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Who here watches The Daily Show?

You aren’t unwise if you don’t. There are plenty of ways to make up for it. Read at least 2 newspapers a day, or 1 paper plus about 20 news television shows and maybe a sitcom here or there. The point is, this show wraps up a mix of pop-culture, governmental news and international debate in less than 30 minutes.

Typically, I enjoy this show for it’s frank ridicule of television news. Journalists, a profession to which I’ve earned a degree in, have suffered the onslaught of public ridicule and governmental disdain to a peak beyond any I’ve seen in my lifetime. ‘What do they know?’ and ‘they never check their facts’ have been the general phrases I hear at Thanksgiving dinners or bar side conversations. The attempt for truth has been observed as an obvious clammer for audience with the method of hype as a primary advertising technique.

I tend to defend most news outlets, but when it comes to television news, I’m at a loss. The Daily Show seems relentless on poor reporting practices such as hurricane reporting or poor interview questions, which they satire without mercy using their own crew of anchors. It is brilliant and refreshing and it speaks … frankly. If you watch, Jon Stewart isn’t really funny as much as he is just… honest.

As much as I think of the show now, I had a disgruntlement tonight that I’m not sure what to do with. Bernard Goldberg, author of “100 People Who Are Screwing Up America”, was making some argument that culture affects society. I’ll be fair and admit I haven’t read his book and he wasn’t the best at arguing on television ( a talent to be sure ). That aside, Stewart takes a side I’m not sure I am congruous with.

Stewart implies during the interview that the culture is ultimately better and that a book focusing on 100 of the worst governmental types in power would have been far better.

I think I see his point, and I’m not convinced I agree. While governmental figures have power, it’s the people that put them there. The promoted culture of popularity seems to determine a vote very strongly. It seems a reasonable hypothesis that figures who have some swing in culture could be the initial domino towards bad elected officials.

Ultimately, I would never hold Hollywood or bad television news as the ultimate responsibility for bad government. The fact remains, people are responsible for their votes. If the majority of them vote blindly, I don’t know how to help you there. But to deny that a thorough study of the people with influence who inflect bad logic and ideas on society isn’t somehow valuable is narrow. A majority of people wouldn’t read through a book of ‘bad politicians’, they expect that. I can’t find one person who won’t admit there must be some corruption in government somewhere, even if they believe there are stronger forces of good trying to fight them.

What I can find are 100s of people defending the decisions of reality show personalities or believing in alternate realities because a matrix is surely out there or even a large population that believes aliens are visiting us frequently. While Mr. Stewart makes the argument that measurable societal disturbances are down, such as crime and gang membership and segregation, I’m not sure that I believe our culture is healthier, or that we’ve even thought out what a healthy culture should be.

It may be the case that everything is better as we become more individualized and less concerned with the community, but I’m not convinced just yet. Doesn’t it seem like something is missing between neighbors? Even if crime is down, don’t you feel as if no one would call if you were getting beaten in the middle of the street?

I struggle to agree that it’s only government causing the worst problems. Government is, after all, elected officials and a representation of the population, a population that demands to be entertained. I’d probably find it more plausible that lobbyists are causing the worst problems, which only show on record as a politician’s decision. But I completely agree that government figures should be held to account through transparent mechanisms (ie journalism!). However, I’m not sure it’s a waste of time to observe the human behaviors of our population at large.

Now, this guy, Bernard Goldberg, sounded like every other rap hating old person I’ve ever met. I’m not defending him in the slightest. Free speech, unfortunately or otherwise, most definitely includes bad speech. If we don’t provide a stage for every view to sound upon, we create disgruntlements that result in poor choices. I’m for the KKK having the right to demonstrate. They look even less intelligent every time they do it. That’s the point. A marketplace of ideas allows for the truth to eventually raise from the noise in the background. Our founding fathers new of this philosophy when they wrote the Bill of Rights. It really does work.

I know, I hear it now. “But J.T., you just said culture is worth taking a look at as a powerful influence to the way society works.” And it is. But it should be viewed as a symptom, not the problem. The fault I hear in Mr. Goldberg’s thinking is that he feels the medium is the problem. Let’s consider, for one moment, my background as a sleep technician.

You all have this guy at work somewhere I’m sure. He’s large and clumsy and chronically slow. He forgets things and often moves slowly. He’s dimwitted and can’t seem to keep a conversation going. A loser right?

Those are symptoms in my eyes. He’s slow and lazy because he never sleeps well. He has sleep apnea. A condition he didn’t choose in the slightest and actually perpetuates his weight gain beyond any efforts he makes to lose weight. Get him treated because you acknowledge the problem, not the symptoms, and you have someone who feels energized, accomplishes goals and eventually loses some weight. His thoughts are clear, he becomes more jovial and he suddenly becomes very active in life. All because we treated a problem, not a symptom.

I’ve consoled hundreds of patients who are depressed about how people perceive them. Some of them really are losers, but a majority have a medical condition that once resolved, nearly reinvents the person.

Cultural mediums are the same in my eyes. Whether it be violent video games, loud music or vulgar magazines, the culture is displaying a symptom. Mr. Stewart did point this out during the interview. We require more stimulation. Graphicness is a way to that stimulation. I think there is more to it then that, but the initial point is worth mentioning. But if we require more stimulation, and the government isn’t doing that (and I hope they don’t’ try to) then that puts a large amount of influence towards those things that stimulate us. Namely, the entertainment industry.

I’m not one for apocalypse, but before the fall of the Roman Empire, one industry was at the top of its game. Can you guess what it is? Entertainment. Between gladiator battles and art and music, the population was hell bent on being entertained. Did entertainment destroy the empire? Probably not. Did it cloud the vision? I’ll have another drink and let you know.