Life in today’s United States is like living 24/7 in a Las Vegas casino. Shows, food, gaming, sex, lights—everything is available all the time, on our phones. It all pacifies us, but it never satisfies us. Like old men pulling handles on slot machines for hours, our culture stimulates us but leaves us with empty souls.

Distractions are not new. The ancient Romans used the commerce of distraction to anesthetize the populace, thereby enabling incompetent tyrants to rise to political power.

The idea of Roman politicians was simple. By flooding the culture with entertainment opportunities (circuses), the people would be stupefied, unable to work, think, or be creative. Having weakened the minds and hearts of people, Roman leaders could amplify their power and control.

The critical message of this article is this video is that the “bread and circus” way of life prevents us from being fully human. Flooded with information from the outside, we never create from the inside. Distracted by heavily scripted entertainment, we never think our own thoughts. With corporations filling our time in entertaining ways, we rarely look outside of ourselves to serve the needs of others. Our lives become narrow even though the world is filled with grandeur, constellations, explorations, love, learning, beauty, service, and meaning.

The only way out of this narrow, mundane way of living is to use our intrinsic, God-given freedom as much as possible while seeing life from a more fulfilling and long term perspective that not only entertains us, but also nourishes our spirit. ~KC
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCOsoM2aTNI