Sadistic

[CristyCurves 169032]

Are we as a society becoming more so? While watching the news tonight I was shocked and disturb to see graphic details of shootings, and the execution of men in Syria, although they didn't show the actual shooting they showed the men tied, face down with guns at their heads, then the camera went black and then they aired the sound of the gun fire. We all know how horrific war is but to actually show people lying dead and bleeding and about to be shot isn't necessary or is it? Have we as a society become numb to such graphic violence, lost a sense of value to life? I just can't see the point of airing such cruelty.

[Sweet Emily J 172062]

I agree.

 

Guns, blood and violence is all over every type of media and what is acceptable to show is getting worse; gore is totally normalized, and a younger generation is almost numb to it.

 

But show something beautiful and natural like a woman's breast and people freak out.

 

Backwards, if you ask me.

[CristyCurves 169032]

I agree.

 

Guns, blood and violence is all over every type of media and what is acceptable to show is getting worse; gore is totally normalized, and a younger generation is almost numb to it.

 

But show something beautiful and natural like a woman's breast and people freak out.

 

Backwards, if you ask me.

 

That's a very good point and a sad testament to our values today and what we will accept. Yes graphic violence is everywhere and appears to be somewhat celebrated but show something natural, like a naked body part or making love and the church fanatics come a running:(

[HalifaxMan58 2206]

Are we as a society becoming more so? While watching the news tonight I was shocked and disturb to see graphic details of shootings, and the execution of men in Syria, although they didn't show the actual shooting they showed the men tied, face down with guns at their heads, then the camera went black and then they aired the sound of the gun fire. We all know how horrific war is but to actually show people lying dead and bleeding and about to be shot isn't necessary or is it? Have we as a society become numb to such graphic violence, lost a sense of value to life? I just can't see the point of airing such cruelty.

 

I believe the media/government want everyone to know what is going on in Syria. There are many horrible acts going on there as you know. The UN do not seem to be in favor of the U.S. doing a strike. What should be done when a country is killing its own people, innocent children? Someone has to do something!.

 

My 5 cents worth

[CristyCurves 169032]

I believe the media/government want everyone to know what is going on in Syria. There are many horrible acts going on there as you know. The UN do not seem to be in favor of the U.S. doing a strike. What should be done when a country is killing its own people, innocent children? Someone has to do something!.

 

My 5 cents worth

 

I get that and understand your point but I still don't think showing actual killings will do anything but numb some to such violence. We all know what happens in war I'm just not sure that airing its brutalities will cause more to want to stop it, but that's just my opinion.

[gc1968 2033]

I don't know if people are actually getting more cruel, or more callous or jaded than they were before, but the fact that we can see cruelty from anywhere around the globe now almost instantly, coupled with the fact that there are so many outlets to see this kind of thing makes it seem that people are way worse than other generations that came before. Before the advent of television and film, and definitely the internet, as well as the time it used to take to travel to distant lands people hardly ever heard of the things going on in these other places, and vice versa, as news was scarce. Also the fact that there are so many more people in the world now means that even though the percentage of cruel/bad people may not be any higher than it ever was, there are probably more of them out there just based on the numbers. I do believe though that we have been a bit desensitized to a lot of things because of the amount of things we've seen and read, because this sort of thing is everywhere, even if you deliberately try not to see or read anything of a cruel or bad nature. It's almost inescapable.

 

(sorry, hope that makes sense, been working since 3 am this morning, I'm not exactly on top of my game right now :) )

[CristyCurves 169032]

I don't know if people are actually getting more cruel, or more callous or jaded than they were before, but the fact that we can see cruelty from anywhere around the globe now almost instantly, coupled with the fact that there are so many outlets to see this kind of thing makes it seem that people are way worse than other generations that came before. Before the advent of television and film, and definitely the internet, as well as the time it used to take to travel to distant lands people hardly ever heard of the things going on in these other places, and vice versa, as news was scarce. Also the fact that there are so many more people in the world now means that even though the percentage of cruel/bad people may not be any higher than it ever was, there are probably more of them out there just based on the numbers. I do believe though that we have been a bit desensitized to a lot of things because of the amount of things we've seen and read, because this sort of thing is everywhere, even if you deliberately try not to see or read anything of a cruel or bad nature. It's almost inescapable.

 

 

 

(sorry, hope that makes sense, been working since 3 am this morning, I'm not exactly on top of my game right now :) )

 

Your points make a lot of sense and explain it completely I suspect, thank you for the good points.

[oldblueeyez 15475]

It's easier for a warmongering nation to engage in perpetual warfare if its population is desensitized to violence. As for which nation I consider to be a rogue warmonger, that's a point of view I should not express here. :P Curious though, those were the rebels the US is supporting who executed Assad loyalists. In a previous incident, one of the rebel leaders sliced open the body of a freshly killed Assad soldier, pulled out an organ, and ate some of it. As for who's dropping the chemical weapons, nobody really knows. Putin has a good point when he says that it would be nonsensical for Assad to risk using chemical weapons when the tide was turning in his favour and he was beginning to win the civil war.

Neither side in this war is particularly endearing, although if you have an eye problem, Bachar Assad is a qualified ophthalmologist.

 

The US didn't care that much when Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons to kill his own Iraqi Kurds during the Iraq-Iran War, not to mention tens of thousands of Iranian soldiers; as a matter of fact, he used chemicals weapons supplied by the West.

