Realities of 2009

 

Reality

Reality TV shows have given me cause to think about their value, importance and relevance. I really have enough of my own reality, I don't need the reality of a survivor, an idol, dancers and prancers, models, apprentices, people living in fear, a big brother, a bachelor or bachelorette. Likewise, racers, wife swappers, Orange County or New York or Desperate housewives or Laguna Beach teenagers are certainly not my reality.

The recent return of the Bachelor demonstrates that all that is rotten in realityland TV. Lies, cheating, using, shaming, stealing, hurting someone and selfishness all in the name of fame and fortune. How unfortunate. This episode, this less than human-being crossed the line. But enough said and time wasted on this.

From 2000 to 2009 nearly two dozen reality shows have emerged. Does everyone think we are interested in their lives? Apparently so. Are we a society of voyeurs? Perhaps. Are our lives so mundane and uninteresting that we need to loose ourselves in that of others? I would really like to figure this one out.

Another interesting phenomenon of the last ten years is car chases. Of course, we have O. J. Simpson to thank for that I suppose. But frankly I don't find 20 - 30 - 40 minutes of cars and helicopters and police in pursuit of a lunatic newsworthy.

Now reality shows are not new to this decade. However in the 80's and 90's COPS was as real as we wanted when police and detective shows could no longer quench our burning desire for intellectual stimulus.

Going back a little bit further The Newlywed Show was one of the first edgy reality TV shows in the 1970's.

Hey, if everyone just did their own laundry, maybe there wouldn't be any time left over to watch others airing their stinky socks or unwashed underwear.

According to an article in the local paper this morning, a woman apparently ran over herself. Stop a second and think about that... Yes, at first glance, I couldn't quite picture it! The story goes on to say that the woman (five years older than me) had climbed into her Infiniti Sport Utility Vehicle, put the SUV in reverse, got out but failed to put the car in park. The woman was knocked down to the ground by the open car door and the front tire ran over both of her legs. This incident happened faster than the time it took for me to write this posting. Good grief, it almost seems comical. Fortunately, the lady suffered minor cuts and bruised image. But this little piece gives cause to ponder, how a life can be changed in just a second.

Firsts

Our country has a new President. Barack Obama is bringing a whole lotta firsts to the White House… not to mention a First African American and a first grandmother/mother-in-law. Clearly he has set the stage for an unprecedented firsts of: open communication, transparency, and my favorite… participation.

And here is the country he has inherited...

Both the number of unemployed persons (11.6 million) and the unemployment rate (7.6 percent) rose in January. Over the past 12 months, the number of unemployed persons has increased by 4.1 million and the unemployment rate has
risen by 2.7 percentage points. This is the worst our jobs face has looked in 30 some years.

U.S. home foreclosures for January increased 57 percent from a year earlier or eight percent from the prior month. Nearly 20% of the nation's home sales in 2008 were of bank-repossessed properties. Another 11% were short sales, in which homeowners owed more in mortgage debt than their homes were worth. And the worse news in all of this is that about $3.3 trillion in home equity was erased in 2008, with $1.4 trillion of that wipeout coming in the fourth quarter.

U.S. consumer spending fell for a record sixth straight month in December as recession-battered households, worried about surging layoffs, boosted their savings rates to the highest level since May 2008.

American families are struggling with an intensifying recession that's already the longest in a quarter-century. Overall economic growth plunged at an annual rate of 3.8 per cent in the final three months of last year, the biggest quarterly decline since a 6.4 per cent drop in the first quarter of 1982.

Automobile sales plunged to their worst level in 26 years in January. Chrysler is down 55-percent, General Motors sales tumbled 49-percent, and Ford reported a 42-percent decline. And last I checked it wasn't much better for foreign makes. Toyota, Nissan and Honda all saw sales fall.