Reply #22: Education and Media Manipulation

[pippin]

Not sure about "stupid." Misinformed and misdirected maybe. Never mind "trusting a newspaper editor's opinion too much--" the majority don't read newspapers at all, and we know what sort of nonsense television news delivers. DU has had endless threads about the way Fox, CNN etc., shamelessly manipulate the facts. But, some people do turn around when the facts are straightened out as in the case of the whole justification for war in Iraq.

As for giving away freedoms: something called socialization comes into play, particularly by right wing churches to unconditionally accept authority figures or institutional voices--pastors, politicians, tv anchors, radio talk show hosts etc. so yes, lots of people give away their interest AND vote against their interests--like women voting for Arnold, or working class people voting for repubs.

I tend to condemn the systemic breakdown of education (hence the ability to think critically) and the media oligarchy. The breakdown has been something I've observed that has become more evident in the last fifteen to twenty years.