Respiration Wars

I am a TV pacifist. This has become increasingly difficult recently, what with all of the different kinds of wars offered to you on a daily basis.

What kinds of wars? Storage, Parking, Prom, Swamp, Border (oh wait, that's a real war), Cupcake, Monster Bug, Shipping, Design.

I've wondered from time to time why "war" has become such a commonplace descriptor of relatively peaceful, even mundane activities, and I've decided it's just plain laziness. The Storage Wars show can actually be kind of fun, but you'd have to work hard to come up with a snappy title that somewhat describes what actually happens. Some people bid sight unseen for the contents of a storage locker. Then the winner inspects and appraises the contents. That's it. Anything in there sound even remotely warlike? Of course not, but war is a convenient if almost crazily exaggerated shorthand for a competition.

I'm not going to assert that this represents a metaphor for societal trends, but there has been an escalation of rhetorical bombast in both the political and entertainment spheres. The political part is mostly perpetrated by Republican hardliners who feel the need to cast everything they don't agree with in terms of something not just undesirable, but so-horrifying-you-should-buy-a-gun-and-then-go-hide-under-your bed. This is needlessly extreme and annoying, (wait, is Obama a Nazi or an Islamic terrorist or a socialist? All 3?), but is much more easily accomplished than building a logical case based on sound policy. Similarly, in entertainment, bombast is usually found in the realm of so-called reality shows, because even artificially manipulated reality just isn't compelling enough to attract viewers. This requires either a truly creative message or, failing that, sensationalism.

Personally, I detest laziness and excess in communications, so it makes reading the TV listings kind of disheartening.  I wish I could see a path to a more articulate and less over the top communications, but I'm not going to hold my breath waiting.