Chris hedges AND george Monbiot ON THE IGNORANcE - ColdType

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TheReadeR ColdType editor: Tony Sutton (editor@coldtype.net) for a free subscription to The coldType Reader, e-mail Jools Sutton at jools@coldtype.net (type SUbScRIbE in the subject line) Opinions expressed in The coldType Reader are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher 2 thereader | November 2008 issue 31 | november 2008 3. CoVer storY: AMeriCA the illiterAte chris hedges 6. CoVer storY: the triuMph of ignorAnCe george monbiot 9. whAt ChAnge in AMeriCA reAllY MeAns John Pilger 14. MY MiChelle MoMent david michael green 21. the MediA And the bAnking bAilout david manning 27. fixing the finAnCiAl Crisis is not so eAsY danny schechter 30. hurwitt’s eYe mark hurwitt 31. More news, less Views greg Philo 33. riding on the peACe trAin stacey warde 38. trY these on Your CiA briefer, Mr obAMA ray mcgovern 41. killing is killing, whAteVer You CAll it robert Fisk 43. beAting the western druM antony lowenstein 45. isrAel bArs Visit to A dAughter’s grAVe Jonathan cook 47. An unforgettAble MoMent uri avnery 51. greed, CApitAlisM And the deAth of the ussr william blum 54. poor MArlise . . . edward s. herman 58. how bush’s inVAsion boosted burMA’s juntA sherwood ross 60. obAMA, wedding boMbs And good news Fred reed
cover story / 1 america the illiterate Forget red vs. blue – it’s the educated vs. People-easily-Fooled-by-Propaganda, writes Chris hedges . We live in two Americas. One America, now the minority, functions in a print-based, literate world. It can cope with complexity and has the intellectual tools to separate illusion from truth. The other America, which constitutes the majority, exists in a non-reality-based belief system. This America, dependent on skillfully manipulated images for information, has severed itself from the literate, print-based culture. It cannot differentiate between lies and truth. It is informed by simplistic, childish narratives and cliches. It is thrown into confusion by ambiguity, nuance and self-reflection. This divide, more than race, class or gender, more than rural or urban, believer or nonbeliever, red state or blue state, has split the country into radically distinct, unbridgeable and antagonistic entities. There are over 42 million American adults, 20 percent of whom hold high school diplomas, who cannot read, as well as the 50 million who read at a fourth- or fifth-grade level. Nearly a third of the nation’s population is illiterate or barely literate. And their numbers are growing by an estimated 2 million a year. But even those who are supposedly literate retreat in huge numbers into this image-based existence. A third of high school graduates, along with 42 percent of college graduates, never read a book after they finish school. Eighty percent of the families in the United States last year did not buy a book. The illiterate rarely vote, and when they do vote they do so without the ability to make decisions based on textual information. American political campaigns, which have learned to speak in the comforting epistemology of images, eschew real ideas and policy for cheap slogans and reassuring personal narratives. Political propaganda now masquerades as ideology. Political campaigns have become an experience. They do not require cognitive or self-critical skills. They are designed to ignite pseudoreligious feelings of euphoria, empowerment and collective salvation. public ecstacy Campaigns that succeed are carefully constructed psychological instruments that manipulate fickle public moods, emotions and impulses, many of which are subliminal. They create a public ecstasy that annuls individuality and fosters a state of mindlessness. They thrust us into an eternal present. They cater to a nation that now lives in a state of permanent amnesia. It is style and story, not content or history or reality, which inform our politics and our lives. We prefer happy illusions. And it works because so much of the American electorate, including those who should nearly a third of the nation’s population is illiterate or barely literate. And their numbers are growing by an estimated 2 million a year November 2008 | thereader 3
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Chris hedges AND george Monbiot ON THE IGNORANcE - ColdType

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