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A society of consumers and spectators

Francisco Miraval

There is point when I am no longer amused when, during a conversation or a presentation about a topic I have done some research, somebody says, “Oh, yes. I also watched the same movie”, wrongly assuming the only thing I did before the presentation was watching a movie or a TV “documentary.” Unfortunately, that’s our society today.

Even the most superficial analysis of our society will show that all of us, and even more so the younger generations, spend a ridiculously disproportionate number of hours every day in front of a screen (TV, computer, tablet, phone).

In fact, it seems we already reached the point when we spend more time looking at a screen than doing anything else, including the time devoted to work or to the nightly rest. For that reason, it is safe to say that we are a society of spectators, where we passively wait for the next show and were absolutely everything becomes part of the show.

So a female actor decides to wear a provocative outfit? Let’s talk about that for many, many hours. A politician was caught in a scandal? Hopefully, it was with the female actor, so we can have a more appealing and entertaining “show.” An athlete is changing team? Let’s review his/her statistics and those of his/her new team until we run out of oxygen to talk.

Of course, let’s turn everything into a show, from a plane crash to the Pope speaking to a Hollywood actor passing to a new scientific discovery. After all, the kitten waiting to be adopted and the courageous first responder saving many lives are both the same because both are part of the same “show”.

We will always have those kind of stories but, just in case people get bored, let’s create another kind of stories, with superheroes, galactic empires, car thieves, and similar characters. In doing so, we will create more spectators.

Then, as part of the show, let’s show them all kinds of ads, so they become consumers. Let’s tell them that everything they are, from their hair to their toes, is wrong and it should be changed or improved. And let’s constantly remind them about all those ugly diseases that sooner or later they will contract.

If we do that, the spectators will devote just the right amount of time to work so they can access the resources they to keep watching more shows or perhaps to become the show themselves.

One question: In the middle of the vortex of narcissism and self-adulation, of unexamined lives, and of always following the new trend, where is the true human being? Can we still call ourselves “human” if we are just bread and circus?

And how can we stop being spectators to become actors, or stop being consumers to become creators, if we see the whole world as a big show and if any creation, even the most sublime one, immediately becomes part of a market? I don’t know. That’s why I am asking.

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