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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Our View: Two-wheel transit ... Guest Opinion: Iran agreement has potential ... Guest Opinion: Build Phillips Field for both sports ... Our View: Two-wheel transit ... Guest Opinion: Iran agreement has potential ... Guest Opinion: Build Phillips Field for both sports ... Jim Brock: You don't have to take it anymore Comment By Jim Brock More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Jim Brock More Content Now Posted Dec. 31, 2014 at 9:05 AM By Jim Brock More Content Now Posted Dec. 31, 2014 at 9:05 AM » Social News “I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad… It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, ‘Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone.’” “Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get mad … I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell, ‘I’m as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!’” This is an edited version of news anchor Howard Beale's live-TV diatribe in Paddy Chayefsky’s 1976 classic “Network.” I still get chills when I watch this scene. It is both inspirational and amusing, but most importantly, it is true. Are enough Americans angry these days? Even in 1976, our excesses and our apathy kept us inebriated. While Karl Marx once called religion “the opiate of the masses,” it was soon replaced by consumerism and a woeful lack of interest in things that truly matter. And it has only gotten worse. Fast forward to 2015. It’s clear that not much has changed, except our understanding of truth. Truth has been hijacked by relativism. Our polarized nation isn't that different from Germany during the Cold War. The left-versus-right, black-versus-white and rich-versus-everyone-else discourse touches the lives of just about everyone, even if you “don’t care about politics.” Eventually, someone is going to complain about the lazy minorities on welfare who never miss a chance to pull the race card.At the same time, someone will rant about the racist, homophobic, super-rich white establishment and their sins against the working class. Those are two of the extremes — the makers and the takers. And, as usual, we get nowhere with our black-and-white thinking, figuratively and literally. On an episode of “Meet the Press” in late 2014, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson engaged in a heated argument centered on the issue of race relations in America. In reference to Ferguson, Missouri, and the ensuing protests in other American cities, these two intelligent, articulate and successful men didn't agree on much — and they showed their less-than-flattering sides. Giuliani told Dyson that “93 percent of blacks are killed by other blacks.” “The white police officers wouldn’t be there if you weren’t killing each other,” Giuliani said. “What about the poor black child that was killed by another black child?” Giuliani asked. “Why aren’t you protesting that? … Why don’t you cut it down so that so many white police officers don’t have to be in black areas?” “Most black people who commit crimes against other black people go to jail,” Dyson said. “White people who are policemen and kill black people do not go to jail.” How many people asked the same question as the former mayor? Conversely, how many people were appalled by the question? It’s OK to admit it. That’s what we’re supposed to do, because we live in a nation that values independent thought. At least, it used to. Here is some more of Howard Beale's rant. “I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot. I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crying in the streets. All I know is first you've got to get mad. You've got to say, ‘I'm a human being … my life has value.’” “Things have got to change my friends. You've got to get mad … Then we'll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open your window, stick your head out and yell, ‘I’m as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!’” I think doing something crazy is long overdue for most Americans. Perhaps we should refuse to listen to the asinine talking points about what America “was meant to be.” Our true character comes to the surface when times are tough. So how are WE responding to the woes of the world? Maybe we need to get “mad as hell” about something that truly matters. We are strong-willed people, but we seem to be OK with letting the loudest voices in the room dictate what we think, feel, say and do. If something bothers us, we need to let someone know. We know the difference between right and wrong. It is inherent in the American spirit. The concept of morality does not adjust with inflation, and the "right thing" does not change like styles of apparel and popular music. Right is right, and wrong is wrong — PERIOD. If you need Bill O’Reilly or Bill Maher to clear up a personal conflict of conscience, a child would tell you “you're doing it wrong!” And he or she would be right. If you’re anything like me, you can justify questionable behavior by saying “If they're getting away with it, why can't I?” Or my favorite: “What difference does it make? No one else cares, so why should I?” That is how needles get lost in haystacks. That is how we lose ourselves in the mob. Sure, screaming through a window sounds crazy, but surrendering ourselves to the epidemic of apathy is certifiable. So what are you going to do? Ponder that! Jim Brock is managing editor of the Nebraska City News-Press. He can be reached at [email protected]. By Jim Brock More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Jim Brock More Content Now Posted Dec. 31, 2014 at 9:05 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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