“On the other
hand are institutional politics, the day-to-day activities of bureaucracies, lawmakers,
judges and the apparatuses of the police and national security states. These
components of the political system seem to run independently of the politics that
circulates as
content”
(65).
This
quote says everything I have been saying about politics for the last five
years. We can squawk all we want, but what the authorities say goes, regardless
of what the public thinks. The invasion of Iraq is a perfect example of how
politicians ignore what the people say, and instead vote for what they want, or
what will make them the most money over time. The administration will do as it
sees fit and ignore what everyone else thinks simply because it can, however,
they can only do what they want because we as a people have allowed it.
If
I flip through the news channels, I find that they are all telling the same
story, but it is slightly different depending on what network I am watching.
That is a problem for me; the conflicting information makes it hard to make my
own judgments about the world events and conflicts because I do not know what,
or who, to believe any more.
Take
Obama Care as an example. The Senate Republicans voted against Obama Care
because they knew it was a bad deal. Unfortunately, for everyone in the United
States, the Democrats dominated the House at the time the vote. The Obama Care
bill was approved by a margin of 10 Democratic votes because they were only
concerned with themselves and they know they can afford it. The People did not
want Obama Care because we knew it was a bad deal and would screw the Middle Class
(which is has), but the President of the United States (like the child he is)
threated to use his executive power to pass the bill anyway.
What
kind of man whines until he gets his way? The way Obama has acted to get his
way is disgusting, just disgusting. The internet has only made things worse,
too. World Wide access to other countries is a bad thing if we want to keep our
information private. I have several friends who have shut off their Facebooks
because they have gotten far too involved in online life. Yes, I said ONLINE
LIFE. You can be anyone you want to be online, and that can be dangerous not only
for you, but for everyone around you. Things get twisted and sullied online. It
is almost like life has become a virtual, life-long game of Telephone where
everyone hates everyone and cannot have a discussion any more.
We
are all jacked into the internet all the time. Here I am again writing a
blog...on the internet instead of turning in a paper assignment. I am somewhat
of a self-proclaimed tree-hugger, so I appreciate not killing trees. However,
the production of energy to run the servers for the internet, the servers for
the Blogger.com website, and everything else electronic we have in the world is
also not helping the environment in any way but saving trees. Some electric
plants, like the one in Laughlin, NV, put out chemicals so hard that if you
park within a mile of them the chemicals will peel the paint off your car. The
more energy we need, the more electric plants will be built, and I do not agree
with the side effects of too many power plants. Trees can be grown, but the
ozone cannot be repaired, so I think we need to work toward more green energy
sources. However, guess what? My opinions come from examining others research...mostly
on the internet.
I feel like everything has gone digital and I
can’t get a physical copy of anything without having to either pay far too much
for it, or scour the internet for what I want. The internet has made us lazy
and taken the fun out of shopping, too. Granted, the majority of people get
frustrated and just leave when they cannot find what they want, but I usually do
not because I enjoy seeing all of the new stuff stores have without being glued
to a computer screen to do it. The whole point of stores is to get you out of
the house and off your ass. Let me tell you a secret...shopping is a great way
to stay active and get your walking in for the day. Sitting at our computers
looking for things we want is dangerous for our health. That is why I left a lucrative
position at a call center, the job was killing me and no job is worth my life.
I hate watching the National News Networks because of this! I hate that they change the content and control what I do and don't know about the true story.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem true as the usage of the internet increases, overall health decreases. Does this mean we should not embrace advances in technology and the like. Should we be afraid of innovation? My answer is that we should be cautious of the innovation and ideas.
ReplyDeleteIf we examined anything new there will be some aspects that prove to be bad. The Model-T for example, was very innovative. The automobile opened the door to both bad and good. Pollution is a key negative, but without the automobile our society would still be small localized farming communities. The automobile allowed the growth of larger farms and markets for selling the farmers crops.
We must find the balance between acceptable use of technology without hindering our welfare.