Being is the essence out of which all things evolve. This blog is an ongoing conversation of being in various facets and areas of life, including the personal and the professional from which relationships of all kinds are formed and teams built in all communities, virtual or real, at home, at work, in politics and at play.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Being Network News
Network news, inundated with intrigue and opinion, has become an opiate for the people.
What people don't get is that TV Network News is entertainment in the form of a newcast, just as the WWE is entertainment in the form of a wrestling match.
What concerns me most is the quality of the information and its dulling affect on the people. Marx famously said that "religion is the opiate of the people." I fear that news is having the same affect.
I'm not sure it is an opiate if by opiate you mean it is supposed to calm people down. It seems more about stirring up anger. Could we be addicted to anger?
Marx's point is that an opiate has a dulling or numbing affect where opinion or interpretation is accepted routinely as fact. A lot of this is going on. But I do hear you with regards to anger. Network news can certainly gin up a lot of it.
A little preposition notice. Marx says that "religion is an opiate OF the people." I wonder if network news is an opiate FOR the people. Perhaps the "of" implies that there is an element of choice, that the people willing partake perhaps not to choose between reality and fantasy. The "for" perhaps implies that there is a certain amount of intended propaganda. There may not be any difference at all. Both probably imply on some level mind control.
My brothers, who are all trained in ministry, although most are outside professionals, have long said that the health care issue is a moral one. Good relevant article, Zorro.
I have a problem with a lot of media, but they do discover some very cool people. MSNBC has been putting Melissa Harris-Lacewell on a lot lately. I like her a lot. BTW have you seen the dueling John Boehners? Back in September, he was complaining about how long the health bill was. Now he is complaining because Obama put out an 11 page outline of the new proposal that Boehner thinks is much too short.
Yes, Melissa Harris-lacewell is very bright. I follow her tweets and she is a Facebook friend. I like her too. Although she tweeted about a possible riff between Al Sharpton and Tavis Smiley. My first reaction was why is this relevant?
Neither Sharpton or Smiley, the latter has never been that impressive to me and the former is smart but a bit of a media hog, seems incredibly relevant today. I guess they have their role and I might be just out of the mix. I'll admit this.
Yes, the dueling Boehners are bothersome. If it wasn't so sad, it would be funny. Perhaps he needs to retire if he has no real issues to address. All this phony outrage is getting real old. If he retires he could then spend as much time as he'd like in Florida getting a real tan.
Oh, no I didn't. :-) But the guy has a perpetual tan. That can't be good for his skin. Well, that's none of my business. It's the people's business that concerns me most.
Oh, my, Melissa Harris-Lacewell just posted the dispute between Sharpton and Smiley on Facebook. Smiley got a deserved beat down. He seems to be pushing an agenda that insists on President Obama focusing on a black agenda, as if the president is not that of ALL the people. Smiley seems to be peddling his conference. How foolish does Smiley appear! He is also the one who seemed to try to force then Senator Obama to appear at his forum by insinuating that he didn't care about the issues of African Americans. Foolishness!
Hey Judith, did you catch any of the Healthcare Summit today? I was yelling so much at the TV I scared my poor cat. McCain's self-righteous attack on the healthcare bill was breathtaking in its hypocrisy. This is the guy who previously advocated for much of what he now opposes, because he has to be seen as opposing the Prez. Obama COULD have SKEWERED him on national TV for his inconsistencies, after McCain sucker punched him with his partisan diatribe, but Obama didn't respond in kind. I had been hoping McCain would win his primary battle in Arizona against conservative JD Hayworth, but now I hope he gets his clock cleaned.
I didn't catch the whole Summit but what I did hear from the opposition party was blatantly deceitful - e.g. the whole discussion about the inappropriateness of using "reconciliation." I hope this level of dishonesty is not rewarded.
Does anyone believe that the party that has opposed health care reform for decades, if given the chance to "start over" on a new bill, would produce anything meaningful?
"I had been hoping McCain would win his primary battle in Arizona against conservative JD Hayworth, but now I hope he gets his clock cleaned."
Oh, John, you are so funny! I laughed aloud at this comment.
Yes, I did catch the whole debate and it was as you described. I had been talking and texting friends with skin in the game all day. In reality, we all have skin in the game.
It was indeed breath-taking how the Republicans just kept repeating "let's start from scratch" and go "step by step." It's clear they simply want to kill the bill.
Regarding yelling at the TV, I had my moments which rendered my vocal cords a bit sore. My fingers should also be terribly cramped. I was texting like crazy!
What's so sad is that this is a very important issue and the Republicans are largely filibustering. I did, however, appreciate more than a few of Coburn's suggestions, the Republican from OK. This was surprising as he is often a talking point king.
