Marco, this is one of the problems of 'mass culture'. There is not a great
cultural history of education in the US simply, IMO, because we are a 'new'
culture. An important theme in the founding of this country was an
anti-intellectual one; a populist religious faith and passion were very
influential. We did also have a thoughtful and well-educated parallel and
contradictory element (Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, et al), which is
the element that we are today most aware of. The fundamentalist religious
mythos, though, has always been present in the US, and helps explain the odd
twists and turns we sometimes see in US actions, life and policy. Our
thought-less but passionate response to Sept 11 comes very much from this
element.
This element, I think, is also involved in the low level of thoughtfulness
shown in much of our mass media, including Newsweek. The fundamentalist
tradition included the idea that one didn't have to study things to know
their essential truth, one could know essential truth simply through faith
and the goodness of human instinct. So it is viewed as acceptable to
formulate major opinions of difficult subjects without really studying
things or knowing much about them. Our news media are not required,
therefore, to reflect careful thinking, true journalistic reporting, or
careful adherence to the facts.
Personally, this worries me, as it almost ensures that the US will make
major mistakes in its foreign and domestic affairs, and that when crises
occur, the people will not have the mental skill or informational basis
needed to think and act wisely.
The situation in Europe is not too dissimilar in practice, though for
different reasons. Until recently -- I am tempted to say that even now this
is still the case, though less so -- European culture accepted the idea that
only the 'elites' should concern themselves with the big questions; everyone
else should follow the admonitions and instructions of the elites. (See, for
example, the French educational system; see also for an historical example
the nature of the Albigensian/Cathar heresies.) So when a European non-elite
reads the newspaper it may be with a sense of trust and dependency that does
not exist in the US, and leaves the reader vulnerable to naivete and
cognitive exploitation. In the US, the press is viewed as just one more
voice in the raucous argumentation that passes for discourse here.
In both areas, TV is recreational -- what a loss it is to our species!
Lawry
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-moq_discuss@venus.co.uk
> [mailto:owner-moq_discuss@venus.co.uk]On Behalf Of Marco
> Sent: Sunday, February 17, 2002 9:54 AM
> To: moq_discuss@moq.org
> Subject: Re: MD MOQ and Newsweek
>
>
> Hi all Newsweek readers,
>
>
> thanks for the news about Newsweek. I asked for them 'cause since a couple
> of month I've subscribed it, and I was curious to listen to your comments.
>
> There's a thing, mainly. Here in Italy it would be considered IMO a bit
> rightist. Not extremely, but much more in line with our current government
> that with our past one. And this says a lot about our different
> viewpoints,
> dear American friends. And how our social context filters our respective
> truths.
>
> Another point is that it seems very ANTI - European. It's funny to see how
> they exaggerate every even small problem or oddity, while they treat the
> Enron affaire - for example - so careful. Quite the opposite
> happens in our
> magazines, of course.
>
> About American TV, unfortunately, I can grasp just the 50%. It's a problem
> of speed, mainly (someone will say I'm lucky? No, 'cause Italian
> TV -especially the private TV- is not much better). Much more than the
> press, I find it funny that TV, Fox News. Last night that bizarre
> journalist
> (is it the right term for him?), O'Reilly, stated that the American
> constitution grants rights only to American citizens, as it
> begins with "We,
> People of the USA...". Great! Like to say that you can kill a tourist!
>
> OK, he was justifying the diverse treatment of the Talebans in Guantanamo
> from the American one. I'm not here to defend those Talebans, just it's
> amazing to realize how it is easy to take a writ and manage its
> interpretation in order to justify your ideas.
>
> Ciao,
> Marco
>
>
>
>
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