Talking to Ourselves

Americans are increasingly close-minded and unwilling to listen to opposing views.

It's not often you see me quoting an outspoken secularist/atheist but this lady's absolutely right.

From The Week, May 2, 2008. (Abridged):

As an atheist who takes a dim view of the influence of religion, said author Susan Jacoby in the Los Angeles Times, I am greeted enthusiastically in nearly all my public appearances. I'm not bragging. It's just that everywhere I appear, "95 percent of the audience shares my political and cultural views - and serious conservatives report exactly the same experience." Indeed, it's getting harder to find anyone who's willing "to give a fair shake - or any hearing at all" to opposing viewpoints. "Whether watching television news, consulting political blogs, or (more rarely) reading books, Americans today have become a people in search of validation for opinions they already hold." So when Gen. David Petraeus testifies before Congress, liberals tune to radio or TV shows that mock him and insist Iraq is lost; conservatives, meanwhile, comfort themselves with echo-chamber pundits who proclaim that victory is at hand. Such close-minded stubbornness is not only lazy; it makes you very vulnerable to being duped or misled. "As long as we continue to avoid the hard work of scrutinizing public affairs without the filter of polemical shouting heads," we have no one to blame for our growing national ignorance "but ourselves."
- Full column

This isn't a new idea on this blog. I've been complaining about this idea - in one way or another - from the first post. Too many Americans have a mentality about political and cultural issues that seems more like blind devotion to a favorite sports team or an ancient ancestry than to any sense of rationality. They don't want to learn. They don't want to think. They want to cheer as their guy trash-talks the other guy.

Here's a breakdown of most talk radio:

"Us good. Them bad. Here am they bad ideas. All bad. Me shoot down all they ideas. Easy shooting. Bang. Bang. No need listen to them. I play sound bite. No need talk to they face. They morons. All truth you need am right here. We pause station identification."

If you're a liberal, would you please pick up a book by George Will or listen to Larry Elder sometime?

If you're a conservative, catch Alan Colmes online or read Jacoby's latest book. Check out her article on defiant ignorance on both sides here, too.

The other side occasionally has some valid points - many based on personal experience and logical thought - that can help this country.