On Discourse: One think that consistently disturbs me about the modern political discourse isnt that so many people disagree or are uninformed but rather the amount of topics that people simply refuse to talk about at all. Think about it. You make a comment about the minimum wage, or Hobby Lobby, or any other hot button topic out there currently, and scores of people will flock to offer their considerations on the subject in question. And, no matter what those thoughts are, thats great; it breeds debate, and (hopefully) understanding. But those kinds of things are (mostly) pretty micro-level issues. Theyre singular, often isolated incidents in much larger social problems. For instance, minimum wage speaks to a great many real problems; economic growth, monetary policy, pricing, regulation, taxation, etc., etc. And what I often find, is when you actually attempt to seek out conversation and divergent opinions about those more macro and obscure issues, people of all philosophies become much less willing to even acknowledge them. This is concerning for a few reasons. Firstly, it implies that people might not really know anything about those underlying macro issues, that people might be so wholly clueless that they cant even recognize what the debate can or should be about. Moreover, it also makes me wonder just how controlled people are by the media. Do topics like Hobby Lobby become important purely because those that control the media and information streams MAKE them become important? What makes a 20-something guy care more about one or two companies contraceptive policy more than money being actively taken out of their paycheck, or devalued out of their bank accounts? I dont like to be a conspiracy theorist and say were all being ruled by shadowy overlords, but obviously media has an affect, and obviously it steers debates in directions that may not be in the overall best interest. Finally, and most aggravating, so many people treat politics and philosophy and economics like a sporting match. Theyll talk endlessly about the relative weaknesses of this party vs. that party, and how they favor X because they hate Y, etc., etc. Much too much time is dedicated to deriding and needlessly critiquing intellectual opponents and far too little time is spent in consideration of the actual issues or facts or pursuit of knowledge and understanding.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 13:00:01 +0000
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