From The Best of Times by Haynes Johnson

History of horrors for entertainment 141

Not that the phenomenon of exploiting tragedy and sensation is new. American, indeed human, history is replete with notorious examples, from Roman emperors offering their subjects bread and circuses in the form of staged brutal spectacles to divert them from other matters to Hitler applying that ancient lesson well by staging massive torchlight rallies before wildly cheering crowds, diverting them from horrors being committed by the Nazi regime. In every age, crowds gather instantly at scenes of suffering, and the greater the calamity, the greater the celebrated figure, the greater the crowds. Always accompanying them are the merchants of misery cashing in on the latest scandalous spectacle.