© sbs.com.auLadies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to... the circus!
If you ever want to see the results of a society that has become entirely too permissive — read: decadent and immoral — look no further than the current crop of television.
I know, I know, it's been said about the boob tube for years that it's a barometer of social decline. To my mind, though, it's gotten worse in the last few years, and it's missing key elements.
Back in the day (don't worry, there won't be snow involved), TV shows rarely showed humanity at its most open or even at its worst, and each television show usually allowed some redemptive arc, that solved all sorts of problems.
Heck, the "Brady Bunch" solved pretty much every Standards and Practices-approved teenage problem in less than 30 minutes. Yes, there weren't any pregnancy- or drug-charged episodes. Yes, it could be construed as being less than an accurate portrayal of real life.
It really wasn't supposed to be. It was supposed to make you think, and feel good, and realize that all is not wrong in the world.
But today's fare is pushing the envelope of tragic."Teenage Mom," "Little Honey Boo Boo," "19 and Counting," "Fear Factor," or any other number of shows of this ilk are making a spectacle of the bottom of the barrel of humanity.
Moreover, it's an example of what happens when you glorify the tragic, and the compounding effect of constant exposure to this kind of fare.
In order to keep the masses in line, Roman emperors put on entertainment — or contests, if you will — of men and women slashing and hacking and killing each other. Kinda kept peoples' minds off of being hungry and poor and generally miserable. As time went on, things escalated, and eventually, ended up serving no purpose other than distraction.
Comment: If the so-called 'safe zone' can be taken and held by the Syrian Army, the insurgents will lose their supply line corridor into Syria via Turkey and the West. The victories in al-Zahra and Nubl give hope that this will be the case. Momentum!