Entertained or Informed?

Yesterday I began reading a new book from the library (Money and the Law of Attraction by Esther and Jerry Hicks) and was struck by a comment in the forward.  “In the media there’s a saying: ‘People would rather be entertained than informed.’”

Not having thought much about this before I began to look at everything through this new lens and was shocked to see how pervasive this is.  And this certainly explained a lot about the current campaign strategies of all parties in both the Canadian and American elections underway right now. 

Have we really come to a point in time where our futures are based on how well voters can be entertained rather than the policies offered?  The flashiness certainly seems to be a topic of conversation, often overshadowing the content.

This aspect of entertainment over information was highlighted yesterday in a commentary about the website design chosen by two opposing parties.  One was subtly praised for choosing to model Facebook while the other was subtly ridiculed for choosing to model Wikipedia.  Entertainment vs Information.

What worries me most is using entertainment as a distraction from the real issues and what is really going on behind the curtain.  The underlying, and condescending message is “we the people” are not smart enough to know any better. 

I guess it’s true when they say “people vote in the government they deserve.”  I just don’t want it to be four more years of entertainment.