 

Syria's the second to the last domino. Final destination: Iran; China and Russia won't allow it though.

 

War sucks, but then that's the history of mankind: war. Somewhere aliens are observing us and shaking their heads, or whatever it is aliens shake in consternation. :P

[HalifaxMan58 2206]

I believe the US will make a strike. It is certainly looking that way!

Could this start a 3rd world war? That question has been raised.

 

War is HELL!!!

 

The aliens may already be among us! ;)

[HalifaxMan58 2206]

I agree...All we can do is sit back and watch what happens now.

 

For one, I am happy I don't have to make the big decisions. It seems with the US they are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

 

I think there might be a little alien in all of us! ;)

[oldblueeyez 15475]

If Peter Schiff is right with his prediction that a Big Bust is coming, and if War succeeds Depression as it did before, then WW3 may be just around the corner. But on the other hand, Schiff may be using his previous success in predicting the last meltdown to sell his latest book in which he "offers step-by-step solutions that average Americans can follow to protect their wealth, investments and savings." lol

 

Schiff: We're Heading For A Crisis Worse Than 2007

 

He's kinda makin' sense though. (shiver)

[cometman 35115]

Times like these, I'm glad I live in the country. Life is simpler and I can just turn off the tv. I hope my children's generation can hold it together.

[olderguy 5797]

Much of the violence and sadistic behaviour being so blatantly presented is the media attempting to force the US to some form of military action by showing the world the atrocities that are taking place.

The US News Media has long tried to "Engineer the story". This time they are simply trying to speed it along.

[Claire Heavens 51771]

I read the title 'Sadistic' and got excited. Then kept reading.....and got bored. lol. I do not watch the news. I rather not know. Someone has to know what's up tho- so I am Glad other people watch it- but if you purposely watch something that's called News- then dont be upset or surprised that its graphic and disturbing- It's Not so much Sadistic as it is realistic. Sadistic would be YOU making ME watch the news knowing I no likey. ;) But, You making yourself watch the news and you dont like it....well thats just masochism lol.

[oldblueeyez 15475]

Yeah, the concentration of media ownership these days means it takes very few people to twist the arm of public opinion in whichever direction they desire. The US is not that different from Russia and China when it comes to media; there isn't that much of a difference between their monopolies and the American oligopoly when it comes to directing public sentiment. But that might be changing, as few Americans seem to be biting Obama's hook; war weary perhaps?

[MightyPen 67414]

Have we as a society become numb to such graphic violence...?

Yes, but I think that's what makes the airing of the bit you saw more necessary. We've all seen so much more violence on screens these days, simulated or real, that implied violence has mostly lost its power. If the news wants to make a point, it has to be very clear about exactly how awful and brutal an act really was.

 

A still picture of men on the ground, a guy with a gun in the background, and a voiceover saying "a dozen men were executed yesterday..." would lack the power it might have had in 1970, and today's viewers might barely register the weight of what had happened. So though I would have found the scene you describe hard to watch, I understand why the news team thought it necessary to make their point.

 

Sadly, though, I'm also reminded of this exchange from the movie Hotel Rwanda:

 

Paul Rusesabagina

: "I am glad that you have shot this footage and that the world will see it. It is the only way we have a chance that people might intervene."

 

Jack

: "Yeah and if no one intervenes, is it still a good thing to show?"

 

Paul Rusesabagina

: "How can they not intervene when they witness such atrocities?"

 

Jack

: "I think if people see this footage they'll say, "oh my God that's horrible," and then go on eating their dinners."

[Guest *Ste***cque**]

Yes, we are numb to violence... and it seems we are numb to history as well.

Vietnam, Korea, Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Iran(?)... sigh.

 

Movies and video games glorify ghastly violence. How else is the media to compete for our attention?

[EvaAdore 7767]

I think as a society in general we have become numb; we're numb to love, numb to affection, numb to violence, numb to other people, numb to sexuality, numb to gore.

 

We watch movies of people getting brutalized and tortured and we laugh, or we feel nothing. We watch MTV and see 17 year old celebrities wearing next to nothing. We go on the internet and read YouTube comments that are getting increasingly more and more malicious and violent toward each other simply for expressing an opinion. We listen to music about rape, murder, gangs. We watch the news and feel little, or we stop watching all together. And all of this is "normal" to us. And the kids think this is how things "are" or "should be".

 

Scary, and sad. And the scariest part is the younger generation of kids ( like my sister, who is 18 ) are becoming ignorant, entitled, self-absorbed little assholes - why? Because as a society we are numb, and we are raised to fear anything that makes us feel. We're afraid of love because it can hurt; we're afraid of pain because it hurts; we're afraid of voicing an opinion because we'll be ostracized; some of us are afraid to interact with people or go in public places. We have all these mental issues we didn't have before (albeit some of them were there, but the medical community was not advanced enough to diagnose or treat them)... we have issues we never had before. We are a society of increasingly stupid, ignorant, lazy, brainwashed zombies. It's a sad truth, but it is the truth. We live in a digital world where we are all connected 24 hours a day, 7 days a week... but we have trouble looking each other in the face or reaching out to our own neighbors.

 

There are amazing people, and I am hopeful with the recent wave of "self-help" and "self-aware" and nature-oriented movements in the last couple of years. My biggest hope is that we can all snap back to being alive and being here for each other, because I know there is good in the vast majority of people. We just need to tap into that and be there for each other more. That's why I love groups and communities like this :D