It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's...

It really takes a lot to shock me any more.  I think, as a society, we have all become numb to things that happen around us as, simultaneously, our need for stimulation has heightened.  In the fifties, we may have been shocked that Ethel wore white pumps after Labor Day and, worse, that she was carrying on an affair with Herb, her married neighbor... and today, both are accepted... and expected as the norm.  With so much going on in these tough times, we've had to reign in our sphere of exposure in the necessity of time, keeping our focus on the truly important things necessary to survive and for our own protection.  While our entertainment is now reality TV and 'shock-and-awe' videos, we don't react to world situations that are beyond comprehension, let alone to the things that are happening in our own back yard.  We hardly blink any more when there is a school shooting and if we are watching a YouTube video, if something major doesn't happen that is amazing or absurd, we click to the next one.  We have become a dumbed-down nation with short attention spans, no imagination and no desire to learn, especially if it takes any work to get the information. Catching your news in a blurb or headline without doing any research is the new standard of knowledge and the news sources are sell-outs to corporations and are more about making a buck than displaying any shred of journalistic integrity.  No one knows what's true and no one seems to care about facts or know the difference between that and an opinion.  Put on a pair of non-prescription Clark Kents and spout off some information that sounds like facts and no one will know the difference, right?  After all, if you say something loud enough and with some confidence, most people will believe it without question.  That's probably how religion started.  Who has time to ask questions anyway?

Let free-dumb ring.  'Murica is falling in the ranks of world intelligence at an alarming rate.  Whether you look at studies based on IQ, test scores, quality of education or other measures of 'success', America is trailing way behind and steadily declining.  Our claim-to-fame these days is having the most guns and incarcerated people and being the fattest nation.  Asian countries seem to rank highest and I can only assume it's because of their focus on education and success above everything else, in what seems to be culturally-driven.  We used to have a high work ethic built upon that which our parents taught us... hard work is the measure of a man... that if you work hard you will get what you deserve... that taking short cuts isn't the best path... that anything that is worth having is worth working hard for and takes time.  But somewhere along the way, our values have changed.  It's hard to work hard to barely get by when those around you are handed things, or their shortcuts are rewarded above your hard work... or someone is working the 'system' to get things or lucks into 'success'.  People have put their future in the hopes of a winning lottery ticket or football contract or winning American Idol.  They have given up, and for some good reasons.  For me, there's nothing like the pain and exhaustion that you get at the end of the day from a day of hard work, but I am also realizing that that doesn't equate to success, especially in the measures of society and keeping your head above water.  My back pain doesn't equate to a big bank account... and although my moral bank account may be full, that doesn't buy me a steak... it buys me Ramen Noodles.

One of the biggest factors in our society's decline in intelligence is the dismantling and defunding of the educational system.  There's a whole movement to remove history books from the curriculum because it paints America in a bad light or it doesn't agree with someone's religious beliefs.  You can't rewrite history because it's not convenient for you.

Also, people's inability to know the difference between fact and opinion.  While everyone can have their own opinion (what they think, feel or believe, based on who knows what?), a fact is something that can be tested and proven to be true.  The problem with the definition of a fact is that it waivers between truth and proof... and things can be true without someone having proven them.  It could be true that there are other life forms in the universe even though it can't or hasn't been proven as of yet.  And likewise, things once proven have actually been proven false, like the earth being flat.  Proof is also person-relative.  Someone having a 'vision' from God can be proof and true to them, but is still not a fact.  A scientific equation to explain relativity has been proven and is fact, regardless if you can understand it or wrap your head around it, but may not have been proven by you, specifically.  Everyone is an expert nowadays.  And something can be both a fact and an opinion, but it is only true when you are on the side of the fact.  Even though I may look in the sky and see a UFO, it may have been a bird or a plane and the FAA can prove it with their flight plan, and I, at some point, have to concede to those with more experience in the matter.  I'm no expert.  The waters get muddied further when you consider moral or value claims as facts.  Homosexuality is wrong as per the Bible.  Well, so is eating shellfish... so if you eat shellfish, does that negate the truth of the former?  And what if you have no belief in the Bible altogether?  Lying is wrong... but white lies are ok?  How do you draw the line?  Therein lies the problem.

If things are not spelled out exactly, then things are left to interpretation which leads to individual belief.  Facts have no value without belief, but belief isn't necessarily a fact.  We, as adults, have to rely on our moral knowledge and standards to coexist in society.  It's a careful balance, with several things being an integral part of the process of cohesion.  We have to check our ego and back down when we are not the expert and haven't done due diligence to support our claim.  We have to know that our beliefs are ours and not everyone else's.  We have to recognize that while the internet is a good source of information, it's not the only source, and neither is any one news program.  We have to recognize other's strengths and our weaknesses.  We have to stop idolizing stupidity in our society and herald, not ostracize, intelligence.  We have to stop jumping to conclusions, cutting corners and start seeing other's points of view.  We are all in this together and we are all in trouble, together, on our current path. Something has to change.

"Truth, justice and the American way".  That's what the series Superman was all about... the idea that the moral responsibilities of human beings are powerful enough to overturn evil.  Every episode had Superman coming in and saving the day against the perils of the elite and bad.  Growing up you wanted to emulate him.  Now, it's a different story as people look up to those who cheat or lie and stomp all over people to get money, the thing most admired in our society.

I remember, as a child, watching Walter Cronkite on the evening news.  "And that's the way it is", he used to say... and you believed that, as he was named 'the most trusted man in America'.  If we don't return to a place of integrity and moral responsibility, get our priorities straight and hold ourselves to a higher standard, we are all doomed, and not even Superman will be able to fly in and save us from being fu@ked.   Free-dumb isn't free.  It is costing us in ways we don't even realize.