Mirrors show the way things are, and mirages show the way things aren't.
Most people live in Mirage Land where mirage is
everything. From the time they rise in the morning until they close
their eyes at night, mirages surround them on every side.
Millions of people turn on television as soon as they wake up, because
they can't wait to receive their daily ration of mirages. The morning
news is crammed full of yesterday's mirages - they're full of show and don't
tell. What do I mean by that?
Television journalism is now an extension of reality TV designed to shock
and entertain. Although the images are real, the stories that
accompany them are full of quarter-truth and hyperbole. It's a
distorted one-sided version of reality designed to not tell the rest of the
story, and it's the rest of the story that we need so badly to hear.
People need to turn on their brain and use their mirage detector.
Their mirage detector asks only one question: "What's the rest of the
story?" A fifteen second sound or video byte never tells the rest of
the story. It tells only one side, the side the media wants you
to hear.
Every important issue has two sides, and until you hear them both, you don't
really know what's going on. You are simply listening to a mirage
salesman trying to sell you his particular version of the world. It's
telemarketing of mirages over television.
There's so much half-truth and hyperbole out there that most people don't
notice it any longer. They're used to living in Mirage Land, and
besides, some of the mirages are fun. It's sort of a Disney World
existence. It may not be the real world,
but it keeps them entertained.
I've lived overseas for more than twenty-five years, and I've seen the rest
of the story. During all those years, I didn't need to listen to the media and its mirage
barrage, because I was where the news was happening, and I knew the rest of the
story.
Mirages sometimes get you into trouble. The mirage barrage
told us about weapons of mass destruction that didn't exist, and now the
world is experiencing a horrific war of mass destruction. Politicians and media
with their massive mirage machines have a credibility problem. When
they cry wolf, who will believe them? This really isn't that much of a
dilemma. All they need to do is tell us the rest of the story.
Mirage Land is an irksome place. Finding my way through the mirage
maze makes my life harder than it needs to be. What ever happened to
the truth that sets people free?
The picture at the top of this page is in Mirror Land. Mirror Land is
a WYSIWYG destination where "what you see is what you get", and
you always get the rest of the story. It's all about the truth that sets you
free, and there aren't any mazes to complicate your life. You look in
the mirror and see the way things are. In Mirror Land, there are two
sides to every story.
Reality does have it's problems, but at least it's real, and I can deal with
it.
Even though I'm up to my elbows in spin doctors in Mirage Land, life is still good.
