Analyzing the Crack

The way we see the issues and problems currently facing Americans– is the problem. The problem is the way we “see” not in terms of our visual sense, but in terms of perceiving, understanding, interpreting. We don’t think as individuals any more, we respond to news stories. And, this writer believes our forefathers anticipated that.

Our forefathers knew 244-plus years ago, when they sat down and began to brainstorm the document that would become our country’s constitution, that getting the word out to the people was an imperative. It was recognized even then that the power of the First Amendment’s freedom of the press, although created to ensure the other hoped for elements of the First Amendment, would no doubt be used for evil at some time and point. How could it have been otherwise? For the most part, people don’t handle power very well.

The media in the USA has been granted a tremendous power–the freedom of expression, so granted because the people have a right to know. No doubt our forefathers agonized over putting the provision of information is placed into the hands of a few, the journalists. It could not, however, be helped. Having a “free press” was the only way the people could know what they had a right to know. And, they needed to know what their newly organized government was doing.

The media today is a huge and constant influence. Some 67% of average Americans polled stated the major source of their information about our democracy comes from–you already know it–television news shows. The average American citizen is not watching CNN or PBS’ Nightly News Report or Chris Matthews’ Hardball…news shows that report facts as facts and opinions/viewpoints as “op eds.” They are watching the local news and getting a “localized perception” of what’s going on. What viewers see is not the facts of the situation being reported on, but rather is the opinion of the person doing the reporting. In the industry it is called “a slant” or “your take.”

And, for the most part–slants and takes are cracks in the liberty bell, cracks designed to make “media stars” (anchors). Nothing more.
Respectfully Submitted,
Paulette Revere

Hello, My Fellow Americans!

Decades ago, in response to a question about our society, Albert Einstein observed, “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking that we were at when we created them.” Looking at the problems in the U.S. today, it is possible to see that many of our major problems represent deep fundamental issues–longtime issues wherein efforts are being made to resolve them on the same superficial level on which they were created. Our forefathers wouldn’t be surprised this.

A tremendous amount of human energy and ingenuity–along with the sacrifice of life–went into creating the constitutional democracy known as the “United States of America.” This writer desires to take nothing away from “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” The hope and intent of governing in a way that is “of the people, by the people and for the people,” created a standard of living that remains unequaled in the history of the world. It was, and is, a system of governing based on freedom and liberty. Our forefathers chose a flag to symbolize freedom and a bell to represent liberty. But –they put a crack in the Liberty Bell. Why? I think I know the answer.
Respectfully Submitted,
Paulette Revere