Thursday, 25 March 2010
Wake up
This post is inspired after the mention of people voting with little knowledge as to who they vote for, and for what reason. It seems that in this world of unlimited information and unlimited access to this information, masses of people are taking little insight into the purpose of their votes. But why? Is it that this new westernised consumer culture is numbing the senses?, Is it that the catchy pop songs heard on the radio these days are infantalising the brain into a state of disconnection from the real world, the world of important political debate. Globalisation and the spread of Americanisation are together, hand in hand breaking down the importance and involvement of our political systems and are stupefying the world with bullshit 'Pop' television and music. Together these products of neoliberalism are destroying national identities.
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How can you blame the people's political ignorance on Americanisms and pop songs? The two do not go hand in hand. I would argue that the ignorance of the voter would be more because their day to day lives are not effected by the government of the day in a way that they take an interest and try to effect change. Yes consumerism and globalisation have an effect on the individual citizen but not in a way that would cause them to take no notice of the world around them.
ReplyDeleteWillBrewer, i agree with you that we cannot blame Americanisms and pop songs for political apathy. The tragedy is that "ordinary" people (those not studying politics at Vic?) are affected by the actions of the government everyday in very significant ways. This is true of NZ and other western democricies and its tragic that when given ample oppurtunity to engage with the politics of their country, people choose not to. Greater civic participation should be the goal od democracies everywhere.
ReplyDeleteGabriel, why is that a tragedy? Maybe it's good if the government works more or less well without much need for political participation - political participation is often not that interesting!
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, why encourage ill-informed political participation?