In the endless recycling of “news” stories, a very common theme is “All your problems are your fault. Instead of blaming the government, you should start helping it make things better for you.” In such guilt-inducing stories, the “We are too dependent on . . . .” headline is common. Things upon which we are said to be overly dependent include virtually every component of our society.
Yesterday, “news” headlines informed us that “Americans are too dependent on computers and electricity”. This information was reinforced by a “poll”, in which many people were alleged to agree with that statement. All over the world, people read that “news”, or heard it being read by a “news” reader over the airwaves. As they digested it, most of them said, “That’s right.”, and nodded grimly, saying to themselves as they were meant to, “It’s true. We are too dependent on computers and electricity.”
Some asked themselves “How can I live without my computer or electricity?” Others merely listened to the next “news” item, which, unfortunately, was not that “Too many credulous Americans are allowing their thinking to be too dependent on cunning manipulators.”
