David Corn: Amusing Ourselves to Autocracy

[babylonsister]

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/04/rudy-giuliani-masked-singer-big-lie-autocracy/

19 hours ago
Amusing Ourselves to Autocracy
Rudy Giuliani’s role on the Masked Singer was a sad commentary on the fragile state of our democracy.
David Corn
Washington, DC, Bureau ChiefBio | Follow


In 1985, Neil Postman, a media theorist and cultural critic, wrote Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. He contended that television—with its focus on visuals—reduces news and politics to entertainment, essentially transforming public discourse into a circus and undermining “serious and rational public conversation.” The book originated with a talk he gave at the Frankfurt Book Fair, while he was participating in a panel discussion on George Orwell’s classic 1984. Postman posited that the threat to humanity came less from a totalitarian state, as Orwell envisioned, and more from an addiction to amusement, as depicted in Aldous Huxley’s dystopian Brave New World, in which citizens are constantly fed a happiness-generating drug called “soma.”

Postman warned that television, with its never-ending delivery of consumer entertainment, was the contemporary version of that drug. An endless flow of distraction and titillation—sensory input designed to entertain and sell us stuff—would turn us into passive and disconnected people unable to collectively grapple with the serious matters of the day. And this was before the onslaught of cable television, video rentals, DVDs, laptops, smartphones, tablets, the internet, social media, DVRs, streaming, and virtual reality. Postman, who died in 2003, worried that a visual media world then dominated by only three national broadcast networks and movie theaters was crushing our civic souls. What might he say now?

snip//

He also provided this gem:

When a population becomes distracted by trivia, when cultural life is redefined as a perpetual round of entertainments, when serious public conversation becomes a form of baby-talk, when, in short, a people become an audience and their public business a vaudeville act, then a nation finds itself at risk; a culture-death is a clear possibility.

snip//

If Americans would rather be amused than engaged and informed, what can be done about that? Giuliani’s appearance on this show should be a warning that the ongoing democracy crisis here has not fully registered with the mainstream and many Americans. That’s a positive sign for Trump and Trumpism. If the underminers of democracy can get the rest of us to chuckle at their antics, it’s a big win for them and a step toward Trump’s overall goal: amusing ourselves to autocracy.

[2naSalit]

1. K&R!!

[Solly Mack]

2. K&R

[Jm7603]

3. I was shocked and surprised to see comments from

supposedly thoughtful, liberal people that the appearance by Rudy Colludy was no big deal. I was appalled and shocked by the overall acceptance of a traitor on a prime time television show for a laugh. Bad sign that we are truly way down the path of Idiocracy.

[txwhitedove]

25. True, and "Rudy Colludy" snort...

[CrispyQ]

4. Excellent commentary.

I wonder if Trump would have even gotten the repub nomination if it hadn't been for The Apprentice?

[PSPS]

6. This has been going on for a while

Reagan, Schwarzenegger and Ventura are probably the best known examples of people electing essentially cartoon characters to political office. And there's no shortage of media personalities running for office every cycle based solely on their own flawed perception of their electability being the same as their popularity among their self-selected media "fans."

[babylonsister]

8. If the masses

did not know or recognize him, I doubt it, but The Apprentice squashed that anonymity sadly.

[samplegirl]

5. Excellent post!

K&R

[Funtatlaguy]

7. Part of the purposeful dumbing down of America

[lindysalsagal]

9. "Bread and circuses"

[FailureToCommunicate]

15. Just what I was going to post.

Panem et circenses

[calimary]

18. Yep. Sad but true.

[Sympthsical]

10. It's odd how the author identifies the issue then misses the point

Guiliani is the most surface, facile example that doesn't come close to understanding why our politics are devolving over time. It isn't because a politician is on a silly television show. It's because politics themselves are packaged as a form of engagement and entertainment.

We have contemporary terms for these things. Clickbait. Manufactured outrage. Ratios and tweetstorms.

Politics in the age of cable news and social media have become an idle preoccupation and entertainment instead of a custodianship of government and culture. Today I will be mad about something or argue with someone about something or pile on with my group about something. Next week? We will have forgotten what that Very Important Thing was, because the channel has changed, there's a new show on, and now this is our Very Important Thing. Until the next week. And the next.

We flip through Very Important Stories the way one does channel surfing. It doesn't last long, it leaves little trace it was ever a thing, and as a result, not as much changes as it ought to.

Think about how we consume stories. Since we're here, think about DU. Imagine what stories are on the front page of GD on any given day. Look at the ones there today. Of them, how many are lasting and important? How many of them will you think about tomorrow or next week? Hell, how many will occupy your mind even one hour from now? How many will consume your time and result in you or anyone around you actually taking some action in regards to what you're reading? And if you're not taking action in response to what you're reading, what are you doing?

You're passively consuming, the same way we passively consume other entertainment.

How we consume media has transmuted political material and discourse into a kind of background white noise that comes and goes almost unnoticed and anesthetizes us to anything of real consequence.

We're a nation of couch politicos.

[Harker]

16. You put that very well.

That "infotainment" and "political theatre" entered the lexicon captures the blurring effect in a nutshell.

I read Neil Postman's book when it was published, and Bill McKibben's "The Age of Missing Information" in which he contrasts the value of television watching with simply being in nature.

I was already thinking similarly, though, and had my beliefs bolstered.

I doubt that many dedicated TV watchers changed their thinking or habits because of reading them.

"Couch politicos"... brilliant.

