The media and the art of distraction

‘Panem et circenses’, said the Romans — ‘Bread and circuses’.

This maxim served the Romans well. In times of crisis and whenever they needed a distraction from military defeats or political infighting at the highest levels, they simply entertained the masses.

Caroline Wazir wrote an article in The Atlantic in 2016, linking entertainment and the need for political validation in the Roman Empire.

“The Exotic Animal Traffickers of Ancient Rome” is a good summation of how thousands of rare animals — at least rare for the Romans — were transported to Rome to be butchered at the Colosseum.

Actual ‘cage match’

The practice was used in the early years of the Roman Empire to win approval for ambitious emperors and, during the age of decadence, to distract from the failures of struggling Caesars.

Ultimately, the entire exercise had little to do with entertainment for its sake and everything to do with distraction.

But the art of distraction is not wholly Roman. Entertainment has been used to win validation, buy love and to distract.

It is ironic that two billionaires, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, resorted to the same tactic — political entertainment — this time, in the form of an actual ‘cage match’.

The two technology oligarchs occupied headlines, and sparked a conversation, which has roped in top officials and even governments.

The fight will be held in an “epic location”, said Musk on August 11. Italy’s Minister of Culture and Education, Gennaro Sangiuliano, confirmed, though ruled out the Colosseum as the location for the — we are told — ‘much-anticipated’ match.

Even so-called social media influencers offered elaborate analyses.

It is strange how the news of the ‘fight’ has sidelined a more urgent discussion on the power of social media.

For years, Zuckerberg has been on the defensive, unable to answer legitimate questions about Facebook’s — now Meta’s — role in the US presidential elections, in alleged foreign interventions, and in censoring foes and elevating friends.

Musk, too, has been in the eye of the storm since he acquired Twitter last October. He has done much to rebrand the company, now ‘X’, and fend against accusations of allowing hate speech to resurface on the popular platform.

1% of the 1%

Regardless, these two men represent a much bigger problem. They are the 1% of the 1% that rule the US, in fact, the West. The polarisation they invite is, in actuality, a conflict among elites, not among the ordinary — people just like us.

We are told to ignore all of this because the ‘exotic animals’ are coming to the Colosseum, once more — bread and circuses.

The inequality gap in America continues to grow. But it is getting even more complicated than the typical statistic, of a tiny percentage owning manyfold more than their fair share of wealth.

The Washington Post on Aug. 17 noted that the 10% of wealthy Americans are “responsible for 40% of the country’s greenhouse emissions.”

An earlier study by the US Department of Commerce explained how inequality in the US is also geographic, as in a widening income gap “between richer places and poorer places”.

Despite talks about a flattening inflation rate, all indicators point out that inequality will continue.

In fact, there is much more to distract from, these days, than just income inequality.

The Russia-Ukraine war has exposed existing fault lines on a global scale.

Those who barely survived the energy crisis of last winter, due to unusually warm weather, might not be as lucky this coming winter.

And those who managed to put food on the table, despite the food crisis, might not be as successful in the coming months, now that the grain deal is no more.

One still hopes that these crises will bring out the best in us. Alas, there are those who are equally keen on using crises to sow the seeds of chaos in order to ensure those on top remain on top.

For that to happen, they need to be able to do as they please, while the rest of us attend the global circus where Zuckerberg and Musk battle it out in an ‘epic place’, while US government’s ‘whistle-blowers’ declare that aliens, in fact, do exist.

Instead of confronting real crises, like racism, war, hunger, refugees, it is far easier to blame someone else, shadowy faraway figures who are almost impossible to identify, let alone defeat.

This is all happening with no self-introspection.

In the final analysis, the Musk vs. Zuckerberg’s fight does, in fact, matter. Not for anything related to two of the richest men in the world. It is relevant for us, because it is intended to be our circus.

Now, we have two options, either to develop the needed awareness and collective consciousness that should be enough to help us restate our priorities, nationally and globally. Or, to accept the dictum ‘panem et circenses’.

Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and editor. He is the author of six books.