America is Awash in Pathos

With the advent of world wide instant communications every incident of misfortune, calamity, disaster is exploited by our newspapers, radio, TV and the Internet. This is not to trivialize the suffering that the victims endure because it is real and manifest but when it affects our everyday lives it can have psychological consequences unrelated to or exaggerated from that which is warranted.

When these misfortunes occur the exploiters and victim-mongers hope that the process is:

depiction
compassion
complicity
guilt
contrition
sacrifice
expiation

Complicity is the key. They will try to foist off guilt by any means possible. A classic case is that of trying to get support for government funding to compensate black Americans for having had ancestors that were enslaved. They will even invoke the biblical, "the sins of the fathers shall be visited upon the heads of the children, even unto the third and fourth generation" regardless of the fact that the ancestors of most citizens weren't even in the country when slavery occurred. We are told that we exploited the third world countries for their resources and that is the cause for their misery today but they forget that without our involvement they would still be primitive tribes.

Those who disavow complicity and refuse the burden of guilt still have the implied criticism of being "unfeeling" to deal with; but the psychic drain in being solicited for all the never-ending "good causes" and refusing them can interfere with one's productive life.

This is certainly the case with me. All my friends and relatives are libertarians, liberals, democrats, socialists — not an objectivist among them, although some are Republicans. They all know my position of this subject but it is prudent for me to back off from being too insistent. So, there is some repressed anger that builds up and distracts me from what should be relative mental ease.

I'd be interested in the observations of others on this subject.

Sam

(Edited by Sam Erica on 6/06, 5:56am)

Post 1

Tuesday, June 5, 2007 - 8:57pm

I'm just sick of the disappearance of every little blond girl, wherever in the world, becoming 24-hour world "news." Of course I feel for the parents and families and their losses. And news coverage - when such is relevant to solving the crime - i.e., "local" coverage for the context is perfectly appropriate. But how often do we get 24-hour coverage of missing people who couldn't be cast as goldilocks? The coverage is hypocritical, manipulative, and voyeuristic, like watching a trailer for a snuff film.

Sorry, had to get that one off my chest.

Ted

(Edited by Ted Keer
on 6/06, 5:19pm)

Post 2

Wednesday, June 6, 2007 - 1:21am

Ted, I know what you mean. Oddly, I noticed this shift in broadcast news for a long while, probably since the late 1980s (but I suspect it started sooner), where once violent stories were a rarity on the news broadcasts are now a staple of them. I suspect one could finger Old Rupert at News Corporation, but I wouldn't be surprised some New York 'enlightened' liberal came up with this use of fear to pad faltering ratings for the networks. It's just I focus on News Corporation for the fact that Fox News is almost nearly fear based in its language, compared to even the local news, which at least attempts to water it down a little by comparison. None the less, fear has become the tool of the news hounds to gather a crowd around the zombie box (aka the television), and they can even use it to change the course of the government or an election (which they often do).

-- Brede
(Edited by Bridget Armozel
on 6/06, 1:27am)

Post 3

Wednesday, June 6, 2007 - 11:23am

It is precisely this fear mongering that the non-issue of Global Warming has taken such a life of its own. The news is filled with poorly researched science pieces reported by scientifically illiterate journalists preying on people's fears of calamity.

Sam I think you need some more Objectivist friends! And get rid of those liberals and socialists in your life! :)

Post 4

Wednesday, June 6, 2007 - 9:30pm

Those who disavow complicity and refuse the burden of guilt still have the implied criticism of being "unfeeling" to deal with; but the psychic drain in being solicited for all the never-ending "good causes" and refusing them can interfere with one's productive life.

The proper response to an accusation (actual or implied) of being "unfeeling" is (paraphrasing a line from Hurlyburly) to state to one's accuser, "I have feelings. They're just not your feelings."

