American citizenship used to mean something. We live under a federal government that was designed in a very interesting and distinct way: certain functions were centralized, but many were given to the responsibility of the individual states. The way this country was colonized and eventually taken over, and due to its sheer size, each state [...]
Posts Tagged ‘media’
Modern fantasy lands
I indulged in the spectacle of the Super Bowl a couple of months back. It is, after all, an American tradition. Some things I noticed made me laugh, but this quote from the winning quarterback was just hilarious: “Four years ago, who ever thought this would be happening?” said Brees, the game’s Most Valuable Player. [...]
New boss, same as the old boss
People think the media has changed rapidly. It’s the generational gap at work: Having graduated high school in the 1990s, I now think that what kids are getting into in the 2000s is insanity. Same will be true of people who are graduating now looking down at the class of 2020: “It wasn’t the same [...]
The short story
The art of the modern short story can be difficult to grasp. The idea seems to be to replicate the theme, mood, and consistency in a novel, even exploring character development, but keeping it short and thus, perhaps, leaving more to the imagination of the reader. One doesn’t whip through a short story collection; you [...]
Entitlement: The most obvious sign of civilization decay
Much has been said about civilization’s decay in this blog, focusing mainly on social reality and how we view ourselves first and then the goals of our society second. There is no more obvious a place to look for this phenomenon than in the idea of entitlement. Wealth is a touchy subject, because wealthy people [...]
Why the world hates the west
Americans, and others who have followed the path of individual desire to democracy, consumerism and the nanny state, have no idea why they are loathed. They assume it’s from bad results of our interference in other nations. I’d suggest it’s from the reasons we interfere. Because our society is based in the revolutions of 1789 [...]
Can’t make up our minds on global warming
Someone last night finally explained the right wing argument against global warming to me: in their view, the irresponsible masses who create Revolutions want a good excuse for one world government with massive powers, and global warming is the justification that racism and terrorism haven’t been. I shrugged that one off with the Platonic knowledge [...]
Modern Depression: What Would It Look Like?
Globe writer tackles what a depression would look like in modern times. He’s frighteningly close to today’s reality without an official depression, which makes what he’s saying both laughable fear-mongering as well as ironic when considering the spin: With the diminishing price of televisions and the proliferation of channels, it’s getting easier and easier to [...]
Advertising Across America
Advertising is a powerful tool in any society run by mass media. If a political entity or a corporation has liquidity, a good portion of that liquidity is usually spent on some type of advertising budget. Instead of undisguised propaganda, which can at least be questioned by the masses even in secret if necessary, the [...]