As this decade stumbles to a conclusion, media outlets have begun putting together their best and worst lists. So I'll join in with my picks of the dumbest trends of the decade, and I hope you'll add yours in the comments section. There are plenty of possibilities in this bizarre decade.
No. 1 dumbest trend: Reality television. TV has gotten so bad that we have to watch cage fighters try to dance a samba, and wannabe rockers embarrass themselves in tryouts. I saw get rid of them all. That means "American Idol," "Dancing with the Stars," "The Biggest Loser" and all the rest. I sure don't need to see Chef Gordon Ramsay be obnoxious to everyone he confronts. Realty TV is a train wreck and I guess Ameria likes to watch train wrecks.
Dumb trend No. 2: Bowl Championship Series. Either college football should vote to have a real playoff or just have a bunch of bowls as a nice season-ending sendoff. But the BCS is corrupt and does not give us the nation's top football team. It's a nice payday for the BCS conferences, though.
No. 3: The Democrats and Republicans allowing credit card companies to set interest rates at whatever level they want, and then raise them whenever they want, even if you've never been late on a payment. The mob used to go to prison for this.
No. 4: Congress passing massive legislation without ever reading the entire bill. Whatever happened to our representatives knowing exactly what they're voting for?
No. 5. People taking cell phone calls in the middle of face-to-face conversations. "Excuse me. This call is probably much more interesting than what you're talking about so I'll have to take it." A related trend is reading a text message or e-mail while you're talking to someone. This is one more indication of how rude our society has become.
No. 6: Hating people you disagree with politically. Why can't we disagree with Sarah Palin or Hillary Clinton on the issues, but respect them for their public service?
I have several other suggestions but I'm throwing this open to Opinion Talk readers for their take on the decade's dumbest trends. It's all yours. . .
How about spending money we don't have and can't pay back? Individuals as well as companies, governments, etcs.
Well, what's new? What is the media for, anyway? It's to occupy our time. To numb us how bad things are and try to make us smile! As, I am a positive person, I must explain that we need to focus how trivial the trends have become. But, then again, we are captured by momentous heroes that the media praise....and then one day, we destroy them when they have a fallout! The media creates our heroes and demons for us and we fall prey to the hype. Of course, I need not mention names. We can list them, one by one, and describe in detail the circumstances to their achievements and their pitfalls. This does capture our attention, doesn't it? Sometimes, like Rome in Cesaer's time, it's thumbs up or thumbs down for our own gratification.
The stars on reality TV are the same, they are no different than the star football player or sports star, and they embellish sensationalism and hype in the same manner! That is what they are paid to do. So, whoever commands the viewer eyes, the exposure can make people rich, especially commercial sponsors. Even at that, the reality of these shows that hypes ordinary people in real life seem miniscule to the thrill of real celebrity scandal. That is what commands the American psyche, and as we go from year to year with different versions of sensationalism, the media's formula will be to outdo themselves, anyway.
It's no wonder we ended up with so many problems! It occurs to me that Americans need distraction like they need a hole in their heads! We can have pastimes, but the mass media of this nature is greatly exaggerated in our visual pursuits. It overtakes the issues of our time in the matter of importance. If our doom is in hero worshipping and decadence, it will be no surprise. But, I take no hard line, and occasionally indulge in these pastimes of TV and sports, myself. Just don't lose track of your importance in the greater world.
Twitter. Facebook. (I don't CARE if baby Missy went #2 by herself!)
TV station website blogs
Newspaper website podcasts
Radio station website video
Hooker lobbyists
The WarZone
Harry Harris, Mike DerManouel, Ray Appleton self-promotions
for starters
Re: #6 I don't hate any democrat, I hate all forms of over-taxation to finance socialist government programs that do not produce positive results. This is what democrats call us in public for our conservative response to Obama's newest tax.
http://washingtontimes.com/weblogs/watercooler/2009/dec/20/sen-whitehouse-foes-health-care-bill-are-birthers-/
I love reality tv its a hoot. Some of them are dumb but others are pretty good.
Ah come on Turnipseed, I can think of one you hate. HA.
High school dress codes. The only time in life when they can get away with being ridiculous and they have to dress like yupees. In college they're too old to get real fun with it and after that... well after that life sucks.
Reality TV is a misnomer. There is nothing real about any of it.
1. Million dollar athletes.
2. Trash talking.
3. Kids who use the F word in public.
4. Cell phones.
Public opinion polls. You can find one to sup[port any dumb idea.
Organized sports for kids. Since when does an 8 year old soccer player have to travel to games all over the state so they he might be able to play in middle school? Let the kids have fun.
One of the dumbest trends of the decade has to be that city and county governments waste so much time and resources that could be better used to better their communities on trying to circumvent California State Medical Marijuana Laws.
Proposition 215, also known as the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, was a California ballot proposition on the November 5, 1996 ballot regarding the medical use of marijuana. It passed with 5,382,915 (55.6%) votes in favor and 4,301,960 (44.4%) against.
Here we are 13 years after the voters made it perfectly clear that sick and disabled people have the right to use marijuana as medicine so long as their doctor approves, and we might as well be back in the Nixon or Regan eras.
