One aspect of the recently concluded campaign for the White House that I found difficult were the character assassinations made by both President-elect Obama and Senator McCain. It is all too easy in today’s sound-bite driven world to generate something damning about another person using out-of-context quotes, or references to half truths. And it appears that we as a nation more readily respond to situation-comedy style zingers than anything with substance.
American’s are becoming steadily less literate and it shows in how we decide major issues. A recent study of campaign rhetoric found that the 1860 the Lincoln-Douglas debates were conducted at nearly a 12th grade level. The Kennedy-Nixon debates in 1960 were barely 8th grade level, and the last three election cycles have all been closer to 6th grade level. We are facing some tremendously complex issues involving science, religion, finance, economy, ethics, and cultural differences - and yet we can’t elect a president unless he or she can speak to us at a 6th grade level. From, America the Illiterate:
Most news has become entertainment, “infotainment,” and as such has little value and even less meaning. I read several different news sites every day, comparing and contrasting stories to try and suss out the real story behind the agenda of the reporting agency. I read foreign and US sources, national and local, opinion and “factual” pieces, and I still feel like I am getting an incomplete picture. If the Obama administration follows through and delivers a dynamic, up-to-date information portal it will move me, and everyone else who utilizes it, one step closer to the source. Yes, I expect the White House to put their own spin on stores they “self report” on government web sites. However, with the White House version in hand I can then mine the news sites for their take and hopefully develop a more informed opinion of my own.
Television has made Americans passive. We want, expect, to be told what to think, how to dress, who to like, what to fear, and what to believe or distrust. Without a critical eye toward the source of those values, we are little better than automatons, blindly doing the will of others. That 80% of American households didn’t purchase a single book last year is a frightening. No, reading isn’t a panacea, it doesn’t guarantee that the reader will gain enlightenment. But it does exercise different parts of the mind than does passively getting your information after someone else has digested it for you and reduced it to a palatable pulp.
Finally, now that the election is over it is time for all of us who voted for a change to uphold our end of the contract we signed with America and with President-Elect Obama. We need to stop gloating and start giving. We need to stop asking and start doing. Electing a new president isn’t going to magically fix what ails this country. He cannot do it alone. We all need to be involved. Write to your Congressional representatives (you can find out who they are at Project VoteSmart) and tell them what you want, and what you don’t want, in this new administration. Participate in the public forums on change.gov. Exercise your citizenship. I know I will.