Lives of Blissful Ignorance

There's an often used quote by Henry David Thoreau in his book "On Walden Pond" that says 'the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation", meaning of course that the overwhelming majority of folks realise that they have no influence on the events that affect them, and it's mostly considered in the realm of the political. "Lives of quiet desperation" would be very appropriate right now, as Congress prepares yet another audacious rape of the sex slave that is the American taxpayer. The polls, which in the past were used by politicians to gauge public sentiment so they would know how to vote...because after all, they are PUBLIC SERVANTS; are just an interesting sideshow...the Comprehensive Immigration Bill for example, had a disapproval rating in the 90% range and yet nearly got pushed through.
I would submit that since Thoreau's time things have changed. I firmly believe that the majority of the American public...the people charged with electing the politicians that we have given power over our lives....are ignorant. Not stupid in the sense that I.Q.'s are lower, although I imagine a study would show that, too..but ignorant of any pertinant information about the events that influence their lives. Talk show host Sean Hannity does a segment, usually on Thursdays, called "Man on the Street", where one of his staff goes into Penn Station with a cell phone and corrals members of the public to be interviewed on air by Hannity. The standard list of questions includes "who is the President, who is the V.P.," and then he names leading members of the House and Senate, e.g. Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi. Not only are most people unable to demonstrate that they are aware of who the Senate Majority Leader is, and who the Speaker of the House is (3rd in line for the Presidency!), but a shocking percentage of them can't even name the Vice President. If most of the public is that ill informed, that they cannot even name the people holding the highest offices in American politics, then how can they be expected to understand what is being done to our society? Here's a good article that discusses "television brain":
http://www.infowars.com/jackos-death-more-important-than-a-million-dead-iraqis/

It's an Idiocracy world right now. If you haven't seen the movie, it's basically a comedic farce that portrays a dumbed down society of ignoramuses.
Sadly, this is the keystone to the edifice that will become the prison. America is falling and can't get up. It takes a public that not only is outraged, but informed, in order to combat the perfidious encroachment on our freedom. Whether years ago an ominous group of conspirators set out to turn the minds of people to mush in order to enslave them, or whether it was an unintended consequence, the outcome is the same; we are surrounded by people so stultifyingly ignorant of what is happening to the nation that they still proudly wear the Obama T-shirts.
Many of us, and by that I mean folks who not only stay informed but understand the things they are informed of, are locked in lives of quiet desperation. I think the kettle is simmering, and the stove is turned up high, and that soon people of character will demand that "They" pay attention. All it will take is leadership, and a trigger. One more outrage that is too blatant to be overshadowed by the TV Guide. Or maybe not...after all, 6 million Jews obeyed their guards and shuffled into the gas chambers.