[llmart]

17. Excellent analysis and questions for all of us.

For me, DU is the place I go to get the headline news stories each day because I refuse to have some talking head tell me what is supposed to be important in my life. Reading about a major news event you get more in-depth coverage of any given story. On any given day, the three major stations' nightly broadcasts all talk about the same stories, most of which I'm not remotely interested in or have any affect on my life. Tiger Woods comeback from his reckless driving event? Not important to my life. Two idiots trying to switch planes in the sky? Just another stupid stunt to get attention. Throw in a really cute, nice story at the end of the broadcast so the prior 20 minutes doesn't depress you enough? Not helpful.

Americans have very short attention spans, thus the popularity of Twitter. They don't want to spend any time reading an in-depth analysis of an issue. I had a real problem when DU started using Twitter as their go-to source. Since I wasn't on Twitter back then, nor am I now, I kept saying to myself, "If I wanted to know what was being talked about on Twitter, I'd have an account. Same goes for Facebook. Now almost all the threads are from Twitter.

Americans are also the country of "excess everything". Too much stuff, too much food, too much social media, personal vehicles that are too big, too much waste, too much weight, too many prescription drugs, houses that are too big, etc. We think more is better for everything. The real consequences of all of that are the society we have right now. The "greed is good" mantra started in the 80's and went downhill from there.

[calimary]

19. "We're a nation of couch politicos."

MAN! GOOD one, Sympthsical!

[Martin Eden]

20. "We're a nation of couch politicos."

Great turn of phrase, and this sentence pretty much sums it up:

Politics in the age of cable news and social media have become an idle preoccupation and entertainment instead of a custodianship of government and culture.

[XacerbatedDem]

22. I don't know about that.

The good GD articles I read here at DU, I send to my brother and others so that they can be aware of what's going on. And from what he tells me, he's sent those to others, even rePug family members or inlaws in order to give them a little more prospective. If it influences even one person to not vote Repuglican, then at least that's something.

Also, I've bookmarked at least a hundred GD articles, and I've referenced them many times in discussions with friends. I think those actions are relevant to taking action. Now, if you mean "taking action" as a key word for getting out in the streets and protesting, or working for the local Democratic party here in Missouri, I feel I must remind you that not everyone has the money or the time, or even the vehicle, to do that sort of thing, and some around here also fear retaliation from the RWNJs who seem to own this state and, as soon as they find out your name or number, start threatening to kill you or your loved ones.

People can only do what they can do. That doesn't mean they are couch politicos.

[Viz]

23. Best comment of the Day

nt

[Yoyoyo77]

27. I think that is the point, if the only way to get public attention is to entertain,

then entertainment will become the way to do politics.

[Kid Berwyn]

28. "Couch Politicos"

“Book a room at the Four Seasons.”

[bahboo]

11. add the internet and social media to this and damn...

we're in a world of hurt...question is, how to combat this...if we even can...

[summer_in_TX]

33. In-person protests have dwindled and become less effective.

Why?

The majority of the media either doesn't cover it or covers it with the majority of their focus on the counter-protesters.

If they don't give it attention, Americans don't feel like it works. Why bother, if it doesn't work.

[Snackshack]

12. He is right.

The GOP has been very effective at this. However it has not been as successful, there are still plenty who have not bought into the GOP dismissal of breaking the law and are calling for DT & his crew to be held accountable… but the DOJ is apparently not interested in enforcing the law.

It make me think of that saying that goes something like, evil wins when good people do nothing…

[LLCARD]

21. This is purely the media's doing

All of the media’s attempt to cover the crap of the last 6 years has made people numb to all the crappy things republicans do. But when a dem just farts wrong tge make a big deal out of it probably because ya Dems make a big deal of it.

[DallasNE]

24. France Was Headed In That Direction

And then along came Ukraine and that sobered a lot of the French people up. But how long will that attention span last. We better hope for several years.

[Novara]

26. Duh. Stop watching garbage. It's a step.

I have been pumping Newsy for news. They are non-biased, and opinion is NOT presented as legitimate news. In fact, they have very few talking heads spouting opinions at all. In addition, they often cover feel-good stories and other stories about the environment and health and social topics you won't see on regular cable news. It's kind of what news used to be like.

It's totally refreshing to watch.

[Trumphumperssuck]

29. Don't FORGET..... Rudy was a part of a FOX PROGRAM. Murdock gets us from ALL directions!!!!

[Evolve Dammit]

30. The majority lacks intellectual curiosity and basic morals. The dumbing down has been happening a

long time. Now we have been divided, anger stoked and everyone in their own informational silo, whether it's true or not. Doesn't matter, cuz they believe it. Watch Carlin's "American Dream." excellent stand-up piece

[SleeplessinSoCal]

31. Yet if one engages with our challenges and outrages,

distraction can be a healthy antidote.

But I take his point. He's right. I'm glad that he's put it out there.

[usaf-vet]

32. I couldn't agree more. I have felt our citizenry being dumbed down over the last 20 years.

Call me snobbish or whatever, but we cut the cables to national entertainment seven-plus years ago.

We choose what we want to "entertain" us, particularly in the winter months. Our hobbies take up a large part of our days. With an hour or two of television at night....while tying flies or knitting.

Quilting, genealogy, knitting, and letter writing are my wife's main entertainment.

Mystery books, fly tying, and projects in my workshop keep me busy. Oh yes, and DU in the morning with coffee.

In my 75 years, I would guess I have seen less than 20 professional sports events. Yet I can't get enough of "This Old House" on PBS.