16 comments:
It's scary when my oldest son said to me, "The news is a joke." He's probably not far from the truth.
What people don't get is that TV Network News is entertainment in the form of a newcast, just as the WWE is entertainment in the form of a wrestling match.
DB
Kelly - You have a smart son. This doesn't surprise me, though. He has a smart mom. :-)
Good analogy, DB.
What concerns me most is the quality of the information and its dulling affect on the people. Marx famously said that "religion is the opiate of the people." I fear that news is having the same affect.
I'm not sure it is an opiate if by opiate you mean it is supposed to calm people down. It seems more about stirring up anger. Could we be addicted to anger?
Marx's point is that an opiate has a dulling or numbing affect where opinion or interpretation is accepted routinely as fact. A lot of this is going on. But I do hear you with regards to anger. Network news can certainly gin up a lot of it.
here is an interesting take on health care and freedom.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-lakoff/health-means-life-health_b_472469.html
A little preposition notice. Marx says that "religion is an opiate OF the people." I wonder if network news is an opiate FOR the people. Perhaps the "of" implies that there is an element of choice, that the people willing partake perhaps not to choose between reality and fantasy. The "for" perhaps implies that there is a certain amount of intended propaganda. There may not be any difference at all. Both probably imply on some level mind control.
Thanks, Zorro. I'll check out the link.
My brothers, who are all trained in ministry, although most are outside professionals, have long said that the health care issue is a moral one. Good relevant article, Zorro.
I have a problem with a lot of media, but they do discover some very cool people.
MSNBC has been putting Melissa Harris-Lacewell on a lot lately. I like her a lot.
BTW have you seen the dueling John Boehners?
Back in September, he was complaining about how long the health bill was. Now he is complaining because Obama put out an 11 page outline of the new proposal that Boehner thinks is much too short.
Yes, Melissa Harris-lacewell is very bright. I follow her tweets and she is a Facebook friend. I like her too. Although she tweeted about a possible riff between Al Sharpton and Tavis Smiley. My first reaction was why is this relevant?
Neither Sharpton or Smiley, the latter has never been that impressive to me and the former is smart but a bit of a media hog, seems incredibly relevant today. I guess they have their role and I might be just out of the mix. I'll admit this.
Yes, the dueling Boehners are bothersome. If it wasn't so sad, it would be funny. Perhaps he needs to retire if he has no real issues to address. All this phony outrage is getting real old. If he retires he could then spend as much time as he'd like in Florida getting a real tan.
Oh, no I didn't. :-) But the guy has a perpetual tan. That can't be good for his skin. Well, that's none of my business. It's the people's business that concerns me most.
Oh, my, Melissa Harris-Lacewell just posted the dispute between Sharpton and Smiley on Facebook. Smiley got a deserved beat down. He seems to be pushing an agenda that insists on President Obama focusing on a black agenda, as if the president is not that of ALL the people. Smiley seems to be peddling his conference. How foolish does Smiley appear! He is also the one who seemed to try to force then Senator Obama to appear at his forum by insinuating that he didn't care about the issues of African Americans. Foolishness!
Hey Judith, did you catch any of the Healthcare Summit today? I was yelling so much at the TV I scared my poor cat. McCain's self-righteous attack on the healthcare bill was breathtaking in its hypocrisy. This is the guy who previously advocated for much of what he now opposes, because he has to be seen as opposing the Prez. Obama COULD have SKEWERED him on national TV for his inconsistencies, after McCain sucker punched him with his partisan diatribe, but Obama didn't respond in kind. I had been hoping McCain would win his primary battle in Arizona against conservative JD Hayworth, but now I hope he gets his clock cleaned.
I didn't catch the whole Summit but what I did hear from the opposition party was blatantly deceitful - e.g. the whole discussion about the inappropriateness of using "reconciliation." I hope this level of dishonesty is not rewarded.
Does anyone believe that the party that has opposed health care reform for decades, if given the chance to "start over" on a new bill, would produce anything meaningful?
"I had been hoping McCain would win his primary battle in Arizona against conservative JD Hayworth, but now I hope he gets his clock cleaned."
Oh, John, you are so funny! I laughed aloud at this comment.
Yes, I did catch the whole debate and it was as you described. I had been talking and texting friends with skin in the game all day. In reality, we all have skin in the game.
It was indeed breath-taking how the Republicans just kept repeating "let's start from scratch" and go "step by step." It's clear they simply want to kill the bill.
Regarding yelling at the TV, I had my moments which rendered my vocal cords a bit sore. My fingers should also be terribly cramped. I was texting like crazy!
What's so sad is that this is a very important issue and the Republicans are largely filibustering. I did, however, appreciate more than a few of Coburn's suggestions, the Republican from OK. This was surprising as he is often a talking point king.
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