A LACK OF COMMON SENSE

Common sense dictates that, where there's smoke, there's fire. Yet when a massacre, like the one in which our innocents were slaughtered we react with disbelief. The 24/7 news cycle is peppered with comments like, "I can't believe this happened", 'it's surreal", "it's a peaceful middle class community once heralded as the safest city in America".

What is unbelievable is that there are millions of Americans who don't realize that we live in a culture that thrives on violence. Our insatiable lust for blood plays itself out in almost every aspect of our lives. Just like the old day of Rome we fill arenas, stadiums; or huddle around our flat screen 3-D TV's screaming and cheering watching a bunch of overgrown baboons bludgeoning themselves senseless, thrown in cages or rings, or running up and down fields chasing balls.

There are those of us; probably in the millions, who actually believe that "reality TV" is actually real. Or that our President was born in Kenya. Or everyone should carry a gun so as to be able to "stand their ground" and kill if they "believe" they are being threatened, let's say by a car radio being played too loud? Or that "corporations are people" and this one comes out of the mouths of those we hold in highest esteem for their wisdom and guidance.

What's even more unbelievable is that we take kids no older than those massacred yesterday and throw them on fields to teach them early on how to pummel each other and knock each other senseless in the guise of having fun or playing sports. Or we  load them up with "video games" that depict the worse of the worse when it comes to violence, not realizing we are spawning another generation of gladiators. But, hey, it's not real we say. We (and the kids) know the difference. Are you sure about that? People actually believe that "guns don't kill people" excuse me? Or it's our inalienable right to carry semi-automatic assault weapons. After all, who knows, the British or the Indians may attack any time now.

In the age of "technology" where "virtual reality" is a gigantic money-making commodity and the line between what's real and not real has been blurred to the point where many of us can't distinguish one from the other. How can I say that? Well, all I need to do is turn on a TV and watch FOX news or read a newspaper to see where the problem lies, and I ask myself, what happened to common sense?

Johann Wagener 12-15-12
THE BLOVIATOR
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