Actually, the accusation of being "unfeeling" is profoundly dehumanizing, and it should be named and condemned as such, and those who utter that deadly insult deserve a shrug and the turned back of indifference, with the "5 words that spell liberation", like Luke Setzer advises: "I do not need you." http://rebirthofreason.com/Articles/Setzer/Five_Words_That_Spell_Liberation.shtml

I pay homage to him and his memorable piece:

"I invite you -- yes, I do mean you -- to make the disconnection. Disconnect yourself from the obstructionists, the life drainers, the destroyers. Set yourself free from the Gordian knots of troublemakers so that you can live your life your way."

And to paraphrase John Armaos, I hope you soon meet a better class of people and spare yourself what you called the "psychic drain" of guilt-tripping accusers and so-called "friends". For my life, the literary examples of the guilt-free Roark and Galt are all I need to show me how to be mentally free. "A self-sufficient ego. Nothing else matters."

Best of luck to you, Sam.

Post 5

Wednesday, June 6, 2007 - 11:15pm

Sam, to me, doesn't seem the type to need to much advise on choosing his friends. So long as he can be honest with them, and still enjoy their company, he loses no honor and, one assumes, gains some value. Luke's thread on disburdening oneself was good. Living in post-Giuliani New York (by which, I mean that the homeless and the beggars are out again in force) I do have to put up with some wretched souls and other self-destructive creatures on the train now every single day. (I often think that should a terrorist wish to disguise himself as a beggar, he could spread ricin or anthrax in his wake, unseen, and killing thousands in Bloomberg's socialist paradise.) While others either pointedly or guiltily look away, or hand the beggars change, I choose to give the beggars one free and valuable gift. I look them in the eye, and without pity or contempt say "sorry" with an inflection that means not that I am sorry for their condition, but rather "sorry, you're not getting anything out of me." I have not once been met with hostility, and sometimes actually see a look not quite of guilt, but almost of gratitude in their faces.

Ted Keer

Post 6

Sunday, June 10, 2007 - 9:46am

A world filled with nothing but big, threatening problems requires big government constructivist solutions. The Herdists/Tribalists have an interest in selling their wares.

That is why the Word 2007 comes with a new journalist template.

"The government is not doing enough to ensure public safety. <Insert latest fringe occurrence of note here.>"

There is also a new Chart filter in Excel 2007. So, when you display things like Global Climate record, it will automatically show it at a scale which hides the objective fact that CO2 lags rises in global temperatures by 800 yrs, and instead show an 'alarming correlation between CO2 and Global Temperatures with which to scare the kids into signing up for Mr. Deer in Headlights Inconvenient 10 Year Plan.

Sorry, I still can't force myself to refer to 'them' as an 'it,' as if I or anyone on earth had the first f'n clue what 'it' is, was, will be or would be.

regards,
Fred

(Edited by Fred Bartlett on 6/10, 9:49am)

Post 7

Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - 7:58pm

Sadly, when the news covers these fringe threats and isolated atrocities I almost view it as a positive (almost being the key word). At least in the Scott Peterson case, someone died. Hell, 22 or so people died from the ecoli outbreak. I mean that's almost 1/10th of 1/100th of 1/10th of 1% of the American population! I personally think it would be better described as a plague, but I digress. When the average drivel is about Paris Hilton going to Jail, or Don Imus saying something racist or Tom Cruise being forced to find a new filming location because he's a scientoligst, these isolated, fear mongering stories like Natalie Halloway are almost a warm welcome.

I guess one could argue, with three 24/7 news channels and countless other media sources, they don't have enough news to talk about. At least they discuss the Iraq war and occasionally Darfur, but what about the other 140 some countries out there? What about the macro issues facing us? What about having an honest, unbiased debate about the role of government in society than the back and forth, whoever's louder wins crap we see on Hannity and Colmes and the like.

However, if we did that we wouldn't find out who killed that girl in Aruba or whether Paris Hilton was treated unfairly or maybe or instead given undue favors or whatever...

Post 8

Wednesday, July 4, 2007 - 5:58pm

Sanctioned, Andrew. Nice.

Post 9

Thursday, July 5, 2007 - 10:18am