Nothing of Value

By Rich Kozlovich

Over this last year I've noticed someone is going back into my files are reading really old articles, which I'm a bit fascinated by, as well as pleased.  P&D is a small blog, but it is hit internationally quite a bit. As I see that happening I will go back and read those articles, and perhaps I'm being a bit vainglorious, think they're pretty good. I originally published this on Sunday, April 29, 2012, and while it's clearly dated, it's still profound. 

I keep marveling at the depth of information that is available on every conceivable subject that is missed by the media; and that includes Fox News. Did I say missed? Foolish me; perhaps I should use the correct term…."ignored"!

I had a conversation with a friend of mine Saturday who commented that all of his friends think that what we need to do is tax the rich. I went on a bit of a rant about how incredibly stupid this was, and explained to him the reality of numbers; as in who is actually paying all the taxes right now; that we now have approximately 47% of the population that pays no federal income tax ; that we now have more people on the public dole (in some form or another) than pay taxes; along with a short dissertation about the Great Depression and whose fault it really was and why. Stuff he had never before heard. Why was he unaware of all of this? Why isn't this on all the news channels?

What is most fascinating to me is that he and all of his friends live conservative lives. They go to work, they marry, they have children, they educate them and they pay their bills and mortgages. So why do they live conservative lives, raise their children to live conservative lives, and then support or promote liberal policies? Why don’t these people preach what they practice?

When shows like The Five become overnight successes it demonstrates to me that Fox is almost as worthless as NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN and all the other talking head news shows, not quite as bad, but bad enough. So whose fault is that? It is the public's fault. When the public starts watching shows on Fox like the Wall Street Journal Report, which has intelligent insightful discussion devoid of interruptions and snide remarks, things will change.

Does anyone think that is going to happen any time soon? I certainly don’t think so. Why do I say that? Did you ever notice the magazine rack at the grocery store checkout line? In years gone by it was loaded with rags that touted such nonsense as 'fish boy' and 'children of aliens' stories. Then there were the more 'main stream' rags that 'exposed' indiscretions by famous people that never happened.

Most of them are gone or have had a serious drop in readership. Why? Are we to assume that people are more intelligent, more sophisticated, more serious minded; or are we to assume that they can use the internet instead? I support the latter explanation, not to mention that we now have ‘reality’ shows on television making sleazy people rich and famous by being sleazy.

I have seen snippets of all of these shows and I am so embarrassed for them that I can’t stand more than a few minutes. Try watching “Mob Wives” for more than a few minutes. That is even more unbearable than the “Real Housewives of Atlanta”. Can these people be described as anything other than foul mouthed ignorant people publicly exposing their lack of decency? 

The rest are almost as bad, but I think these two stand out as the most obnoxious examples. So what exactly is it that the pubic really wants? Is it depth of insight, knowledge and understanding people crave?  Since it is meanness, meaninglessness and shallowness that is rewarded; that must be what they crave!

In days gone by this would have never been allowed by the networks, or tolerated by the public. Today it is entertainment… big time entertainment. We no longer have a moral compass as a society. Nothing is right, nothing is wrong; everything is painted in a gray shallowness. When that happens then everything is right and everything is wrong, depending on the latest philosophical flavor of the day. When that happens society will fall for anything because there are no stable values! When traditional values are abandoned we are left with nothing of value and we eventually will lose everything.

As for right now; we have lost our minds! It won’t be long before all else follows.