A story has swept the nation by storm, that of Ted Williams. If you are out of the loop, here you go, YouTube Video that started it all.
Here's the story in a nutshell. Man falls in love with broadcasting, works successfully for a while, drugs and alcohol destroy his life, ends up on the streets for 10 years, discovered by local newspaper, takes YouTube by storm, life turned around. Huzzah.
There is a problem though in this story, not with Ted Williams but with America.
Ted Williams is such a feel good story, a man with an incredible talent overcomes his personal demons and is getting a second chance. Heartwarming, isn't it? After 10 years on the street, Mr. Williams is overwhelmed with job and housing offers, and this too is heartwarming. We can look at this story and we can see the greatness not only of Mr. Williams but of ourselves as a society shine through. We can all watch the YouTube video and the interview on Good Morning America and really feel good that the entire nation has rallied around an individual with exceptional kindness.
This is the problem.
It's a problem because it makes us feel a way that we certainly don't act. It gives the average American the cover to know in his heart that Americans are good people. It assuages our guilt without addressing a problem. It's like watching a city burn and feeling good about saving 1 building out of the whole damn thing. Not just feeling good, feeling great, feeling sanctimonious, feeling superior. This is the seductive illusion that the media will beat into our skulls over the next few days, in that relentless memory-hole way that only the well oiled gears of the mass media in America can.
It's stories like this and shows like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. These events that shine an intense light onto a single example of a problem and then solve it in a way so over the top as to reach absurdity. Homelessness and poverty are both real, devastating social issues that the so called "Greatest Nation on the Face of the Planet" should be tackling in meaningful comprehensive ways. Instead it's more bread and circus for the masses, it's more feel good interviews and reporting on every offer Mr. Williams will receive for the next cycle or two. The reporting of the offers causes a feedback loop of even more offers, now completely unnecessary. Mr. Williams will be set for life, and good on him, but what about those without a "Golden Voice" that the media has no use for.
I hate these stories and these shows because they are a distraction, and more so because they are artificial stimulation. We feel guilty when we do something bad, when we neglect a huge portion of our populace, when we torture, when we wrong our fellow man. It's a natural reaction, a balance built into us, so that we are motivated to do the right thing to relieve the feelings of guilt. This sort of story acts to relieve our guilt without making a difference in anyone's lives. Our problems persist but now we can sleep soundly, like fattened cattle, placated and obedient.
So feel free to be happy for Mr. Williams, I am, but keep in mind the fact that although we have all banded together to make his life better, there are still millions of our fellow countrymen going to sleep cold, hungry, jobless, stressed out, terrified, heartbroken, disenfranchised, and utterly let down by a nation that would rather busy itself feeling good about saving 1 while letting millions suffer.