Posted by
HARRY on Thursday, March 22, 2007 3:02:00 PM
Like animals we humans like to defend out positions - even when they’re
ridiculous. I don’t think it matters what we really believe - it’s all
about conflict. That’s what the world is selling you in case you didn’t
realize - they’re selling you conflict. In fact, when see a movie the
principle element of that movie is conflict. Usually evil verses good
or some offshoot of that principle. When you listen to some
conservative talk show host talk about liberals with disdain - he or
she is selling you conflict. What makes a sports rivalry great? The
conflict creates the drama. Don’t we just love it when a fight breaks
out at a baseball game? How about the show cops? Is it just the
conflict that make us want to watch? So conflict sells as well as sex
if not better. So what’s the problem with this? Well the problem is to
varying degrees (based upon our genetic predispositions and
environmental history) we humans are naturally aggressive. We are
easily drawn in to conflicts (did you ever see a riot break out at a
soccer game?). In fact, once we get started conflict is progressive.
Take for (an easy) example the Middle East. I heard on the news today
(it could have been any day) that more people were killed. So there’s
an inciting event and then more conflict and then another inciting
event and then even more conflict and so on and so on. Conflict is
naturally escalating and humans naturally escalate conflict. Did you
ever get insulted? What was you’re first reaction? Were you ever
robbed? What was your first reaction? When someone hurts us do we do
the godly thing and forgive them or do we want revenge and satisfaction
for what they have done to us? So the media (television, movie
industry, news stations) are constantly selling us conflict almost like
drug dealers. They’re preying on our genetic weaknesses and we fall for
it like addicts. The Michael Savages and the Rush Limboughs of the
world are really just conflict dealers and the people who call in to
argue or side up are really conflict addicts. The news media not only
sells you conflict it likes to show you pictures of the conflict so
you’ll get even more hooked. Just picture a cocaine dealer showing you
pictures of not the cocaine itself but what cocaine can make you feel
like.
So we have all this conflict going on in the world and I have to wonder
how the people in charge of selling it to you really feel about it? I
mean without all this conflict what would they talk about? What would
they sell us? I can picture some news media executive hearing the news
about Iran firing a few missiles and saying, “thank heavens, I thought
they were going to back down”.