Platitudes, Propaganda and provaracators

[Wry Catcher]

Americans today are divided. What should be done, how should it be done, when should it be done or even should it be done?
"It" of course is any and all the issues facing our nation today: Insurance/health care reform, national security, unemployment, climate change, energy policy, race relations, educaton, ecology, space exploration, campaign finance reform, etc., etc., etc.

Where do you get the information necessary to decide what you believe needs doing? Who, or what do you trust, and why?
Do you critically think about what you believe? Do you question what others say, and write? Or do you invariably accept what your usual source of infomation provides without question?
Do you believe for a democratic republic to survive, to thrive, each of us has a duty to listen critically, read extensively and critically, and to 'see' the forest and the trees?

 

[Truthmatters]

Facts.

There is such a rabid right wing element that rejects facts and smears every issue with nonfacts that keep us buzy daily debunking the horseshit they try to pass off as arguments.

 

[Contumacious]

Do you believe for a democratic republic to survive, to thrive, each of us has a duty to listen critically, read extensively and critically, and to 'see' the forest and the trees?

Firstly, we are not supposed to be a democratic republic.


Secondly, the parasites constitute close to 50% of the electorate. Their motto is so long as I am being fed, clothed and sheltered "I Hear Nothing, See Nothing and I'll Say Nothing.


.

 

[Wry Catcher]

We are not 'supposed' to be a democratic republic?

 

[veritas]

Do you believe for a democratic republic to survive, to thrive, each of us has a duty to listen critically, read extensively and critically, and to 'see' the forest and the trees?

This is an interesting question. Most of it rests upon what it is that interests you and where your strengths lie. Naturally, a better educated person has the advantage in being able to identify historical parallels when examining an issue.

Last evening when cold fusion posted an OP about the legalization of hemp, [which got moved by gunny to the obscure health and lifestyles forum, which I think was ludicrous] I posted a piece that showed the internecine power grab of the "new economic giants", Big Oil, The Press, and Pharma/Chemicals moving to misinform the people about hemp so that their interests may prevail. A billion dollar industry [at the time] beaten into the dust so corporate interests could abuse the masses for profit. The similarities are shocking to say the least, when compared to today, nothing's changed. It illustrated how people in government can do a lot of damage. Gunny thought it wasn't current enough to be in the top four forums here though and nobody will read it now, and it isn't a health and lifestyles sort of subject, it's a current event that keeps playing out over and over again. We're stuck on censorship and mind numbing propaganda.

What passes for journalism today is a sad shadow of what it once was. You have to sift through massive volumes of print/video to find tidbits of truth. And how will the regular person be able to glean whether it is true or not? The more you sift, the more you recognize it, rare as it is. We are all about the labeling now and less about the facts. Honest criticism is gone, replaced by screeching sound bites that mean next to nothing. You can show a person they are wrong, and they just keep repeating the same memes over and over again. I don't think they want to think or learn, they are happy with what they presently possess in their toolkit. They are involved in their day to day survival mode, and don't seek more. They are passive repeaters of the incremental hegemony that clogs the airwaves.