I came across this quote the other day, and thought it too good not to post:
If you want to be angry about something, get pissed at a media culture that goes beserk [sic] about bonuses one week and forgets all about them the next. And be worried, quite worried, about a society for whom anger is a form of entertainment.
It's from Time political columnist Joe Klein's blog post , and for some reason it struck a nerve.
Perhaps it's because I've been listening to disproportionate amounts of public radio lately (my iPod died a while back... R.I.P.), but all I heard about last week was the AIG bonuses. Interestingly, the news was originally about the bonuses and how unbelievable/absurd/ludicrous/. they were, but then the news subtly shifted from the bonuses themselves to the anger about the bonuses. As I was driving one afternoon, I listened to a debate between two seemingly well-informed people about "how mad" people should be about the bonuses. All I came away with was knowing how mad I was that I had just listened to that segment.
We need to be careful to not take the bait and accept anger as a form of entertainment. Anger can be turned into something useful if it is handled appropriately, but when anger becomes a steady flow of fleeting fads, we become conditioned to be angry at something all the time. Finding this week's won't make you feel any better, I promise.
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Very true, I was interested in the "feigned" outrage by the very people who wrote the very language in the stimulus bill that allowed the bonuses.
I was also surprised by Senator Grassley's remarks regarding suicide and the fact that no one really ever challenged him on it. It was sarcasm on his part, but there were people who agreed literally with him.
Really? Something to note that some of those received bonuses had nothing to do with the department at AIG that brought the company to the point they had to ask for a bailout.
In this climate we can find something to be angry about every day regardless of what political party you support.