Privilege

By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist

For the last couple of weeks, the news has been non-stop about a certain person being missing, perhaps kidnapped.  

I am saddened that a certain person’s mother is missing, but how many other people have become missing during this time frame? 50? 100? 1,000? I have no way of knowing.  

More questions. How many other cases like this in the last couple of weeks have drawn the attention of the president, the FBI director and other such high-level folks?

The Left is often protesting about privilege. Most of that is usually about who has the fanciest car or the nicest house. If people worked for those things, that is not  privilege in my book.  

However, having access to publicity and the resources that this case has – resources that the common ordinary person could not possibly obtain – is an exercise in privilege of the highest degree.

I understand what the news outlets are doing. They are throwing up the stories that will get the most eyeballs watching them.

If this is true, this deserves criticism on two levels.

First, it makes me wonder about the rest of the news that is fed to us. Is it just the news that will gather the most eyeballs, or is it news that citizens of this country need to know?

Second, if we as observers are willing to seek out news of such nature, are we not voyeurs of the first order?

If the missing person is not related to a celebrity are we not interested?

There are many ugly angles to this whole story, yet we are watching it, and it is being dished up to us as if it were another venue at the Olympics.  

It says a lot about the status of civilization today.

Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press.