Intelligent Inquiry: America's Moral Decline

I've always been a bit of a pessimist when it comes to the general public. Despite my beliefs in democracy and the importance of participation... I actually sort of don't believe that. In a country where American Idol is allowed to run for 9 seasons, I just can't have faith in the American people. Okay, that was a cheap shot. I listened to a podcast of the MPR midmorning show and Kerri Miller had a guest on who basically felt this way. Chris Hedges (the guest) basically took up this banner. His argument was that Americans are slowly losing the ability to tell what's real and what's fake due to the introduction of 24-hour entertainment news. Well, to be fair, not all Americans... just a majority. The rest are those who can still read, understand, and interpret complex ideas and translate those into beliefs that move the country forward. I don't know if I sign on entirely to that idea, but he does have a point. I really can't watch the news. I understand that I grew up when news was already entertainment focused, but four years of college and my own academic pursuits have really kind of put me on the 'I-want-information train." I don't need some news reporter to tell me what someone on facebook thinks. I don't need them to try to make me afraid of the deficit, health care, or immigration. Worse yet, I feel that politicians are completely fine playing this game. All the way to our president, politicians are fine with skipping details and going straight to what will play with people who prefer not to think. That's fine... but what am I suppose to do. I like to read the New York Times as opposed to digging through a bill to find information. However, I can't do that when all Obama says is, "health care bill is good." That doesn't help me. The health care bill was something I wanted but it was damn hard to defend it because I knew nothing about it. Usually this is the part of a post where the writer offers a solution. I don't really have any. If you read books, good for you.