That's exactly what I was going to say. It's a lust for non-stop entertainment where "freedom" means getting things for nothing.
Not exactly. The circuses were essentially bribes for political support. In other words, votes.
(To the extent that a vote is your opinion on what the future should be, if voters see selling their vote as "nothing", then they're voting only for today, and to hell with tomorrow. Which explains a lot.)
We often say, "The Romans voted themselves bread and circuses", but in truth, those perks were used by the leaders to buy public opinion. So long as the gravy kept running, the people were happy.
The scarier parallel is that "We support you politically, you get us our free stuff" is *exactly* where we are today. Once this becomes codified as a social contract with the majority of voters, your society is doomed.