http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_circuses

Calling it Hell detracts from the pragmatism of bread and circuses -- we are quite happy to compromise logic, ethics, and even our own personal feelings.

Or, more interestingly, artificially creating public approval through diversion, distraction, and the satisfaction of immediate and shallow desires.

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."

--Upton Sinclair