"...So that is the report you asked for, not entirely good. Our newsmen mostly reviled the 'workers' rebellion.' Politics here now resemble a pillow fight. Lacking the unifying slogan (Win the War), our opposing parties sling absurd pronouncements back and forth, which everyone pretends carry real weight. How the feathers fly. The newsmen leap on anything, though it's all on the order of, 'Four out of five shoppers know this is the better dill pickle,' assertions that can't be proven but sway opinion. 'Dance for the crowd' is the new order, with newsmen leading the politicians like bears on the leash. Real convictions would be a hindrance. The radio is at the root of the evil, their rule is: No silence, ever. When anything happens, the commentator has to speak without a moment's pause for gathering wisdom. Falsehood and inanity are preferable to silence. You can't imagine the effect of this. The talkers are rising above the thinkers."
Barbara Kingsolver in "The Lacuna" pg 323. Letter from Shephered to Diego Rivera, July 6, 1946.
3 comments:
You wouldn't be suggesting this passage has resonance for current times, would you?
Nawwww! Of course not....
How about the way all sorts of "reactions" to the Presidents speech are out there, and he hasn't even given the speech yet!!!! And tonight - watch - everyone in the audience will be so busy tweeting, they won't really be listening.
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