Pain For Pleasure

One of the most base aspects of human nature is that we seek to avoid pain and increase pleasure. My personal philosophy is based upon this premise. I believe that we should work toward eliminating suffering and creating happiness for all living creatures. This sentiment may make me naive. I prefer to see myself as optimistic. Either way there is no doubt that there is far too much pain to go around. What saddens me is that we are causing this pain on purpose.

I want to offer a number of valid examples of how we cause pain rather than work toward the opposite. Through television shows, sporting events and other venues pain and suffering is liberally doled out. I hope that we, as a nation, are not so jaded that we cannot see what is right in front of us.

Sports such as boxing and ultimate fighting are billed as athletic spectacles. Is this really why we watch these events? We watch them for the same reason people gawk at an accident on the freeway. We give in to our primal nature. We want to see blood and gore. We want to see people beating the crap out of each other for our own amusement. Hockey and auto racing are no different. Fights and accidents are the highlights of these exhibitions.

How many television shows exist only to showcase human suffering? Reality shows, for example, are just the opposite. They pretend to show real-world situations. People watch to escape from reality. The producers of these shows create scenarios so horrific and demeaning so that the viewers can feel better about their own miserable lives.

Let us not forget the earliest type of reality show: The video show. People send in videos which capture painful and embarrassing moments; moments that the whole world can look at and laugh. This type of entertainment serves only one purpose: To demean and belittle others. Yet again we are apparently quite desperate to feel better about ourselves. We are like school children who pick on others in order to boost their own self-esteem.

Animals are also caught up in this web of suffering. Dogs are made to fight each other for amusement and gambling purposes. Others are made to race for the same reasons. I doubt that many of you know or care about what happens to ex-racing horses and greyhounds. I suggest you find out. It is not a pretty picture. It is no better for caged creatures. Food is one thing we all need. The brutality we display towards animals in a zoo or in a circus is simply beyond the pale. We should be cherishing the gifts of nature and not using them to satisfy our own selfish needs.

Are we so shallow and uncaring that we cannot see the harm we cause animals and each other? Instead of nurturing and supporting living beings we use them and abuse them. We are selfish and we are shallow. By saying and doing nothing we are guilty of complicity. No living creature should suffer needlessly for something as trivial as entertainment. You may accuse me of having a bleeding heart. I would say in response that our collective human heart has been bleeding for a very long time. We are meant to do greater and be greater. Let us strive to become more than we are. Too many of us happily wallow in the muck and mire of our lives. I know that we are better than that.