1. We have discussed “community” during the past couple class meetings, but I think it merits more attention since it is such an important element of the book. In Applebee’s America, the authors talk about many types of communities including fantasy sports leagues, video gamers, etc, but they don’t talk much about the political implications of such groups. As we are more able to carefully choose our groups and fill out time with very specific communities, do we lose our connection to communities that might be more political in nature?
2. The authors of Applebee’s America seem very optimistic of the “9-11 Generation,” mentioning their high levels of civic engagement. However, one of the examples they site is that many young people have worn a bracelet to support a cause or have signed an online petition. My question then is, is this really civic engagement or is it merely trendy to have a cause? We mentioned in class that you can buy Obama shirts at Urban Outfitters and it makes me wonder how sustainable or how real youth involvement really is. Is it merely a fashion statement with little real political engagement, thought, or action behind it?
3. Many in class are less than satisfied with American politics. Voters seem to care more about image than issues, and the media and politicians seem more than happy to cater to this trend. The book gives examples of people voting for Bush because he made them feel safe, even thought they disagreed with many of his policies, and people voting Republican because most of their neighborhood did. Considering what we have learned about the need for community and a “Gut Values connection” how can we realistically reverse this trend? Is there a way to create community, establish a Gut Values connection, AND get people to vote on the issues above image? Are these things mutually exclusive? Where do we start to change this, in schools, in campaigns, in the media, in our communities?
Posts
1 comment:
No one has commented on these (excellent) questions yet, so I suppose I will give them a shot:
1. I think that along with more specialized groups of community we do lose political aspects. Try as they might, campaigns are going to have a hard time infiltrating the cultures of World of Warcraft or fantasy baseball. We choose who we spend our time with based on interests, and I think (as we have discussed in class) that because of this, the opportunities for us to come together in a community and debate or discuss political or economical topics becomes more and more rare. If given the choice, the average Joe would probably choose to spend time with like-minded people as opposed to those with opposing or differing political views, thus blocking the chance for healthy debate. Aside from advertisements, it is hard to see how presidential, congressional or other candidates can get "in" with these communities.
2. My first reaction to this was that yes, it is merely a fashion statement. Ever since Lance Armstrong made the Livestrong bracelets popular, it has become a fad. You see these everywhere, and it is hard to know whether their intent is to truly support a particular cause or to be fashionable. That being said, I think that having Obama shirts at Urban Outfitters reaches a demographic that may have been previously untouched. It may spark a discussion between two friends shopping that normally would not have occurred. It catches people's attentions in a world that has ADD. So is it a fad, I think yes. Is that a completely bad thing...probably not.
3. I think that the second question here posed fits my views of society better than the first. I don't think we should get rid of Gut Values. They are important in life. I have very good friends that I do not have very much in common with; if we were basing this on facts or issues, we would not be friends. However, we have a Gut Value Connection that makes it work. I don't think it's a terrible thing. If our Gut Values do not trust a candidate, there is no reason to vote for them even if we do agree with their policies. I think it's based on trust. Do you trust the person to make the best decisions? If the answer is yes, then policies become priority #1. If we don't trust them, then everything else really doesn't matter. As to the point of image, I think it is all too common that people base their votes on it. However, with the 9-11 generation becoming a prominent source of the votes, I hope that this trend with start to decline. I think the place it all needs to start is in the schools. I was amazed over the last year at how many kids in 5th - 8th grade knew nothing about our government and how it is run...but I was also pleased because they were excited to learn about it. Since No Child Left Behind, kids these days get hours and hours of math and reading, but very little science or social studies, and they are excited to get the opportunity to learn. By embracing that and allowing time in school to answer all of their questions and show them that civic engagement can be fun,I think we will see that candidates and campaigns are forced to focus on issues because the people demand it.
Post a Comment