Reply #38: I'm not sure why you're using this to distract from the larger point of the OP. [View All]

[Greyhound]

Of course the bridge collapsing is news, but it is hardly a catastrophe unless you know or are related to one of the victims. Most of the other events mentioned are the same thing, local tragedies that have tremendous impact on those involved, but I believe the point is that we are living in a nation where the media is selling obsession with relatively inconsequential events while ignoring the ongoing, monumental, tragedies and appalling indifference that pervade our lives.

How many homeless people will you ignore today? How many of them have lived on the streets since a hurricane took all but their lives 2 years ago? How many were forced into the streets because they happened to be poor and living in an area that was targeted for "gentrification" by their city and the developers that own it? How many with mental illness that they have suffered with since returning from some war or other, only to have the whole nation turn their backs on them? What about the 50 or more people that will die today and tomorrow and every day for no other reason than being poor and having no access to the most basic health care?

When was the last time you saw a report on the fact that our money is nearly worthless, or that the DOW being at 14,000 is still lower, in real value, than it was in 1999? How about the fact that our national infrastructure has been utterly neglected for 30 years or more and is literally crumbling?

No, it is much better to keep the sheep distracted with the pharmaceutical proclivities of an uber-wealthy scion/pseudo-celebrity.