Patheya

Two questions

Is it true, and where is it documented, that the Romans used games as 'entertainment for the masses' in an attempt to keep them from action against the established power?

Also, I read that Marx, (excuse me if I misquote, there seems to be some dispute over the exact translation), wrote 'religion is the opiate of the people'.

If we accept this as true, and even if we don't, what are the main opiates of the people today? What do the 'powers' use to keep us 'happy' and not challenge the established powers?

Comments highly welcome. Remember, if someone is feeling hot under the collar with this topic, I don't know if any of it is true. I would like to know your opinions. The topic is open to debate.

Cigarette Smoking Man

You bring up an interesting issue. Some people seriously think society does not have conscious or unconscious forms of population pacification.

I do, though.

Forms of pacification include mass media, where we are given stories about celebrities and whatnot. You can add sports, sports has been used to entertain the masses for many milennia. You can add piss-poor music. There's a lot of entertainment out there that keeps people stupid. It's matter of whether you want to believe it's deliberate or not.

Soldiers Valhala

In the US, it can be argued that work itself is something that keeps us from rocking the boat.

Very few voters in the US actually vote, and one of the biggest reasons there is not more participation is that voting must occur on ONE day and for hard working Americans, they cannot get to the polls in time and they can't afford to take off.

Less than 1/3 of Americans actually vote. This contributes (thought it is far from the only factor) to a lack of political efficacy and keeps the country more stable (for better or worse - we often complain that nothing gets done in Washington and that real change is hard to come by)

Cigarette Smoking Man

Tell that to the millions we kill.

All Iraqi violent deaths, . As of August 2007: 1,033,000 (946,000-1,120,000). Causes; gunshots (48%), car bombs (20%), aerial bombing (9%), accidents (6%), another blast/ordnance (6%). [2]
***Total deaths (all excess deaths)

Johns Hopkins (Lancet)" target="_blank">Johns Hopkins (Lancet)

Lancet_surveys_of_Iraq_War_casualties

- As of June 2006: 654,965 (392,979-942,636). 601,027 violent deaths (31% by Coalition, 24% by others, 46% unknown)[29][30]
All Iraqi violent deaths.

Iraqi Health Ministry casualty survey" target="_blank">Iraqi Health Ministry casualty survey

Iraqi_Health_Ministry_casualty_survey

for the

World Health Organization" target="_blank">World Health Organization

World_Health_Organization

. As of June 2006: 151,000 (104,000 to 223,000).[31][32][33][34]

Soldiers Valhala

I'm not quite sure what you mean by that... I don't dispute your facts, I inquire about what you are trying to say.

Cigarette Smoking Man

I am not attacking you, I'm pointing out a lot gets done in Washington, like how often we go to war and kill people.

Soldiers Valhala

Ah. OK. Gotcha.

Yes. It is so much easier to destroy than to create, is it not?

Maybe I shall correct my statement to correctly read: "It is argued, that nothing constructive gets done in Washington."

Cigarette Smoking Man

You don't have to correct anything, nor listen to me at all. But it's good we can see eye-to-eye. I agree with your original comment about Washington in the context of law and bureaucracy; very little in that sector gets done. Which I suppose is a good thing. We have a hell of a lot of problems with our society, but we have less problems than societies like Iran or North Korea thank god.

Insomnia

True, all of these are used as opiates to keep the nation down.

http://aftermathnews.wordpress.com/2008/05/27/the-chemical-dumbing-down-of-america/

Pedro

Bread and circuses origin is here: