Here’s Hoping Pelosi and Reid Listen to Ted Koppel
As I listened to Ted Koppel dissect the current Iraq war funding dispute and what it means for Democrats in the future yesterday on NPR’s All Things Considered, I found myself nodding vigorously.
An aside, which has very little to do with Koppel’s auditorial …
I have been thinking, though, that mass media and one-to-many media—essentially, the media revolution of the last 30 years—is going to be the force that makes large-scale armed conflict largely irrelevant. Civilized societies largely seem to have no stomach for war when fully faced with the atrocities of same. Regardless of whether or not you buy into just war doctrine in particular [I vacillate] or as it applies to Iraq [I vacillate even more :)], you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone who prefers war to the alternatives. Such folks are, generally, uncivilized, and I think the greater access to information is, in itself, a civilizing force.
And if none of this makes sense, well:
- I’m really out of the practice of writing these days.
- I’m dashing through this while on a lunch break right before a teleconference that starts in eight minutes.
- I didn’t write this as a five-paragraph essay.
[And yes, Stephen, that was totally a way to draw you out for a smart remark. You may make it and then return to your pre-baby fretting.]
Okay, back to listening to roughs and demos from the new Caedmon’s album.
I don’t think that’s true. For example, you cite one-to-many media, which the Internet can fall into. If you look at a number of blogs, you’ll find them encouraging war.
May 2nd, 2007 at 14:28“Okay, back to listening to roughs and demos from the new Caedmon’s album.”
Argh!
May 2nd, 2007 at 14:53Stephen: Well, everyone is going to get a voice in such things. But I get the sense that the prevailing political will of this country is not terribly enamored with war at this point. Those war-blogs are as easy for me to avoid as Fox News is—I vote with my remote or my keyboard.
May 2nd, 2007 at 15:02Regardless of politics, we are in a war for our way of life. The Muslems want to destroy all people who do not accept Islam.
You don’t have to take my word for it, listen to what Muslems say. Believe them!
I do not like this war. I do not like any war. I wish our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines could come home yesterday.
If I were there I would stay until the last terrorist presents his life to God for Judgement.
When will get a National Leader like John F. Kennedy or Ronald W. Reagan with a spine?
May 2nd, 2007 at 21:00Normally when I see comments like the previous one on the Internet, I tune them out. They represent beliefs so fundamentally held that I know I really have no chance in putting even a dent in them. Yet, somehow, seeing this posted on a good friend’s web site where I have commented on much more trivial issues in the past, I feel compelled to respond. I intend no disrespect, but there are things here which truly frighten me, and I feel that I cannot let them be said so close to my online home without speaking out.
I’m going to try not to sound flippant here. Do you truly believe that all of Islam believes this and speaks as one voice? If not, then exactly which Muslims are you speaking of? There is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that there are many people in this world that hate us as a nation and are willing to commit terrible acts in an effort to disrupt and destroy us. Even if ALL of them do so in the name of Islam (which I’m fairly sure I can easily demonstrate is not true), isn’t it at least irresponsible to assume and claim that ALL followers of Islam wish to kill all who do not share their faith?
Nothing is EVER that clear-cut. How long do you think it would take me to find just one person right here in Huntsville, Alabama to shatter that assumption? 10 people? 100 people? Is it not obvious that the moment we start making such horrible generalizations about “the Muslems” that we’re playing right into the hands of those people who use Islam as their excuse for these terrible acts? Those people WANT us to be intolerant of Islam. The more we generalize and the more loudly and publicly we condemn an entire religion, the easier it becomes for the terrorists to recruit people to the cause.
It truly frightens me how quickly and easily we can stop thinking of people as individuals.
May 2nd, 2007 at 23:51I don’t know if access to information is a stabilizing and civilizing force. Certainly the way certain people act online (a veritable trove of information) isn’t civilized.
Maybe access to information under certain circumstances or something?
May 3rd, 2007 at 06:52But Daniel, you’re equating the presence of information with acting on it.
And the other thing about one-to-many media is that everyone’s voices get amplified—the thoughtful and the thoughtless.
Crap. I should post lolcats or something.
May 3rd, 2007 at 06:59