Richard D. Brown\u2019s \u201cEpilogue-Looking Backward: The Idea of an Informed Citizenry at the end of the Twentieth Century\u201d raises some very interesting points as to how Americans view their political leaders.\u00a0 \u201cThe fact that politicians, likes used car salesmen are often ranked at the bottom of the public\u2019s hierarchy of trust and respect suggests that the restoration of deference may be fanciful.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Where are the characters such as Washington, Hamilton, and Franklin who are the hallmarks of American prosperity in the society of today?\u00a0 Well, as Brown puts in his epilogue, they don\u2019t exist because the American public has created a society that values the talking head figures of the world and does not seek the unbiased truth on a matter.\u00a0 Where are the citizens who went out of their way to promote the voice of the people whether that be in the streets or the pub?\u00a0 Well the American society has invested so much on an intellectual\/political few that the common man has been so mislead by the said talking heads that they cannot inform their own opinion.\u00a0 Now while this little game of question and answer I have picked up in Brown\u2019s epilogue seems to speak down to the state of America today he on page 205 draws his points on the lack of citizen role in politics to the original concept of America.\u00a0 The common man shouldn’t be allowed to make\/dictate society because they simply are too inferior to grasp concepts necessary for success.<\/p>\n
The framers of America following the American Revolution recognized how easy the common man could be manipulated and thus established political boundaries (like the Electoral College) to keep this common man from disturbing the flow of the U.S.\u00a0 \u201cCitizens should be sufficiently informed and critically minded to be able to choose public officials wisely.\u201d\u00a0 So I am going to now pose a question, are we Davidson students informed\/critically minded enough to choose our public officials?\u00a0 Personally despite the high view I have for myself and my education I honestly believe that there are issues I have such a lack of knowledge of, that my voting seems like a detriment to American society.\u00a0 Sadly, this view is shared by many classmates as we talked about this a few weeks ago.\u00a0 I certainly could become versed to choose public officials wisely but that would mean that I would have to take time out of my busy day to look up details of a candidate.\u00a0 But where would my first trip to figure out these politicians? The same talking heads that Brown says are hurting political understanding due to their bias.\u00a0 Why? Well, because it is easier to find information that way.\u00a0 It is time for individuals to no longer take the bias when it comes to political action and search for the truth of issues that matter.\u00a0 We as a society have become so warped by an idea of media that originality is a difficult thing to come by.\u00a0 We must being promoting individuals who have \u201ctaken the time to become informed and encourages private citizens to be informed as well.\u00a0 The call to action has been made, are we the soon to be new leaders in a political society ready to make the call?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Richard D. Brown\u2019s \u201cEpilogue-Looking Backward: The Idea of an Informed Citizenry at the end of the Twentieth Century\u201d raises some very interesting points as to how Americans view their political leaders.\u00a0 \u201cThe fact that politicians, likes used car salesmen are often ranked at the bottom of the public\u2019s hierarchy of trust and respect suggests that … <\/p>\n