Good stories are born of horrible experiences. Murder, war, adultery, disease are the prime ingredients for these stories. On the surface, we claim to despise them. However, all our hero stories celebrate these themes.
After the murder, we follow the detectives. But would we follow a bunch of otherwise average, cantankerous middle-age men around if they weren't trying to solve a murder?
The "glory" of war is like the early morning dew that glistens and shines. But when that same dew becomes slick young men discover that the dew is the warning light reflecting from the cold hard pavement.
"The first casualty of war is the truth." How many times has that been written? How many times have history lessons been forgotten or re-written? Is it impossible to remove these barriers to progress no matter how painfully slow? Some could certainly point out that without wars we wouldn't have some of our advancements. But does that justify killing another human being in the first instant?
How did I get to this line of thinking? I've been watching crime dramas like "Cold Case Files" lately. I love them. But the more I watch them, the more I'm sickened by own fascination at others' suffering and death after the fact. Is compassion only a convenient emotion while the ambulance rushes another victim to the hospital? Where is that same compassion ahead of time?
Why is it that when we tell these murder stories much of the focus is on the murderer? If it's so sinful to murder, then why do we elevate murderers' status by making them antagonists in some many of these shows? What about the victim?
Are the stories tellers (networks and producers) so blind that they can't see how they elevate violence to an elegant pedestal while simply daily acts of survival or god-forbid -- sex -- are disgraced as lesser human events?
I do have the choice to change the channel. I can watch the latest propaganda from Fox, CNN, or NBC. I can watch possibly rigged-sports. I can watch an obnoxious shopping channel, banal Spanish-language programming, materialistic Asian, serene and stiff Deutsche Welle, obsessive Latin American soccer, or another stupid sitcom starring the young and restless of
Tsunami's a drink. Hurricane's is a football team. Human rights are boring.
Where are the stories that make a difference? GOP. Go away. You've raped and pillaged enough. Go tell your story. Give me 30 years off until you start your next war and tell old lies dressed in pretty clothing ("Pretty Hate Machine.")
By that time, maybe the world wise protests will stop you before you kill more innocents in the name of greed, greed, greed.
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