Thoughts that cross my mind while watching the Republican National Convention. I admit my bias: I’m a young Jewish liberal who has grown up in California and lived in New York. We all know what that means – I’m a flaming liberal.
Yes – it’s true.
But I also keep an open mind. So why is it that I can’t seem to grasp the point-of-view of hard-core conservatives? Is it me or them? And why does it have to be a me vs. them situation?
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Thinking about this, my mind shifted to journalism (as is often the case).
“One man’s journalism is another man’s blog.”
(Now I personally hate when blogs are conflated to mean “crap.” A “blog” is really just a content management system. But – “blog” is often used in this sense – “oh, it’s just a blog.” So – for the sake of the quote above, that’s how I’m using the term. But – I hate proliferating that misuse of the word, so follow the link if you want to know what I mean by saying blogs are just a CMS.)
Let’s take a look at the statement again: “One man’s journalism is another man’s blog.”
This issue is often stated as the “silo’d argument.”
It is often described as somebody’s “biggest fear of the internet.” They tend to say something like….”what if we all end up in silos where we only read the journalism that we already agree with. How will we get the information we don’t know we need.”
I think it’s an incredible pertinent question especially given the state of our country – literally split into two waring ideological parties.
I think sites like NewsTrust and NewsCred help – but this is an incredibly large problem. Why is one man’s journalism another man’s “blog.” How can we create standards such that citizens of one country (one democracy) can have a conversation based on the same information. If we can’t get on the same page – how can we get on the same ballot?
I don’t have a solution but I do think that a common means of communication is an essence in any functional democracy. It’s the ability to see yourself in another so that we can act.
“Only that in you which is me can hear what I’m saying”
—-Baba Ram Dass
How can we accomplish this in an age of disaggregated media? I don’t think it’s an insurmountable problem.
Dave,
I’m a former Conservative Republican turned right-leaning libertarian (because of Bush). We can skype sometime if you want some perspective.
The fundamental problem I have with both liberals and conservatives today is…
There are too many fucking laws! Stop with the laws already! I don’t want your protection. Smoking bans. Seatbelt laws. Ban lawn darts. 20 years for growing a mushroom. Enough! I have no idea what the laws are. How can anyone possibly obey them?
Both liberals and conservatives are both far to quick to use the power of force/violence/police (all the same thing really) to achieve their goals.
Yeh, I understand how you feel about that particular use of the word ‘blog.’ I feel the same way about the word ‘ghetto.’ I see people use it to mean ‘cheap.’ But, the word really signifies an area with a high proportion of its population sharing a common ethnicity or culture.
Gerard
Ghetto is a word that I HATE for the exact reason you just described.
I went to public schools in Los Angeles which could be described as “ghetto.” But when people said that – what they really meant was that I went to a high school with inner city African Americans.
It’s the conflation that I hate.