a new day

I walked around today and couldn’t help but think to myself that we are living in a different world. There was impromptu music, dancing, and marching in my city’s streets last night and I could feel a tangible difference in the popular sentiment today.

For today at least, it seemed that people were more polite on the road and strangers more friendly with one another. It does indeed seem like some degree of hope has come back to the people of my town.

Everyone I’ve talked to seems to agree that with Mr. Obama’s election our country has taken one giant step in the right direction. These are truly historic times and it’s really something to be a part of.

old sam pennybags

“WAR is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.”

-Two time Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient, Major General Smedley D. Butler

headshot

There has been much debate within certain circles of society as to the precise effects of media upon their audiences. Do media create certain values and behaviors within their audiences or do they mirror existing values and behaviors according to audience demand? Are media simply reporting on the world at large, or in their selection, omission and portrayal are they helping to shape that world?

Hyper-sexualized and gratuitously violent television, music and video games abound, and are the most frequently discussed media elements due to their overtly controversial nature and accessibility to children. But outside seemingly isolated pockets of concerned parents, educators, and a small but growing group of media literati, there is precious little discussion about the potential effects of such media upon their audiences.

It seems unlikely that we will ever know the precise long-term effects of media upon our mental and emotional development, but lack of certainty in no way warrants the blatant lack of concern displayed by today’s media. It’s not as if there isn’t already a consensus that media can and do effectively alter the mindset of even grown adults. Consider the advertising or public relations industries, your company’s marketing department, or just take a moment and ponder the phrase “winning hearts and minds.”

In an age of carefully staged political events, propagandistic news reporting, and a near media blackout on our own military operations abroad, it seems worthwhile to consider again this one simple question: Do the media act primarily as a cause or as an effect in today’s society?

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-Humble