Bourdieu Post Class

I think our in class discussion of Bourdieu and his take on television and its adverse affect on American society is relevant to a range of issues we are facing today. First and foremost, as Herman and Chomsky articulated in their piece concerning the manipulative nature of today’s media and its consequent dumbing down of society, Bourdieu, too, seems to agree that we, especially as Americans, are not moving in a progressive direction. Instead, he cynically, and rightfully so, appears to think of Americans as mere subjects of complacency that have become so brainwashed by these “technological innovations” that our ability to not only critically think, but simply think at all, is quickly dissipating. We accept what is given to us as truth without question, which is dangerous for our ability to think on our own but also dangerous for a range of other essential human capabilities such as the ability to be creative and different, to be imaginative and think “outside of the box”. It seems as this innate human quality is increasingly difficult to get a hold of, for now, we are simply just handed the information, easily accessible by either television or internet, and deem this information as genuine. If Oprah says so, how can you disagree? What she sanction is true is sadly mass accepted in that everyone believes. Another example of such irrational influence came just this morning when I tuned in to CNN to see a what-was-meant-to-be intellectual discourse between scholars concerning Obama and his lack of agenda with the black community. And guess who had the most to say over the attending Yale professor and well-educated, world-renowned author? Al Sharpton: a man who dropped out of college to later become James Brown’s tour manager; surely someone who has slim to none political experience yet always finds himself at the center, and a very vocal center at that, of the political debate. It is frightening to see how much public power this man has had in the political scene over the past decade and how this power has translated into the influencing of thousands to tens of thousands. It is time we start putting forth individuals in leadership positions who are more than a pretty face or more than a loud voice if we would like to continue positioning America as the greatest nation in the world.