|
| quote: | Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov
Critical consumption of information, for one. Half of the people posting here seem to get their information from documentaries posted anonymously on youtube. I know it's expecting a lot from a message board on a site dedicated to electronic music where the norm is a thread entitled "omg drugs and lazers" but it would be nice if people brought in some actual academic sources from time to time. There are a few that do, but the overwhelming majority of posters are full of unsubstantiated claims and would rather call other opinions stupid than engage in debate.
My main point being this. This forum is full of threads about 9/11, a possible war with Iran that will never happen, inexhaustive and inconclusive complaints about the media, and dozens of threads begun with a simple youtube video.
Meanwhile:
- 45,000 people are dying in the DRC every single month and no one notices. Our conflict resolution and international development strategies are failing to bring stability to the heart of Africa. Why?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/w...ica&oref=slogin
- There is a genocide going on in the world, which has not even been mentioned. I'm sure the common thought here is that "it's in Africa, who cares?" And yet, for those Americans here at least, Africa is a sphere of influence that is fast becoming solidly the possession of China's through a process of neo-colonialism that will likely stifle indigenous development and make human rights abuses like Darfur completely ignored.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/o...ion&oref=slogin
http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/china-sudan/
- Kenya is still on fire, something that only Arbiter seems to have even noticed. The entire region is being strangled economically. The crisis is bringing up serious questions about the nature of governance and democratic process in a country where there cannot be a majority rule.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0124/p04s01-woaf.html
- People seem content debating democracy in the Middle East, but Burma is still the most repressive society on the planet and has garnered attention only for people to say "attacking monks is bad."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7093716.stm
- There are literally hundreds of demographic and environmental issues that are much larger threats than the possibility of a long-shot war against Iran.
http://t21.ca/refugees/index.htm
http://t21.ca/environ/index.htm
http://t21.ca/poverty/index.htm
http://t21.ca/population/index.htm
- The over-arching systems-level analysis of America's position in the world, and whether or not there is a unipolar or multipolar system. The transatlantic rift over Iraq, Kyoto, etc. The ascendancy of China and the relative decline of the US. IR stuff.
http://ksghome.harvard.edu/~pnorris...0leadership.pdf
These are just a few of the big issues in the world that get no attention, and yet everyone here is content to argue the authenticity of the latest anonymous user's 9/11 conspiracy theory youtube video. I am only trying to say that I think the quality of discussion on this forum could really improve by taking up a wider range of important issues and dropping the "youtube video as my opinion" shtick and getting into some actual intellectual debate. |
If you're that interested, please take a look at my earlier posts when this place didn't go to shit. You won't exactly find many 'youtube videos' and such, not that I care what medium is used to disperse information as I don't have hang ups like most people that consider themselves 'intellectuals.' The quality of discussion and discourse dropped here dramatically well before you arrived (at least as a regular poster on PDD). So spare me your ignorant response, and I mean nothing personal by that but you can interpret it which ever way you like. BTW, the foundation of any world veiw is based on the degree of trust and critical evaluation of information sources and ideas incorperated to build it. I think it's beyond stupid to be highly skeptical of alternative information and ridiculed veiws in any society, especially in the post modern age where we have plenty of examples blatant propaganda and flat out fiction in mass media, including "respected" jounalistic sources. Anyways, I could go on and expand on all that but I've learned it's pointless and a complete waste of time.
___________________
"The Greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." -Stephen Hawking
"First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me— and there was no one left to speak out for me." -Martin Niemöller
|
