Latest read: The Assault on Reason

Must admit the timing at first seemed strange. I was reading Al Gore’s book The Assault on Reason when Michael Jackson died. Gore has written a book about what has gone wrong in our country. Yet I was able to watch it simply unfold right in front of me. The non-stop media coverage of Jackson’s death will not be forgotten.
Ultimately Gore’s book addresses the change in American values and repeated failures of the Bush Administration yet outlines an opportunity for our country to correct the ship.  The impact of the environment to no surprise is also a strong part of his book.  Gore sets the “mood” right from page one – where he addresses loss of conversation regarding our government’s role to launch the war in Iraq:

Not long before our nation launched the invasion of Iraq, our longest-serving senator, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, stood on the Senate floor and said: “This Chamber is, for the most part, silent – ominously, dreadfully silent.  There is no debate, no discussion, no attempt to lay out for the nation the pros and cons of this particular war.  There is nothing.  We stand passively mute in the United States Senate.

Gore is right on the mark when he wrote “Why do reason, logic and truth seem to play a sharply diminished role in the way America now makes important decisions?”  In some ways this book is a case study in the loss of reason, the foundation of our political democracy.  He has modeled this from Thomas Paine‘s The Age of Reason written in 1793. Ultimately Gore wants to bring back core values of our democracy to our fellow countrymen.

As this book outlines how the mood in Washington under George W. Bush changed political discourse in our country, and if you think this is just another political attack book you will missed what I found: his supporting messages are more important for our country.

Gore shares his view that the role of political communication has changed with the format. From the printed word to television and the internet, the ability for anyone to find niche articles has risen while we paying less attention to important issues regarding our Republic.

He directs his research against the mind numbing impact of television:

Radio, the Internet, movies, cell phones, iPods, computers, instant messaging, video games and personal digital assistants all now vie for our attention—but it is television that still dominates the flow of information. According to an authoritative global study, Americans now watch television an average of 4 hours and 35 minutes every day—90 minutes more than the world average. When you assume eight hours of work a day, six to eight hours of sleep and a couple of hours to bathe, dress, eat and commute, that is almost three-quarters of all the discretionary time the average American has.

As Gore simply points out: at the same time reading forces you to think and consider reasoning – in contrast to watching television.  He also shares that the process of reading forces the brain to consider reasoning.  In contrast to television which eliminates reasoning as the brain simply goes idle and just absorbs visual images.  Reading (yes reading) has been in decline for some time and the impact this makes on political reasoning and debate is not equal.

Why is this happening? IMHO its an affect of the globalization of manufacturing.  You have to admit cheap 50 inch flat panel HD televisions are indeed beautiful. With hundreds of channels (and a few in HD) it can be hard to resist sitting infront of your huge television as soon as dinner is done and your in for the night.

How many people fall asleep watching television night after night?
Do you often awake after midnight, still in your living room with the television on?
And exactly how many times do you really need to re-watch that Seinfeld rerun?
For those 4 hours and 35 minutes that your eyes were glued to the screen, who did you ignore?
What did you put off for yet another day that could have been accomplished last night?

My father worked for the NBC affiliate in Toledo Ohio.  I grew up not only watching television but learning over time as I grew about the business of television. The ultimate goal of any station? Selling time.

Kill your Television

In a somewhat surprising angle Gore stated a reason for demise of political thought and reasoning is the role of television.  It all starts with the non-stop media frenzy surrounding issues that do not matter for our country:

1. OJ Simpson murder and civil trials
2. Jon Benet Ramsey and the case of John Mark Karr
3. Natalie Holloway
4. The Runaway Bride
5. Michael Jackson 2nd trial on child sexual abuse
6. Michael Richards Laugh Factory incident
7. Anna Nichole Smith death
8. Robert Blake trial
9. Laci Peterson
10. Chandra Levy
11. Paris Hilton
12. Lindsay Lohan
13. Brittany and K-Fed

And if his book had been released in the summer of 2009 it would include:

1. Jon and Kate’s Divorce
2. South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford’s affair
3. and of course the Octomom

And what has become the fate of our country during these events and the war against terrorism?  We accumulate 100 million hours glued to television on the lives of celebrities while major events impacting our lives simply drag on with little media coverage.  Its perfect fodder for comedians and late night talk show hosts but simply slips by many — for no other reason than: American Idol.

Today any TV station’s ability to draw viewers improves ratings and satisfies companies who just so happen to have their commercial running during peak viewing times.  The death of Michael Jackson was just the latest example of the national media frenzy. Watching the endless, mindless rants by media reaffirmed for me that Gore is right to the point: America’s values have changed for the worse.  Everything else that happened that late afternoon (in Milwaukee) and for the next two weeks was wall-to-wall coverage of the death of Michael Jackson.  Even the death of Farrah Fawcett who died early that same day fell off the radar. And no media outlet dared to address his sexual abuse cases.  The media wanted a simple MJ memorial lovefest all day long for Americans to embrace.

Still don’t see it?  Try the coverage of the Health Care reform town hall meetings assaults that are shown on television.  Thomas Jefferson warned against “the ‘well informed citizenry’ in in danger of becoming ‘the well amused audience.'”

Nothing could be more affirming to Gore’s message than the “news” of an American solider who also died the same day as Michael Jackson:

A Book Excerpt from Time Magazine