tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3862216000300765627.post2468545972729913907..comments2024-01-16T03:42:46.705-05:00Comments on The Downward Spiral: Newsweek RIPBill Hickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551954408189665078noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3862216000300765627.post-6696112419022351242012-10-23T01:26:44.883-04:002012-10-23T01:26:44.883-04:00Idiocracy, idiocy, idiots. Funny that the etymolo...Idiocracy, idiocy, idiots. Funny that the etymology comes from the Greek for idea. <br />I used to love that Don Henley tune. I may still have the vinyl, hell I may even still have the will to vote. <br />Too bad that Anderson guy came along in such rocky times. centralscrewtinizerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03404913280254786506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3862216000300765627.post-52332156183525184102012-10-19T13:15:09.858-04:002012-10-19T13:15:09.858-04:00It's the mechanics of Idiocracy playing out in...It's the mechanics of Idiocracy playing out in real-time. I think there's both a consumer demand component (Idiocracy increasing) and a top-down component (keep the masses blissfully unaware of the important stuff). But it's really the nature of information technology itself - the battle between a capitalist system requiring profit and a democratized system of widely available, cheap information.<br /><br />On the internet, it's all about site-traffic stats. The more visitors, the more ads, the more money. So, it's a system that enforces going to the lowest common denominator, and now all the big news medias sites are pretty much doing the same.<br /><br />Paid content is really the only defense. A reliable revenue stream is the only way to prevent the rush to the bottom. But the internet allows freer (or at least cheaper) access to any subject, so the paid-content model has a serious uphill battle.<br /><br />In other words, Idiocracy is the norm, and it will only grow pre-collapse.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3862216000300765627.post-41774798364101059002012-10-19T09:54:33.648-04:002012-10-19T09:54:33.648-04:00Referring back to Jill Stein, who I had no idea wa...Referring back to Jill Stein, who I had no idea was running for president until that survey you had a few days ago, turns out there was a good reason I had not heard of her: The cops had her in cuffs because she tried to be part of O'Romney's debate circle jerk:<br /><br />http://www.dailygate.com/opinion/article_4a8ab58f-a805-5476-80e7-6bb5cdf71326.html<br /><br />I'm glad I live in a "democracy" ...kingsnakenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3862216000300765627.post-68287954528467993022012-10-19T09:06:12.860-04:002012-10-19T09:06:12.860-04:00Paddy Chayefsky was right. And not because of the ...Paddy Chayefsky was right. And not because of the "mad as hell" scene, but for predicting the sensationalization of media. Newsweek, and Time, are why I have subscribed to The Economist for the last 20 years.kingsnakenoreply@blogger.com