make an occasional appearance, but for the most part, more often than not, the people you see on TV are about as clueless and lacking in wisdom as they come.