Current State of American Political Discourse (Obama, economic, versus, work)

[rickmahorn]

I have always been interested in political theory and how to best achieve a relatively perfect society.

Needless to say, this interest is waning each month. I have become completely disillusioned into apathy by the sensationalistic and alarmist methods that are used in our modern political discourse. It has become absolutely ridiculous. Barely anybody is actually talking about the issues anymore. All anybody talks about is superficial fluff.

"Oh, a Republican had this happen yesterday, so that means Democrats are in the lead!". "Obama stumbled on his words at a press conference, thus anything he says is false!" I feel like political discourse has turned into a team game. A constant match-up of Republicans versus Democrats. The issues do not matter, it only matters how the media can spin any inconsequential event into their "team's" favor.

A large number of people are merely puppets of their favorite "News Entertainment Show". This fact does not surprise me, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. There always has been a large anti-intellectual current among the populace of this country (and other countries as well). I work in advertising and understand consumer psychology. I understand the methods used by the media to sell their product. It is all so formulaic, however, the majority of people still eat it up without questioning anything.

It just saddens me that I am becoming apathetic due to the growing outrageousness of political discourse in this country. I do not want anything to do with it. I have little faith in America that we will all be able to progress this country into the best possible version of ourself.

What do you guys think about the current state of political discourse in the US?

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by rickmahorn

I have always been interested in political theory and how to best achieve a relatively perfect society.

Needless to say, this interest is waning each month. I have become completely disillusioned into apathy by the sensationalistic and alarmist methods that are used in our modern political discourse. It has become absolutely ridiculous. Barely anybody is actually talking about the issues anymore. All anybody talks about is superficial fluff.

"Oh, a Republican had this happen yesterday, so that means Democrats are in the lead!". "Obama stumbled on his words at a press conference, thus anything he says is false!" I feel like political discourse has turned into a team game. A constant match-up of Republicans versus Democrats. The issues do not matter, it only matters how the media can spin any inconsequential event into their "team's" favor.

A large number of people are merely puppets of their favorite "News Entertainment Show". This fact does not surprise me, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. There always has been a large anti-intellectual current among the populace of this country (and other countries as well). I work in advertising and understand consumer psychology. I understand the methods used by the media to sell their product. It is all so formulaic, however, the majority of people still eat it up without questioning anything.

It just saddens me that I am becoming apathetic due to the growing outrageousness of political discourse in this country. I do not want anything to do with it. I have little faith in America that we will all be able to progress this country into the best possible version of ourself.

What do you guys think about the current state of political discourse in the US?

May I suggest a book you may be interested in. It's called "The Big Sort" by Bill Bishop.

"Going far beyond the simplistic red state/blue state divide, journalist Bill Bishop (in collaboration with sociologist and statistician Robert Cushing) marshals original data and incisive reporting to show how Americans have sorted themselves geographically, economically, and politically into like-minded communities over the last three decades. Homogeneity may be a perk of the unprecedented choice our society offers—but it also breeds economic inequality, cultural misunderstanding, political extremism, and legislative gridlock."

The Book