Chapter Two of Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman. At the near end of the chapter came a powerful idea that got me thinking. He decides to throw out there the idea of using the already widespread television as a so-called "theater for the masses". As I read his argument, I realized this was powerful stuff.
If television, as Postman argued, can turn public opinion against the Vietnam War and racism, what else can it do? Besides burning out people's eyes and brains, possibly it can burn in an idea to our minds.
Here is an example, though I should express my political neutrality first. I believe Fox News and personalities such as Glenn Beck have played a major role in turning the American people's allegiance against their own President.
Television can be so powerful it can turn us against our own government.
Could we stop the Iraqi War, global warming, or Third World genocide? Not yet. If we as a society can get back to a time when people cared and wanted to do something about world events, and get past our worship of the media, the television can be a powerful weapon. One should not forget, though, the equally dangerous power of the screen to make us apathetic.
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Probably if every television station had a clip of current news that passed on every time the commercials came on thers a possiblity that maybe just maybe we would be able to do so much for the world because television has became a large part of American culture.
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