Do You Smell That?

Not sure when it happened but it's definitely here now. We've become a culture, nearly worldwide, who, because we have all these platforms and means of communication, feel compelled to fill them with something. 

There was a time when our kids were very young when the idea of a 24/7 TV news operation was novel. Many of us wondered what would/could possibly go on a channel like that at all hours of the day and night. At some point as convergence began to close the distances between one form and another, news devolved into noise, not that we really noticed. 

Now, there's not a lot of nutrition in any of what we watch/hear/read-just empty calories. When the President of the United States addresses the nation and it takes longer than one commercial break (three and half minutes) we start to twitch. If he continues to drone on, we head out for the great wide-open. We surf until we find something somewhere, even if we've seen it already, rather than attempt to stretch our attention span and focus. We have so much freedom of choice when it comes to information that we yearn for freedom from choice.

The COVID Variants, the murder of the Haitian President, the condominium collapse in Florida are each just a click of the remote as we seek out new sensations. We are enamored with the 'what' and could care a whit about the why.

Back in the day, I wondered if the wall-to-wall coverage of OJ and AC's speeding Ford Bronco (I originally typed the word news in front of coverage, but I'm not so sure anymore)  was the end of an error (or era). Now I fear it was the lead car in the circus caravan. Buckle up, buttercup; the ride only gets darker from here on out.

-bill kenny