Except for the wealthy, most Americans go to work Monday through Friday, doing their best to earn enough money to pay their bills.
They have little interest in how the stock market is doing, the cause of global warming, who will succeed Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve or foreign affairs. They have to concentrate their energy on simply making a living.
The present economics are such husband, wife and, quite often, their children are by necessity holding down jobs. The days of the wife staying home to keep house, wash, cook and run errands, as was the case for many years, is no longer. By the time the family members get home, the day’s activities have drained their energy;
they are tired and want to sit down. This often leads to the purchase of fast food rather than cooking and relaxing while eating a hamburger and watching television. You can watch sitcoms, reality shows, cooking channels and sports until you fall asleep in your chair. Dramas and complicated mysteries thatrequire close attention and thought are rarely among the top shows of the week.
A tired mind doesn’t want to be challenged. At some point, the daily chores of housekeeping will have to be performed, but there are few volunteers.
The price you pay for watching long hours of television every day is having to sit through an avalanche of commercials, which seem to take up at least 50 percent of every television hour.
Every night you see the same commercials, often presented by ducks, camels, pigs, children and overthe-hill celebrities. When I see a pitch man who is a combination of a retired politician and movie star recommending a reverse mortgage for seniors, I shudder. He looks so sincere and says he wants to helpyou in your old age. Whether he actually believes what he is talking about is irrelevant.
It’s easy to forget he is only reading a script someone prepared for him. When the filming of his commercial is over, he returns the clothes selected for him to wear during his ad, he picks up his check and goes home hoping his pitch is successful and some other company will hire him for their product.
Another form of relaxation is reading, but if you are already worn out from work it is unlikely you will want to read a few chapters of “Bleak House,” a masterpiece written in old English by Charles Dickens, covering some 900 pages.
It would be much more relaxing to read a James Patterson mystery or a “Fifty Shades of Grey” “romance.”
If going to the movies is your choice of diversion, you can always attend a movie starring your old comic book heroes such as Superman, Batman or the Lone Ranger, which now seem to appeal to adults as much as children. Then the modernization of classics such as Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood andJack and the Beanstalk are available. If this isn’t your cup of tea, movies about vampires, the living dead and, a new favorite, the end of the world caused by aliens are everywhere.
When you think about it, is it any wonder today the public prefers “escape” entertainment, as a way of diverting their minds from a sea of problems that don’t appear to have goodsolutions? Another reason the public’s cultural taste is changing is due to the effects of an erosion of our educational system, which is ongoing.
A final note on politics.
Just a few years ago there was so much criticism of President George W. Bush that even I, a yellow dog Democrat, felt a little sorry for him. Now President Barack Obama is today’swhipping boy and his supporters have lockjaw.
You know, when hard times arrive, there is never a shortage of fair-weather friends. In today’s political atmosphere, would you really want your child to grow up to be president?
BASS TRUMBO IS A RESIDENT OF FAYETTEVILLE, AN ATTORNEY AND A FORMER COLLEGE INSTRUCTOR IN BUSINESS LAW.
Opinion, Pages 11 on 09/22/2013