Just something that I’ve been noticing recently is how powerful an impact the mainstream media really has in our lives. Whether it’s body image or beliefs, the media plays a tremendous role in influencing them, and I’ve been making an effort to steer clear of the typical sources of High Influence from the media, primarily television. A perfect example is how the slaying of Dr. George Tiller in Wichita this past Sunday has not just been blamed on Mission, Kansas resident Scott Roeder, but how it is also being blamed on (surprise!) the conservative media in the country.
Call me naive, but I like to believe that people can make decisions in this world without someone telling them what to do or influencing their ideas, but the simple truth is that human nature simply does not allow this. Nearly every major decision that I’ve made this past year especially has not been done without seeking counsel from close friends and family members. The harsh reality though, especially with many mainstream conservatives, is that the entire foundations of some of our beliefs are based off of the rantings of civilized, but still raving lunatics.
I don’t have enough fingers to count how many conservatives I know who rather than turning to political theory and philosophy will instead base their political viewpoints solely on what Rush Limbaugh says. Here is a man who spreads more hate speech than anyone I know, and surprise, Scott Roeder was probably influenced by him, and was able to find justification through what the media is propagating as a “sound” world view.
Liberals are no better. I don’t know how many times during the election I ran into liberals who couldn’t keep their facts straight and quite honestly only voted for Obama because of the “change” label and nothing else and only backed up their conclusions from something that they had heard on CNN, or more stereotypically, something their mommy told them.
Being a resident who has grown up in Johnson County nearly my whole life, I’ve been consumed by the bubble that it is and until recently been truly awakened to how superficially built up the JoCo lifestyle is. I could venture to call it “The Hills: Midwest”, a play off of the popular MTV series following the drama and lives of sexy teens from the Orange County area in California. I couldn’t help but overhear the gossiping of some girls at my neighborhood pool today who were quite possibly just becoming freshman in high school, so maybe 14-15 years old. The topic of the day? How they were concerned about how much fat was around their waistline, that they were getting punished for skipping meals at home (in order to lose weight), and how their teeth were hurting because they had been whitening them so much.
I’m not kidding.
Maybe as Americans are thinking about changing society by enhancing personal responsibility (something that Obama has even suggested), maybe we need to also try, without government influence, to keep the media in check and consider the myriad of unintended consequences in our society that have resulted from the media. Is it worth the cost? I know that’s highly idealistic, but we seriously need to check who and what is influencing our decisions on a day to day basis. Who are our role models? Are we treating them as merely people to look up to for moral guidance or are they like modern day prophets, filling voids in our lives by latching on to insecure notions of politics and image and then becoming the kings that rule our lives?
Just think about it.
The counter protest against Fred Phelps. Image courtesy of TAMMY LJUNGBLAD - The Kansas City Star.