Jack Johnson recorded the song “Good People” in 2005, intending it to be a protest message with criticisms of contemporary television and it’s negative effects on society. In the last verse he includes these lyrics:

“Bad news, missed use
Gimme some truth
You got too much to lose
Now whose side are we on
But anyway, okay, whatever you say,
Wrong or resolute, I’m in the mood to obey
Station through station
Desensitizing the nation“

I find this song to be pretty clear in it’s message that when we constantly see bad things in the media, especially when it’s disguised as entertainment, then it leads us to believe that’s normal, when then leads to us becoming desensitized.

TV is dangerous in that we can just sit back and passively let these negative messages come at us in the guise of entertainment. Many people believe that they are capable of sorting out the messages and knowing the difference between fact and propaganda, but research has shown that when it’s offered to us as entertainment we (humans) are not actually good at separating fact from fiction. There has been much research into how the brain processes data, and surprisingly, no matter how fact based we think we are, our brains are emotionally biased and will adjust our focus to what we want to hear. (References that support this statement are available upon request. I recommend doing some academic research into this and not just taking my word for it.)

I feel like the Good People referenced in this song are those that are looking for good things, surrounding themselves with factual and non-biased details. It’s time to turn off the 24 hour news networks (they’re all bad… really) and make the effort to focus on positives. They are out there – you just have to look for them.

Good People exist and I love it when I see them sharing their positive messages via art and education.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_People_(song)

https://g.co/kgs/L28eFs