Cynicism

I am always surprised to hear how surprised people are at the news of corruption, criminality and avarice based behaviour among humans. Yet, I'm also socked when people are taken aback by good deeds and heroic behaviour within out primate ranks. It seems as if neither are considered the norm anymore. Since humans are capable of anything, why is it that human behaviour always astounds humans? Perhaps we are just misinformed, out of touch with each other. The influence of the "me" generation has indeed had a tremendous influence on the modern mind. So maybe anything outside of our personal standardized mode of conditioned behaviour is shocking. Since I'm shocked by others being shocked I might be on to something.
Just as someone learns a new word and is astounded that they now hear it everywhere. It becomes a coincidence, a mystical experience. Or could it be that their previous ignorance simply excluded them from the use and understanding of that word, and they really never had a good idea of what was being discussed in the first place. Considering that everyone one of us suffers from one degree or other of ignorance, it's a real surprise that communication even works (maybe it doesn't). But what actually surprises me is how we think we know so much. I believe that is the root of our general ignorance. Ignorance of ignorance is why I think (in my ignorance) is why we humans are so easily manipulated and controlled by the media, aka the corporations and interest groups who fund it. The British had a fool proof plan when it came to controlling a people;"Divide and Conquer". The division was not just a physical one but a psychological factor as was the conquer bit. Keep them in the dark in their little groups , make them believe what you want them to believe and herd them about as so many sheep and goats. Especially in this age of information, we are so much more vulnerable. The level of distraction is at it's highest ever. Why is Hollywood fluff so popular? How best to calm a population than to avoid informing them and fill them with mindless entertainment (emotional ooze). The best way I have found to avoid a topic is to either avoid anything mildly related to it or change the subject all together. Any school aged child will tell you how they mess with the teacher by finding out his/her favourite subject and getting them off track with it. So it's quite instinctual for us. The key is to realize when you're being messed with or diverted by the media. It seems that we are being pumped with the idea that we are so much smarter and better than our ancestors. Sure literacy stats usually claim that more of us can read and of course this is good. But does that mean we are smarter and more intelligent? Are illiterate people stupid then? Because that seems to be the assumption. Or have we divided the whole world up, stigmatized every aspect so as to be able to analyse and categorize value and worth (good and bad). Is this not the engine behind the construction and maintenance of the great myth of the "Norm"?
As a French Canadian I was raised speaking two languages and experiencing two distinct cultures. What I have noticed here in Canada especially among uniligual people is that their lack of any other culture or knowledge of other languages has imprisoned them in a monoculture. The problem with this is that it is perceived as the only one, the end all and be all. Without a simple understanding of how other cultures don't only speak and act differently they think differently, these monocultural folks are so much easier to control and manipulate. With only one view or more importantly the belief in one view, all one needs is the pulpit to preach from. The western world and its mass media is the dream all demagogues have prayed for since the first homo sapiens walked in groups. Since the likes of Emperor Chin (first Emperor and unifier of China, that's why it's called Chin-a) forced cultural unification (one method of writing) on the people of China and destroyed everything that differed (confiscating all their swords, destroying countless texts) we the people have been subject(ed) to the tyranny of the few greedy. Perhaps calling them "noble(s)" was a sarcastic joke on the part of the oppressed.