Because California's medical marijuana laws are so clear on the rights that qualified patients have to grow, possess, transport and use marijuana medically, local government officials are resorting to such underhanded measures as twisting the wording of their zoning ordinances to exclude any business that has anything to do with medical marijuana.
The will of the voters was made clear years ago! We have had S.B. 420 and the State Attorney General's Guidelines issued since then to clarify that medical marijuana patients have those rights!
Wake up, local government officials! You were elected to represent the will of the people, now Do Your Job!
I just received the following email
"Senate Unveils CompromiseCare
Details of Healthcare Plan Revealed
WASHINGTON - The United States Senate today unveiled details of its health care plan, tentatively called CompromiseCareTM:
...Under CompromiseCareTM, people with no coverage will be allowed to keep their current plan.
...Medicare will be extended to 55-year-olds as soon as they turn 65.
...You will have access to cheap Canadian drugs if you live in Canada.
...States whose names contain vowels will be allowed to opt out of the plan.
...You get to choose which doctor you cannot afford to see.
...You will not have to be pre-certified to qualify for cremation.
...A patient will be considered "pre-existing" if he or she already exists.
...You'll be free to choose between medications and heating fuel.
...Patients can access quality health care if they can prove their name is Lieberman.
...You will have access to natural remedies, such as death."
Wow, I made a list. What a great validation of my work!
The City of Fresno that laid off approximately 120 people and yet they came up with 1.2 million to spend on advertising to enhance Fresno's image because Conan O'Brien made a few jokes about us.
and...
As our police department loses staff, the water tower downtown has a new monument lighting system so visitors think we are cool. They'd probably like us more if their car wouldn't get stolen while visiting.
There's more but I'm getting nauseous.
Oh yeah another trend I could do without... panhandlers in medians and turn lanes.
Hairstyles... call me old fashioned, but does everybody have to look like they just got out of bed? Maybe I'll rent out my bed and charge 50 bucks for the results!!!
The dumbest and most threatening trends in my view include:
1. The increasing willingness of people in this country to become dependent on the government.
2. The increasing willingness to confiscate, under the threat of prison, our fellow citizen's wealth to finance #1.
Reality shows rank real high on my list of "dumb."
Others:
1. The media / government war on evangelical Christianity.
2. Politicians that talk one way to get elected and then change their minds when they get to Sacramento or DC.
3. News that tells you what "they" want you to hear and ignores critical events; and that eliminates world news or gives a one paragraph digest of a complex situation.
4. Taxes that are called something else, like a "user fee."
5. The deification of athletes.
6. Kids lacking politeness. Kids who don’t respect elders.
7. A therapeutic culture that turns everything into a disease rather than a choice to do wrong and recognizes no accountability or responsibility.
Stupid media generated lists and those that participate thinking they give them some sort of validity or meaning to our lives.
Add to the list that lights for water tower to make visitors won't even be seen as they are looking at the nasty tent cities when coming into town. Im sorry they are homeless some by choice but at least pick up your garbage.
Joe's two trends times 100. The government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul.
A(D)Alabama Representative jumping to the GOP...that would fit in "The Smart Trends of the Decade" blog along with "Conservative Talk Radio Stations,Shows,and Listeners" increasing.
Ron in my opinion you made the most sense.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us~
what IS up with those people that stare
and poke at their 'phones' habitually?
my list:
...those little flag pins on the left lapel
war profiteering
un-indicted co-conspirators
pornography's ascendancy and wide acceptance
Fascism's ascendancy and wide acceptance
the pornography of NASCAR and "Cage-fighting"
legalized prostitution and gambling
"regime change"
the word "peace" finally dropped from the lexicon
Yes, how about smart / healthy trends of the decade:
1. Thanks to our advanced technology I no longer have to depend on what news is spoon-fed to me on network TV or in a one-newspaper town (which is most towns / cities these days); I have access to the whole world; it is also incumbent on me to be very discerning on what I see and here, knowing that there are "other agendas" out there whose intentions are to deceive.
2. Research has also been greatly benefitted by recent technology. Advanced scientific and medical technology may end up as the greatest friend of the creationism and the pro-life movement.
3. Americans (at least those that are, conservatives, Tea Partiers, libertarians, independents) seem to be waking up to the fact that big government is bad rather than good - (hopefully it won’t be to late). Strange as it may seem, Obama’s inabilities may be indirectly responsible for their resurgence.
4. As crisis after crisis hits us, there is a healthy trend of returning once again the spiritual foundations that made our country great.
The world of socialists, a vague misunderstood series of commercial conspiracies ripe for exposure by a self elevated political underclass who don't understand the meaning of competition. Not our world, one large enough for everything that occurs on it. Not an extension of personal preferences to be appeased by government, at taxpayer's expense, after the ignorant are rallied in a strong wind and set on fire.
The top players will not be around for world cup 2010 This list is up to date
ENGLAND Bobby Zamora, Owen Hargreaves, Ben Foster, Paul Scholes
BRAZIL Ronaldinho, Adriano
ITALY Toni, Alessandro del Piero, Mario Balotelli, Franceso Totti, Antonio Cassano
FRANCE Patrick Vieira, Karim Benzema, Samir Nasri
ARGENTINA Javier Zanetti, Esteban Cambiasso, Juan Roman Riquelme
GERMANY Kevin Kuranyi, Christian Gentner, Marcel Schafer and Sascha Riether