I’m beginning to doubt this evolution stuff. Take away the facial hair – although that’s now back in style – loincloths, and woolly mammoths, change hunting/gathering to shopping/eating out, and we haven’t changed much in 40,000 years. Oh sure, we’ve got bigger brains and (some people) walk more upright and we’ve got iPads and space rockets and $5 frappés; but most people still can’t – or won’t – think.
After all, it’s much simpler to watch “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” than to try and understand health care legislation. To play “Angry Birds Star Wars” than comprehend the inanity of the “debt ceiling.” To rail about how you’re being taxed to death than to actually read and find out that your taxes are at a historic low and have only gone down in the last four years.
Thinking is hard. People are lazy. And that’s why we have Fox News. It’s “news” for people that don’t want to think. There’s really no other explanation for it. Many people are content being spoon-fed a simple black and white message tailored to their ideological prejudices. It doesn’t matter that five minutes of using the Google machine could provide countless factual rebuttals to the propaganda being perpetuated by the proponents of perfidy; that’s too much work. Better to believe the convenient lies than activate some dusty neurons.
I apologize for my ranting. I grow more and more frustrated with the apathy of our population. And this is exacerbated when I see bourbon-besotted bozos like John Boehner lying with impunity to the American public and putting party before the economic future of our country. As has always been the case, knowledge is power. And those who put their personal interests over those of the country seek to manipulate the populace through withholding knowledge. Or willfully distorting it. The only way to fight back is to not be satisfied with what the talking head on the TV machine tells you. You must arm yourself with data, put aside preconceived notions, and use the enlarged cerebrum that – theoretically – separates us from our ancient forebears. Be a seeker of truth. Think! Even when it’s difficult.