Will Americans ever stand up to stupification via media and government efforts?

[reddread]

or is that a stupid question?

for clarification, feel free to pick up ANY paper from anywhere (including Kansas) from 30 years ago, or prior.
If the reading level is within three grades of what passes today I will blow goats on film and sign releases.

[Jesus Malverde]

1. Long ago I heard they write for a six grade reading comprehension.

I picked up some old paper from 1930's couldn't believe how times had changed.

[reddread]

3. one of life's most crushing realizations.

there really isnt much left to do but lay back and enjoy the slide.
Could it possibly be better to be too young to know what has happened, while
still absorbing the brunt of the reality?
that is the only question that perplexes me.

[ffr]

2. The change is subtle to probably the majority of Americans

Sure, you and I notice the dumbing down, but to answer your question; probably not. They'd have to be smart enough to realize they're being duped. For many, it's more important to belong. Most groups prefer easy. Easy paints everything as black or white. Keep things simple for the simple.

[reddread]

4. I would distinguish between the tribalism and the intellectualism

but i think you are dead on about my point.
young people are so much less likely to realize what has been perpetrated.
particularly while cheerleading obscures the trajectory.

[TexasProgresive]

5. 55 years ago the media-both print and electronic

went all out to be as unbiased and truthful as is possible. The governments; local, state and federal desired to educate people of all ages. Yet many people were content to stew in their ignorance. One great example during the bicentennial year, 1776, a TV station in Philadelphia did "person in the street" type interviews. The reporters would have people read the Bill of Rights and asked them what they thought of them. The answers were incredible. The ones I remember is several thought that it was from the Communist Manifesto or something similar.

What is bad today is that print and electronic media no longer attempts to be unbiased. And certain "public" servants are working hard to dismantle what remains of a former great education system.

[reddread]

6. hey, fuck that

I just want to blow a goat.



what grade level is that?

or, more seriously- the focus on the American Revolution and the Constitution in 1976 didnt hurt anyone,
EXCEPT for the people who dont want to hear from someone trying to reconcile the promises of freedom, civil rights.
privacy and political freedom offered by those celebrating the bicentennial, through the modern day.
IF it werent for that dichotomy, I wouldnt be here bitching, Id just be satisfied with my turn on the SAR stage 7-4-76 and call it good.
LIVE UP TO YOUR PROMISE AMERICA, AND EVERYTHING WILL BE JUST RIGHT.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. Support independent media

I mean that.

You will not get truly a lot of info at your local paper of record.

And what you pointed about reading and writing level... it used to be junior high, then it dropped to 6th grade. These days it hovers between 3rd and 4th grade.

Now back to the white paper on health status at the border. Which brings me to this other factoid. We have literally reams of reports produced, all media could do the reading and distilling necessary to educate people on issues. These days it is easy... very easy. But going after the latest if it bleeds it leads, is much easier.

30 years ago, this new way of covering news was "invented" literally, at a Miami news station. It was the height of crime, 1992 to be exact is the year crime peaked. It is easy, and people love to keep their eyes on that crap, not the complex reports.

Food for you to think about.

[reddread]

8. dead trees.

I know we are on the same page, and I will take this moment to SHOUT your absolute priceless worth in these parts.
For me, the end times appeared with Bill O'Reilly on Inside Edition. Not because of that lout, but because of the values they represented. Amidst the murders of democracy advocates in China, the calmer voices of engagement, even favoritism, from families well recognized in either party.
Un so weiter.

[reddread]

9. problem solving in an intellectual vacuum (or severely O2 depleted)

When mainstream media passes around a story, if I were even attending to what they were selling,
I will safely assume they are selling something, and not necessarily being above board.
Information is quite a commodity, and it is dangerous to people who stand to profit from its absence.
Making money via telling the truth is probably a hard scrabble, low margin area to mine.

So, its better for them if we dont know.
We are filthy rich with dont know.
And that sustains boundless quantities of fear. that is the product needed to sell useless arms to unwitting taxpayers.
For better or for worse my age bracket put me in school during the Reagan Bush golden age. What that meant for me
is watching the decline and corruption of our systems of information and education.
Well before Bill Casey formed Capital Cities and purchased ABC, investigative news was on the blink. Westmoreland had
made the clear threat to not only sue(IIRC) BUT to BUY CBS in response to their reporting on his role in the Vietnam War.
Fast forward 30 years and look back at all the deregulation and media meltdowns that gave us what we have in the US today.

Might be most accurately be called "disinfotainment"
I really wanted to see what people felt about three stories that were declaimed and the various careers that were careened.
Gary Webb's Dark Alliance revelations.
TANG.
and most interesting to me, Operation Tailwind.

I think all three stories are equally true and met identical fates.
I suppose cognitive dissonance, fear, patriotism, and most especially what I call Polyannaism play roles in assisting the dark.
People DONT want to know the truth if it means their frame of understanding is built on sand.
When environmental problems are blamed upon overpopulation, by people who simply dont understand the reality, let alone the historic expressions of that concern, its a problem.
It is DEFINITELY no solution.
Talk about shrugging. That is what it amounts to.
I simply refuse to allow those false doors to remain closed. If something truly matters, I will respond.
Not with insults or worse, just with my perspective, one partially built by a college education that put me in classes
in front of some really amazing minds. I was lucky.
And the issues being raised were horribly depressing, seemingly unsolvable.
Nothing is unsolvable, except self defeat.
On my list of issues, media mendacity is top of the list.
there is no bigger reason for the confusion and ignorance being cultivated in this country.
The simple fact that the FAIRNESS DOCTRINE and original protections enplaced for the people's airwaves have not been subject
to discussion or revisited, only tossed in the trash while cable criminals talk trash, leaves me leery as to our political prospects, especially ones stemming from the same deregulatory roots.
thats not even discussing labor, jobs, the economy.
Im just concerned about people getting good information so they can make the best decisions for themselves.
It appears to me that many people fear ideas, and hate uncomfortable discussions.
These problems have no top down solutions.
Some folks may want to hide another post of mine asap and in the past Ive seen them work hard and fast at it.
whether it is hatred, fear or something worse, doesnt matter. If you dont like what I have to say, do what you have to do.
Thinking comedians like Bill Hicks and George Carlin had lots to offer people battered by this empty headed society.
I shudder to think what some posters would do to them were they here posting anonymously.
It was disappointing that no one had any comments to offer on those three news stories. I hope it was just a lack of interest,
and not fear of something intangible. self censorship is surely as dangerous as official or any other type.
Maybe someone can answer this question for me?

If censorship is the solution, what is the problem?