Shows like the Daily Show are interesting. Do I think that they are actors and follow a script of sorts? Yep. I also think that they exaggerate issues just to cause a stir and they embarrass people on purpose. It's because of these things that I actually watch the show.
At least they add some zest to life. I don't always think that they do the best job in relaying the most important issues that are going on in the world today, but I know that going into it. I don't turn on the Daily Show expecting to get a scholarly review of political issues and debates, I turn it on to be entertained and to maybe catch an idea or two that I can research on my own time.
I think as an educated person, it's up to me to do my own research on the issues that are important to me and I don't rely on talk shows to do that. They bring up some major issues, then i go and research them and have conversations about them with people that I trust. As a public, we need to take some responsibility for the things that we watch and the information that we gather from those shows. I know which shows are "more accurate" and which shows are more for entertainments sake. It's my responsibility to know the difference.
I think Jon Stewart makes it well-known to his audience that his show doesn't encompass everything that the informed citizen should know. He doesn't claim to be the end all, be all. He does serve his purpose of entertaining [people though. Just like a theater performance, Jon and his guest have scripts that they follow and clothing that they're instructed to wear. They do and say things to entertain us because they are a business. They have people that they need to answer to and they need to do what it takes to keep the ratings up. If comedy is how they keep their ratings up, then who are we to judge them on how they earn a living?
If you don't think that shows like this should be on the air or should have more censorship or fact checking, then don't watch the shows! No one is forcing you to!
I think they do some good by addressing and calling attention to the main points in politics. The information may not always be 100% accurate, but they've called attention to it none the less.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Bad Citizen: Good Wife?
Regarding our conversation in class last night:
Do I wish that sometimes I was more informed regarding political issues? Yes, but I don't think that it's a "problem with our society" that I'm not. Politics have never been an interest of mine and part of the reason that they're not is because I have a hard time understanding what they're talking about. I think that's a huge problem with our political figures. They don't know how to relate to the everyday people about the issues that involve or concern them. Politicians don't write their own speeches and the people that write the speeches for me, are specialized in that particular area, so the verbiage that they use is very confusing and hard to understand for someone who isn't a specialist in that field. Often times, the issues are just so complex and long winded, that I end up missing the main point. It would be nice after every speech or debate, there would be a quick recap to just discuss the main issues in lay-mans terms. I also think that the conversations and speeches need to be changed depending on the audience. If your audience is generally higher educated, then raise the bar, but if your going to speak to a group of people that most likely aren't educated, then explain it in a way that they'll be able to understand.
I think sometimes things are made to be more complicated than they need to be to keep people confused. if people are confused, then they probably wont ask difficult questions that these politicians are trying to avoid.
I hate being felt like I'm judged for not being well-informed regarding politics. After working a full day, attending class at night, doing homework, and taking care of my family and house, the last thing I want to do is pick up a newspaper and read a long, drawn out article or turn on the TV and watch a 2 hour long political debate.....I'm just tired and I don't want to be judged for that. Spending my time with my family is more important to me than studying up on political issues. Thanks, but NO THANKS. If that makes me a bad American or citizen, then so be it.
Do I wish that sometimes I was more informed regarding political issues? Yes, but I don't think that it's a "problem with our society" that I'm not. Politics have never been an interest of mine and part of the reason that they're not is because I have a hard time understanding what they're talking about. I think that's a huge problem with our political figures. They don't know how to relate to the everyday people about the issues that involve or concern them. Politicians don't write their own speeches and the people that write the speeches for me, are specialized in that particular area, so the verbiage that they use is very confusing and hard to understand for someone who isn't a specialist in that field. Often times, the issues are just so complex and long winded, that I end up missing the main point. It would be nice after every speech or debate, there would be a quick recap to just discuss the main issues in lay-mans terms. I also think that the conversations and speeches need to be changed depending on the audience. If your audience is generally higher educated, then raise the bar, but if your going to speak to a group of people that most likely aren't educated, then explain it in a way that they'll be able to understand.
I think sometimes things are made to be more complicated than they need to be to keep people confused. if people are confused, then they probably wont ask difficult questions that these politicians are trying to avoid.
I hate being felt like I'm judged for not being well-informed regarding politics. After working a full day, attending class at night, doing homework, and taking care of my family and house, the last thing I want to do is pick up a newspaper and read a long, drawn out article or turn on the TV and watch a 2 hour long political debate.....I'm just tired and I don't want to be judged for that. Spending my time with my family is more important to me than studying up on political issues. Thanks, but NO THANKS. If that makes me a bad American or citizen, then so be it.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
MY public Intellectuals
A list of people that I think are significant or note-worthy...
