The Quadrangle

Issue date: 2/23/05 Section: Perspectives

TV hosts like Bill Maher are often criticized for preaching uninformed liberal propaganda

As our nation endures a period marked by political polarization, many people feel the need to take sides in the argument that permeates our culture. Many people once uninterested in politics become forced to pick a side, bringing many uninformed opinions into the political discussion that marks our generation. While many accuse media outlets such as Fox News, the New York Post, and the National Review of gaining followers by showing only the conservative opinion, many liberals are guilty of the same crimes. In a time where politics are at the forefront of our culture, knowledge must come before opinion; all too often, there is nothing but uneducated people arguing the causes they think they believe to others who think they know their own.

An hour spent at a classroom at Manhattan College allows for the observation of some people's scattered opinions based on knowledge, and far opinions based more on which propaganda they chose to identify themselves with. While such uneducated conservatives base their arguments from an old playbook of Bush's Chief Strategist Karl Rove, and uneducated liberals take cues from Michael Moore's documentaries. Though these individuals may find their opinions as solid and their facts as flawless, but through debating without having a firm base in their beliefs aside from a few sources or months investigating our current political climate does nothing but allow people the chance to discuss something they know little about.

While it is undeniably important for people to become interested in America's foreign and domestic policy, this must be done in a way that takes more than an hour and a half in front of either a television or movie screen. It is incredibly easy for a person to find an ideology and side with it, even if they understand very little that comes with it. Though many saw Fahrenheit 9/11, and many others tune into the propaganda of Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" each evening, taking the viewpoint of one group not only makes a point with some substance utterly worthless, but makes the commenter seem less intelligent in the process. More often than not, the most outspoken politico in class will simply cite a scene from one of Moore's documentaries if liberal, or will spit the same rhetoric coming from White House press releases from earlier in the week if conservative. These armchair politicians do little to further classroom discussions, and even less for their own arguments.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools