Earlier this week in class we took a quiz, the first part containing questions on pop culture, while the second part asked questions on political issues. Though I did horrible on both sections of the quiz, I quickly realized that I had more knowledge on pop culture. I answered only one question right in each section, but it was the second half that posed the bigger challenge. My brain blanked on most of the questions that were not related to celebrity news. When asked to then explain why this happened I was tempted to say that I had no real education on the political issues, but the truth is that I didn’t identify the subject as important. Like the majority of Americans today I have more interest in celebrity fluff rather than political problems. I began to then wonder when it became the norm to ignore these issues, and start taking more interest in celebrity drama, like the fights on Jersey Shore. 
I believe that when American’s felt like they had lost the power to make changes that they stopped listening. If we feel as though we cannot change the system why would we want to hear about it? I am not even old enough to vote yet and have already had so many people tell me that they do not vote because it does not make a difference. The media tells us how to view certain issues giving us no chance to make our own decisions, thus leaving us with no desire to try and change things.
In class we talked about two men whose views were on opposite sides of the spectrum, Walter Lippmann, and John Dewey. I believe that while some of Lippmann’s ideas are true, Dewey’s idea that people can educate themselves and are capable to make decisions is inspirational. In a society where we believe that we cannot make a difference Dewey’s idea to educate the masses seems more appealing to me.
For you to pay more attention to pop culture then the political media, where do you think that stem from, and who do you blame?
ReplyDeleteI think it's an on going cycle that starts with us. We don't want to hear about the political issues because they make us think and sometimes the reality of society is to much to handle. So we demand fluffy, happy stories about celebrities. I would have to say I blame ourselves for letting the media get away with only giving us fluff as top news. I believe that the media gives us what we want, what sells and until we change what we want we can't blame them for providing it.
ReplyDeleteYou said that we as Americans feel we've lost the power to make a change. Do you think we have less power because we actually are powerless or simply we neglect to exercise the power we have?
ReplyDeleteI feel that we have power, and can make changes if we simply tried. It's all to easy to say that we can't make changes rather than to fight for them.
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