http://www.sierratimes.com/03/03/11/edrn031103.htm
Everybody is Ignorant
By Randall H. Nunn
Will Rogers once said, "Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects." Truer words were never spoke and all one has to do for confirmation is tune in to the Oprah Winfrey show. The other day my wife was channel surfing and stopped to listen for a few minutes to Oprah and she called me to have a listen.
Oprah's guest was Michael Moore, the director who is responsible for a movie entitled "Bowling for Columbine." Happily, this movie has interested few outside of Moore's family, Oprah and possibly some of the mentally challenged in her audience. I didn't catch the beginning of the program but I did listen in amazement as Moore explained that much of what America has done in the world has been based on fear. Fear of the British, fear of the Indians, fear of black men. This fear caused Americans to arm themselves and, according to Moore, among other evil deeds, commit "genocide" against the American Indians. The National Rifle Association is somehow put on a par with the Ku Klux Klan and is portrayed as an evil organization. Oprah then brought out a professor who has written a book on "Fear" and who appeared in Moore's movie. Then the three of them proceeded to discuss many of the popular misconceptions about guns (which they agreed with) and expound on the problems created by white men and fear.
My first reaction on watching and listening to the distorted and inaccurate presentation was one of anger. How can these people who have benefited so greatly from the freedom this country offers, its government and economy, display so much animosity toward the founders of the country and the institutions that have made it great and blame the very people who helped set up this country for what they see as our society's greatest ills?
Then it occurred to me that maybe it was not so much animosity as it was ignorance. Michael Moore and Oprah either (1) failed American history and government, (2) have forgotten everything they learned, or (3) have bought a load of revisionist propaganda without questioning it and without measuring it against the very large body of information which is available in history books, on the Internet and elsewhere. Any one of these conclusions is frightening when one realizes that some consider Oprah to be an opinion leader. Michael Moore seems unhinged from reality yet Oprah seemed not be be able to say enough good things about his movie and suggested that her audience should all go see it (many of them nodding in agreement).
It then occurred to me that much of American probably reacts to Oprah as I did--they get angry, then they shake their heads and laugh because they realize she is spouting politically correct "touchy-feely" nonsense and represents an extremely small constituency. I am glad that I tuned in to the Oprah show because I never would have known what I was missing. Now I do, and it wasn't much. Yes, Mr. Rogers, everybody is ignorant, but for some their ignorance is broad-based and wide-ranging and breathtaking in scope and the media and "opinion leaders" in the media seem bent on cornering the market.
Everybody is Ignorant
By Randall H. Nunn
Will Rogers once said, "Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects." Truer words were never spoke and all one has to do for confirmation is tune in to the Oprah Winfrey show. The other day my wife was channel surfing and stopped to listen for a few minutes to Oprah and she called me to have a listen.
Oprah's guest was Michael Moore, the director who is responsible for a movie entitled "Bowling for Columbine." Happily, this movie has interested few outside of Moore's family, Oprah and possibly some of the mentally challenged in her audience. I didn't catch the beginning of the program but I did listen in amazement as Moore explained that much of what America has done in the world has been based on fear. Fear of the British, fear of the Indians, fear of black men. This fear caused Americans to arm themselves and, according to Moore, among other evil deeds, commit "genocide" against the American Indians. The National Rifle Association is somehow put on a par with the Ku Klux Klan and is portrayed as an evil organization. Oprah then brought out a professor who has written a book on "Fear" and who appeared in Moore's movie. Then the three of them proceeded to discuss many of the popular misconceptions about guns (which they agreed with) and expound on the problems created by white men and fear.
My first reaction on watching and listening to the distorted and inaccurate presentation was one of anger. How can these people who have benefited so greatly from the freedom this country offers, its government and economy, display so much animosity toward the founders of the country and the institutions that have made it great and blame the very people who helped set up this country for what they see as our society's greatest ills?
Then it occurred to me that maybe it was not so much animosity as it was ignorance. Michael Moore and Oprah either (1) failed American history and government, (2) have forgotten everything they learned, or (3) have bought a load of revisionist propaganda without questioning it and without measuring it against the very large body of information which is available in history books, on the Internet and elsewhere. Any one of these conclusions is frightening when one realizes that some consider Oprah to be an opinion leader. Michael Moore seems unhinged from reality yet Oprah seemed not be be able to say enough good things about his movie and suggested that her audience should all go see it (many of them nodding in agreement).
It then occurred to me that much of American probably reacts to Oprah as I did--they get angry, then they shake their heads and laugh because they realize she is spouting politically correct "touchy-feely" nonsense and represents an extremely small constituency. I am glad that I tuned in to the Oprah show because I never would have known what I was missing. Now I do, and it wasn't much. Yes, Mr. Rogers, everybody is ignorant, but for some their ignorance is broad-based and wide-ranging and breathtaking in scope and the media and "opinion leaders" in the media seem bent on cornering the market.
