I wonder how many Bentley students voted in the past presidential election; no matter what the exact number, I would place money on the fact that a far more number of students voted in the 2008 election than the 2004 one. But why did people finally see the light? What was it that made them realize that the event that happened just once every four years actually is important and should be taken more seriously? Was it because of our current economy downfall, or was it because this year, it was the popular thing to do?
“The Australian ballot shifted the center of political gravity from party to voter. Voting changed from a social and public duty to private right…” In his essay, Click Here for Democracy, Michael Schudson goes through the history of American elections. From a time when only the elite, white men could vote, to a time when it wasn’t about the person you voted for, but rather the cause they supported - to the present when campaigns need to be established to force people to vote. At a time when information is at one’s fingertips and one can know everything they need to know to make an informed decision, why is it that so many people simply don’t vote?
Many people vote for a number of reasons, but it’s only the people who have a passion for politics that truly study and research the beliefs, policies and history of the candidates. It seemed like many people were voting for President Obama because he was obviously the more popular choice. It’s not a flaw in people, it’s a characteristic and a part of people - to make choices and decisions based on the opinion of the majority. I asked many of my fellow Bentley students who they were voting for in the last election, but that was the easy question. The hard question was WHY? Many students were at a loss for words; and then I thought of the Bentley Class Cabinet elections, and elections is a debatably term. Nothing is more of a popularity contest than class elections. I honestly doubt that a single student asked a potential candidate what they hoped to achieve if they were elected. It didn’t matter how smart the student was, all that matter was that their name was well known and that their poster stood out from the rest.
In no past election has the role of the media and the role of celebrity play more of a role than in the ’09 election. Obama wasn’t a Senator, but rather he became a celebrity; for good or bad is yet to be seen. But at least this past election forced people, ones that normally don’t vote, to get out there and let their choice be heard.
Did you vote? If not, why did you allow for someone else to make one of the most important decisions of your life, all of our lives, to others? I just don’t understand why people who are old enough and American citizens, make the choice not to vote. I understand the old argument that “I’m only one vote; it won’t actually make a difference.” But imagine if everyone thought this. What if it was left for just the few, most determined people to vote? Would you let a small group of complete strangers make the choices that impact every aspect of our life?
Jan 25, 2009
The people, the places and the fallacies we fall for while creating the 'Pictures in our Heads'
“Looking back we can see how indirectly we know the environment in which nevertheless we live.” THE WORLD OUTSIDE AND THE PICTURES IN OUR HEADS by Walter Lippmann
How do Americans view people living half way around the world; a billion miles from the world that they know? But more importantly, if one has never experienced the unknown for themselves and with their own two eyes, how are our beliefs and thoughts formed? For everyone, it isn’t just one source or one person that helps to form these “pictures in our heads.” In Walter Lippmann’s, THE WORLD OUTSIDE AND THE PICTURES IN OUR HEADS, Lippmann remains us of a time when breaking news didn’t take more than five minutes to reach half the U.S population. A time when gossip didn’t spread through a school like wildfire; a world when people didn’t hear about life changing events for days, week, or even months. So in a time when one couldn’t Google pictures and maps of foreign lands and YouTube videos that had already been viewed by half a million people, Americans had to use whatever sources of information that they could get their hands onto. It didn’t matter what credentials they had or if what they were being told had any creditability, all that matter was that this information was helping them create an image in their minds of the things that were unfamiliar to them.
It may not be 1800 anymore and we may live in the era of technology, but just because we can get information far more quickly doesn’t mean that the info that we receive today, from which ever of the million possible sources, is better or more reliable than in 1800. Today people can chose from a countless number of sources and mediums that they want to get their news, facts from to develop those pictures in their minds.
“There are over 42 million American adults, 20 percent of whom hold high school diplomas, who cannot read, as well as the 50 million who read at a fourth- or fifth-grade level. Nearly a third of the nation’s population is illiterate or barely literate.” AMERICA THE ILLITERATE by Chris Hedges
Who would have thought that America, the superpower of the world, would be the home of such an astonishing statistic? Chris Hedges argues that because of this fact Americans are being taken advantage of by the people that they are suppose to trust, the ones bringing them the news and the ones running their country as well. Do people know who they are getting their news from, the hidden agendas they have and how they might be trying to sway their opinion or even hide the truth? Because they cannot pick up a newspaper or book to read the facts for themselves, they need someone to read it for them and even interpret the meaning.
“Pictures in our Heads” – How do we develop these pictures, are they all different to each person? Who impacts the pictures we create? Are there wrong or right pictures, or can it just be how one person sees the world? Do people create these pictures through their eyes or through the things they read or hear?
How do Americans view people living half way around the world; a billion miles from the world that they know? But more importantly, if one has never experienced the unknown for themselves and with their own two eyes, how are our beliefs and thoughts formed? For everyone, it isn’t just one source or one person that helps to form these “pictures in our heads.” In Walter Lippmann’s, THE WORLD OUTSIDE AND THE PICTURES IN OUR HEADS, Lippmann remains us of a time when breaking news didn’t take more than five minutes to reach half the U.S population. A time when gossip didn’t spread through a school like wildfire; a world when people didn’t hear about life changing events for days, week, or even months. So in a time when one couldn’t Google pictures and maps of foreign lands and YouTube videos that had already been viewed by half a million people, Americans had to use whatever sources of information that they could get their hands onto. It didn’t matter what credentials they had or if what they were being told had any creditability, all that matter was that this information was helping them create an image in their minds of the things that were unfamiliar to them.
It may not be 1800 anymore and we may live in the era of technology, but just because we can get information far more quickly doesn’t mean that the info that we receive today, from which ever of the million possible sources, is better or more reliable than in 1800. Today people can chose from a countless number of sources and mediums that they want to get their news, facts from to develop those pictures in their minds.
“There are over 42 million American adults, 20 percent of whom hold high school diplomas, who cannot read, as well as the 50 million who read at a fourth- or fifth-grade level. Nearly a third of the nation’s population is illiterate or barely literate.” AMERICA THE ILLITERATE by Chris Hedges
Who would have thought that America, the superpower of the world, would be the home of such an astonishing statistic? Chris Hedges argues that because of this fact Americans are being taken advantage of by the people that they are suppose to trust, the ones bringing them the news and the ones running their country as well. Do people know who they are getting their news from, the hidden agendas they have and how they might be trying to sway their opinion or even hide the truth? Because they cannot pick up a newspaper or book to read the facts for themselves, they need someone to read it for them and even interpret the meaning.
“Pictures in our Heads” – How do we develop these pictures, are they all different to each person? Who impacts the pictures we create? Are there wrong or right pictures, or can it just be how one person sees the world? Do people create these pictures through their eyes or through the things they read or hear?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