Sarah Palin
Kirk Miller
Pope Benedict
David Callahan
To name a few. I dont believe that this group produces "careless" or "mistaken" commentary as our friend Posner suggests. Each Public intellectual has their own agenda and has issues that are important to them or to their public, and wether or not we agree with them doesnt mean that what they're saying is careless or mistaken. I think Posner is "Careless" in his book by how quickly he is to point the finger of blame and judgement on everyone else. Im not that familiar with Posner, but I'd bet money that he's made some mistakes of his own and that not every word hes ever said has been 100% true, accurate, etc. I think part of what makes public intellectuals who they are is a common respect for other public intellectuals and an understanding that other public intellectuals are not the enemy, rather can be a sound board to bounce ideas and criticisms off of....a group of peers to answer to and challenge them to think further or differently than they have before. I think it was somewhat immature of Posner to make some of the claims that he did in his book, becuase a lot of those claims seemed to be making a mole hill out of an ant hill. If another public intellectual innacurrately predicts something or gets a few nu,bers wrong, is that diginificanlty and directly harming me? most of the time the answer would be no, so why does Posner make such a big deal about other's shortcomings? Is he perhaps trying to hide some shortcomings of his own???
Sarah Palin
Kirk Miller
Pope Benedict
David Callahan
To name a few. I dont believe that this group produces "careless" or "mistaken" commentary as our friend Posner suggests. Each Public intellectual has their own agenda and has issues that are important to them or to their public, and wether or not we agree with them doesnt mean that what they're saying is careless or mistaken. I think Posner is "Careless" in his book by how quickly he is to point the finger of blame and judgement on everyone else. Im not that familiar with Posner, but I'd bet money that he's made some mistakes of his own and that not every word hes ever said has been 100% true, accurate, etc. I think part of what makes public intellectuals who they are is a common respect for other public intellectuals and an understanding that other public intellectuals are not the enemy, rather can be a sound board to bounce ideas and criticisms off of....a group of peers to answer to and challenge them to think further or differently than they have before. I think it was somewhat immature of Posner to make some of the claims that he did in his book, becuase a lot of those claims seemed to be making a mole hill out of an ant hill. If another public intellectual innacurrately predicts something or gets a few nu,bers wrong, is that diginificanlty and directly harming me? most of the time the answer would be no, so why does Posner make such a big deal about other's shortcomings? Is he perhaps trying to hide some shortcomings of his own???
Are they always right?
After our class discussion on Monday and discussing the various attacks of Posner on other public intellectuals, I began to ask myself why he's so critical of other public intellectuals. He wrote his book as if he's never made a mistake in his life and he certainly isn't the least bit forgiving of those that have made mistakes that he's found. Instead of criticizing everyone for there mistakes, I began to think that we might want to be thanking them in some ways. When someone makes a claim or prediction or puts out an experiment that doesn't pan out to be perfect or correct, don't we get something out of that? I think we do. I believe that it's just as important to make mistakes as it is to learn from them. By those public intellectuals calling attention to social issues that concern us, albeit mistakes are and will be made, it forces us as a society to move our knowledge base forward and to ask more questions. IF an error is found, to me that would motivate others to spending the time and effort into correcting it, there by learning even more in the process.
No public intellectual will ever be perfect or mistake free, but isn't that the fun of listening to them and following them? It's what make them real and relate able to the general public that is listening or reading their work. It's how we know that they are human and not some super-genius figure that assumes they know everything there is to know. It's those mistakes that call for correction and further research to be done and it's those mistakes that drive us to obtain a higher education so that maybe one day, we can help be part of the solution to some of these issues instead of part of the problem.
No public intellectual will ever be perfect or mistake free, but isn't that the fun of listening to them and following them? It's what make them real and relate able to the general public that is listening or reading their work. It's how we know that they are human and not some super-genius figure that assumes they know everything there is to know. It's those mistakes that call for correction and further research to be done and it's those mistakes that drive us to obtain a higher education so that maybe one day, we can help be part of the solution to some of these issues instead of part of the problem.
Friday, September 14, 2012
worried...um yes
The public sphere in contemporary society is very troublesome to say the least. Our societies priorities seem to be different than what they should be. Instead of focusing on real news, both local and national or the presidential campaign, society seems to be more consumed with reality TV and whats going on in the latest celebrity scandal. We're so busy caught up in our own, self consumed world, we seem to be missing the big picture. We've allowed the current public sphere and those speakers in it to derail our thoughts and focuses to things that are being advertised or what celebrities are doing. Globally is a whole other problem. Days will go by before even our news channels will mention anything globally, yet our country is at war? troubling isn't it? Even though there are outlets for people to do research on there own, once turning on your computer, our screens are flooded with advertisements and articles concerning the newest iPhones or what new reality show is starting in the fall.
If something doesn't change with our current public life, we are doomed to possibly repeat some of our histories biggest mistakes. The only way to know what is going on in our world locally and nationally, even globally is to invest our own time in researching our worlds events. Until we stop being so consumed with THINGS and irrelevant PEOPLE, we wont grasp the full picture of the current state of our world, thus not allowing ourselves to be active particpants in the PUBLIC.
If something doesn't change with our current public life, we are doomed to possibly repeat some of our histories biggest mistakes. The only way to know what is going on in our world locally and nationally, even globally is to invest our own time in researching our worlds events. Until we stop being so consumed with THINGS and irrelevant PEOPLE, we wont grasp the full picture of the current state of our world, thus not allowing ourselves to be active particpants in the PUBLIC.
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