"Reality" television may have already peaked in popularity, but I think it’s important to see how this dovetails into the current state of the collective psyche of this nation. The messages encoded in the format of reality television teach people how to act and react to the situations that they are confronted with. Reality television is a more aggressive, updated model for interactions between subjugated peoples. I say updated as in, updated from the older, more static "American Dream" model of the sitcom.

Take a small group of people and give them a very clear goal to achieve at all costs. Encourage them to do whatever they can get away with. Constantly reinforce the simple love/hate, good/evil, rich/poor, succeed/fail themes that undermine and control our perception of values. Reward duplicity, make sure that you "get yours," because nobody else will "get yours" for you. You are a rat and you’ve been dropped into a maze; it’s cheese or bust motherfuckers.