Look what advertising has so often come to: The advantage of going with this company is that they won’t hit you with “hidden fees.”   They won’t cheat you.   Much food packaging and advertising is comparable.  We won’t poison you with strange chemicals!  Zero grams of trans fats!  All natural!

America… just a nation of two hundred million used car salesmen with all the money we need to buy guns and no qualms about killing anybody else in the world who tries to make us uncomfortable.

– Hunter S. Thompson

But it gets worse.  In our schools we work hard to teach our children civility and kindness.  For instance, take a look at this wonderful set of “Rules to Live By” displayed at New City School, in St. Louis Missouri. Who could possibly dispute the importance of any of these rules?  These characteristics precisely describe the kinds of children we want to raise, right?

Now consider the accusations that we commonly hear as the centerpiece of media stories, especially political media stories.   They are full of untruths, untrustworthy characters, refusal to listen and tons of vicious put-downs.   Our conflict-pornography obsessed news media works hard every day to undo the lessons we so carefully teach our children.

There is something terribly wrong with us.   Fixing this lack of truth and civility should be one of our highest priorities.   One easy suggestion is to turn off the television or radio whenever they report fake news that is really conflict pornography.   Label it as not-news and just shut it off.   Or, better yet, switch over to real news like Democracy Now with Amy Goodman, where you’ll hear truth from a trustworthy reporter, who will actively listen to her guests and offer absolutely no put downs.