Captain Apathy

One of the first things that I noticed when I printed out the articles was how old they were. Here we have 2 articles that are around 80 years old, talking about something as contemporary as public opinion. Instantly, my mind shot off on a tangent and I thought, "The general public today isn't concerned with things like sneaking their great uncle's homeade whisky into the local speakeasy; we're walking around scared as hell because we don't know if it will take someone's shoes, some new medicine, a polka dot warning level, or even a dead bird to really ruin your day." But as I read these articles, I appreciated Bernays' comment toward civilization being limited by inertia, because by the time I worked my way into Lippmann's article, I realized just how true that notion was. As the latter described the "drifts of circumstance" and the general disinterest that U.S. citizens have for the current events that affect them daily, I realized that I was a part of that sect of lazy, sarcastic and condescending couch potatoes. As Lippmann deliberated over our general american apathy, I realized that I really didn't care in the least about this last election. I mean just so long as I can watch Jon Stewart make fun of either the boring St. Bernard or the remedial fratboy as they lead one of the world's most formidable and sophisticated armies into the most expensive game of hide and go seek in desert caves to combat our foes whose best defense is to dig a hole and hide (how is this taking years?). While all this is going on, all of our tax dollars are paying for this war, and I can't even tell you the last time I even felt the most remote urge to watch the news or read the paper. Hell, for all I know they could have started up the draft, and I'm already late going to Canada, and it's all because I really just don't care. and you know you don't care if you're writing in pink. -laugh if you want, but you can't get much more candid than that-