Comments on: The 2000s: Interesting Times http://theactivist.org/blog/the-2000s-interesting-times // Culture. Consciousness. Critical Thought. // Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:43:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Ben http://theactivist.org/blog/the-2000s-interesting-times/comment-page-1#comment-74377 Ben Mon, 04 Jan 2010 22:21:39 +0000 http://theactivist.org/blog/?p=2344#comment-74377 These are both excellent pieces. Harold Meyerson has hit another home run here, and I intend to distribute his piece widely. I think the "decade of distraction" is an excellent way to sum things up, sadly. The question is, with people so enamored by reality TV, celebrities, etc., how do we wake them up? I have long wondered this. Most of my friends and family already share my political views, but when I try to engage those who rarely think of these issues, I am often met with indifference or silence. How can we awaken people to the grave issues we face as a nation when the media is largely controlled by a handful of corporations? That was a bit of a tangent, but hopefully it was relevant. I also liked Meyerson's mention of the ILO report, of which I was not aware. I am not too surprised by its conclusions, sadly, but it is nice to see some hard data. I too favor a strong manufacturing sector in the U.S., but I am doubtful that one will return. As he hints, one of the brightest possibilities could be increasing production of renewable energy here at home. This is certainly one of the issues that Obama, for all of his faults, really seems to grasp, so I hope we will see continued attention in this area. As for Mason's piece, I found some of the bright spots he noted uplifting. Like Meyerson, I am mostly pessimistic about the past decade, but Mason rightly points out that the Internet has revolutionized activism. We must appreciate the ways our lives have become better this decade, despite all of the doom and gloom! These are both excellent pieces. Harold Meyerson has hit another home run here, and I intend to distribute his piece widely. I think the “decade of distraction” is an excellent way to sum things up, sadly. The question is, with people so enamored by reality TV, celebrities, etc., how do we wake them up? I have long wondered this. Most of my friends and family already share my political views, but when I try to engage those who rarely think of these issues, I am often met with indifference or silence. How can we awaken people to the grave issues we face as a nation when the media is largely controlled by a handful of corporations?

That was a bit of a tangent, but hopefully it was relevant. I also liked Meyerson’s mention of the ILO report, of which I was not aware. I am not too surprised by its conclusions, sadly, but it is nice to see some hard data. I too favor a strong manufacturing sector in the U.S., but I am doubtful that one will return. As he hints, one of the brightest possibilities could be increasing production of renewable energy here at home. This is certainly one of the issues that Obama, for all of his faults, really seems to grasp, so I hope we will see continued attention in this area.

As for Mason’s piece, I found some of the bright spots he noted uplifting. Like Meyerson, I am mostly pessimistic about the past decade, but Mason rightly points out that the Internet has revolutionized activism. We must appreciate the ways our lives have become better this decade, despite all of the doom and gloom!

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