Weapons of Mass Distraction

(1) Description of the pattern

Societal distractions can be naturally occurring or manufactured in such a way as to distract people and subvert their attention away from social and civic duties to something more menial and possibly desirable.

(2) Why the pattern is good (i.e. bad)

Cell phones, movies, sports, games, celebrity, Soap Operas, Music, war, holidays, reality TV shows, etc. What do these things have in common? They are all possible to use as Weapons of Mass Distraction. Distractions can be useful and are possibly even necessary for human happiness, however they can also distract people from other goals or areas of interest that could be addressed, most notably political, social, and human rights issues. Any country or entity that employs this tactic is essentially saying that an informed and motivated public is a dangerous thing and a distracted and apathetic public is much preferred.