Re: OT: Youth In Asia

RichL wrote:
Dale Houstman <dmh7@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Lizz Holmans wrote:
See, that's the problem. The sites you posted to are *advocacy*
sites, they're not neutral. While I agree with a lot of what they
say, at this point they're a dime a dozen on both sides of the
article, and I'd rather see an unbiased analysis of the pros and
cons.
The idea that anyone can be truly 'unbiased' is one of the great
myths of modern politics -- along with the ridiculous notion that
'moderate', 'bipartisan' centrism is always better than passionate,
polarised debate. Some issues are just too profound and important
to treat as mere detached, academic exercises. There comes a point
where the material forces of history are just too strong;
*everyone* has a stake in what happens, one way or another, and
thus a bias, even if they don't consciously realise it. An open
mind and willingness to at least *listen* to opposing views is
always necessary, of course. But as they say, 'Keep your mind open,
but not so open that your brains fall out.'
Oh, piss off, Sean.

Why? What Sean is saying is perfectly correct as far as I can see:
there IS a "disease of dualism" in modern life (and particularly in
U.S. politics which swings back and forth between two very similar
sides which actually represent an incredibly small arc of actual
thought on a subject, and this has led to a media that "naturally"
assumes that all "real" solutions lie between the expressed positions
of the two dominant parties. But this is almost never true: most real
solutions to any problem lie outside those supposed "extremes". We
have a withered political discourse in this country that leads to a
lot of ballyhoo and panic over almost nothing, and no organized
position from which to critique the shadow play that passes for
debate, aided greatly by a media owned by major corporate players in
defense plants, and other vested interests. you might not like Sean,
but the expressed opinion is perfectly valid.

I don't take issue with this view, but unfortunately it was written in
response to my post in which I was *not* advocating centrism but rather
simply having a more informed basis than I do at the moment for deciding
my views on the issues.


Well, I wasn't addressing you, although Sean's response does (in his way) address your notion that an "unbiased" view exists or can exist, with the idea (which I think is valid) that first, there is no such thing as an unbiased view in most political/cultural matters, although it may exist in such subjects as astronomy: in other words, politics is about taking a stand and defending it. There can be no unbiased view about - say - health care reform because there is really no objective reality which defines a set limit to solutions and instrumentations, etc. In political discourse, the word "unbiased" is akin to the word "bi-partisan" and is both naive and and insult to true problem-solving, because - as the political lines are drawn tighter and tighter, and drift continually to the right, the "middle ground" becomes increasingly conservative; to seek that middle or unbiased or bi-partisan arena is simply to surrender to the drift. The actual solutions lie not in assuming that there is some viable (and honest) median, but in fighting to win back lost ground, and actually being strongly opinionated. In the health care debate, although there are various ways to get to a useful solution, those do not (at the moment) lie between the liberals and the conservatives: the conservatives have fronted utter lies and corporate finagling, not solutions to a problem, but an affront to intelligence. The liberals are only marginally better, having abandoned so much ground that they now lie only yards from their supposed enemies, who are determined to drag them into the mudhole they inhabit. The best solutions are scarcely being discussed at all, and when they are they are being discussed by advocacy groups. So no matter where you look, you will eventually be forced to choose between advocacies, and not find the Blue Rose of "non-bias". In the news media, this entire idea of "objectivity" has reduced the news to a manipulated puppet of corporate culture, because that culture makes no pretense of being "unbiased". We need more advocacy, backed by a realignment of communication/media control laws (another Clinton kick in the ass of democracy), to flush out the nutters and give more media diversity, so the conversation is not ruled by corporate hacks.

dmh
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: OT: Youth In Asia
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  • Re: OT: Youth In Asia
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  • Re: OT: Youth In Asia
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