Karl Marx said that religion is the opium of the people. But
now that religion is in decline, it’s become clear that spectacle is the opium
of the people. The Olympics, the Oscars, the Super Bowl and rock concerts and
many smaller examples.
The Super Bowl drew almost a billion viewers. PR, marketing,
interviews, talking heads, controversies and 7 hours of pregame chatter,
followed by 4 hours of game time, with probably 30 minutes of real action and
commercials to keep our attention.
Events like this fill our time, entertain us, and help us
snack ourselves to a kind of oblivion. Could we ever get a billion people to simultaneously
devote that much time and attention to world poverty or child health or climate
change issues?
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