Friday, September 30, 2011

Sweeping it Under the Rug

Sweeping problems under the rug is widely accepted by Americans - we do it in our daily lives, the business world, and politics. It's a dangerous thing because instead of recognizing an issue for what it is and strategizing ways to combat it, the problem is ignored and then piles onto the mass of unresolved conflicts before it. In no time, as we've seen in our current political climate, there are too many problems to solve with limited resources to cure them all.

On a much smaller scale, we use the lives of celebrities as a form of escapism from our daily lives and problems. Magazines like "People" and "Us Weekly" and reality TV shows like "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" broadcast the lives of celebrities. The media exploits the divorce of a celebrity couple so that everyone in America knows about it - but who are we to know about such private issues? Why do we find solace and conversation in the pain of a celebrity couple?

It's as if we have a collective subconscious that believes that focusing on the problems of others, our own issues will disappear. Sometimes things get so complicated that we can't see a way out. It then seems that the only solution is to let "time heal all wounds" and then, hopefully, things will get better. We let ourselves get caught up in the gossip of others while we wait for our own issues to cure themselves.

But if we let ourselves be distracted enough, will our problems actually disappear?




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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousOctober 2, 2011 at 9:15 PM

    I think people feel that being distracted by others' problems does not necessarily make their problems "disappear", as much as it will make their problems seem more trivial. People love to obsess over the problems of celebrities because they can think, "At least I'm not her." It is a way for people to feel better about themselves, a confidence booster.

    I do not agree with this mindset, though. As you said, "Who are we to know about such private issues?" If people are having problems, they need to start learning how to face them without constantly comparing them to those of celebrities and their peers.

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  2. Emily RutherfordOctober 4, 2011 at 10:31 PM

    I think that everyone has at one time or another, including myself, tried to ignore something bad happening to them by just taking their mind off of it. One way to do this, like Jordan said, is to compare your life with someone else's to feel better about yourself. In the end we hope it just goes away, but learning from exerience, its all that is on your mind, so in reality this idea does not work at all. We just hope it does because we Americans view it as a coping mechanism.

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