Why is it increasingly not possible for America to correct itself?
It is less possible because we have increasingly shifted our method of receiving information from the written word to the spoken word.
We read less and watch more.
It’s a slow process that has taken place over the past 100 years.
The spoken word in today’s world involves presentation and camera presence.
When you read, you cannot see me; therefore you have to evaluate what I say based upon my words and how I put those words together.
Writing forces the author and the reader to think more carefully about the words before them. It takes longer to read, which gives both author and reader time to expose flaws in the argument written.
This is often lost to a television camera which embraces the immediacy and glamor of the moment.
In a television camera, my appearance overwhelms what I have to say. Whether I wear a suit or not makes a difference.
It shouldn’t.
But it does.
In a television camera how pretty I am overwhelms the value of what I have to say.
It shouldn’t.
But it does.
In a television camera how bombastic I am overwhelms the value of what I have to say.
It shouldn’t.
But it does.
Concomitant with these forces is that people who appear on television, especially on national television, are immediately sought after.
They command higher salaries and speaking fees.
And they make a shitload of money.
In time, if they last long enough, they ascend to Valhalla and become a so-called superstar.
This phenomenon is not lost on the public.
A competition then ensues to get on television, become famous, and make a lot of money.
This then engenders a drive to do anything at all costs to get on television.
One of the ways to get on television, and to stay there, is to say bombastic things.
The more bombastic you are, the more interesting you are to people.
What is often lost in this bombast is the truth.
Tyrants become even crazier.
The calm, rather boring person who has something worthwhile to say is soon relegated to the background.
People who study an area of endeavor their entire lifetime often don’t have the time to focus on style and presentation.
They also tend not to be bombastic.
They are too busy learning and reading.
Because they’re often rather boring people, their messages is rarely heard.
Let us use Iran as an example.
In the United States today there are thousands of experts on Iran.
Perhaps they have lived in Iran or one of their parents was from Iran. They may even speak Farsi. They probably do.
They are intimately familiar with the people of Iran and what shapes them. They know the economy, the terrain and the history.
Moreover they know how to get into the mind of the average Iranian and their leaders.
These people sit at home and watch ill informed television people bark about our mortal enemy Iran and the Revolutionary Guards.
They see United States policy moving down the wrong pathway, a disastrous pathway.
They sit there in despair and anger in their living room and fume.
They are dying to tell people the truth about Iran and what we need to do.
But their voice is not heard, and it will not be heard.
They may even try writing an article in a blog.
A few people may like what they have to say, but a few people is too few.
How can they compete with the bombastic experts who appear before us on Fox and CNN?
The geniuses who appear there are presumably experts about every political issue.
They are there night after night, and they are never at a loss for words.
How is this possible?
It’s not possible.
These people on CNN and Fox, these fake experts, are listened to because they speak in inflammatory language and dog whistle slogans which their fans drool over. Accordingly ratings rise which network moguls take note of. In response those guests are invited back to blow their dog whistle and speak more inflammatory words.
It’s a reverberating circuit of ignorance that imparts upon the listener a pseudo-expertise.
Think Adolf Hitler.
The fans of the show begin to think that they are experts because they listen to a fake expert speak about an issue.
But the fans are not experts.
Nor are the hosts and guests on these television programs.
The real experts sit at home and are not listened to.
They have no bombast. They are not pretty. They are boring people, but they have something valuable to say.
The truth is then lost, and our leaders who take their cue from these national television shows have no proper foundation upon which to base their decisions.
The results should be obvious.
Sincerely,
Archer Crosley
Copyright 2021 Archer Crosley All Rights Reserved
Cowboy Archer 