Democracy for Dummies

After reading the article Democracy for dummies by Joe Hirschhorn, it reminded of when my psych professor pleaded to my class that if we are not politically well informed to not vote at all. Or to "not vote stupid". And well, I think he's right.

The public is so easily influenced by propaganda, political lies, and the mass media's "interpretations". It's all psychological really, when the public watches reports such as Keith Olberman's rant about Senator McCain, people who watch "reports" such as this start to formulate new opinions about candidates and allow other peoples perceptions influence their decisions. People's minds deluded so deluded by the mass media.

While reading this article I found it astonishing that the public still thought Iraq was in the blame for 9/11 even after the 9/11 commission report said that Iraq was not to blame. Still, 50 percent of us still believe otherwise.
How many of us really read newspapers, watch the news, or even read about current events on the Internet? Do all people really know about candidates they vote for is from their 30-second commercials? Does the public really know or comprehend how misleading those campaign commericals can be?
When you look at us 18-25 year old voters, who had an an increased interest in the presidential campaign. Yeah, sure "interested" is the key word here, but do half of the "young voters" even know what their voting for or why? Are young people up to date with the nation's economic situation or other current issues.

Honestly, this past year I didn't want to pick a candidate. Because all the dumb kids in my high school only wanted to vote for Obama because of the color of his skin and others for Hilary because she would be the first female in the executive office. Sadly, some of those dumb kids were registered to vote, and that is why my psych professor said what he said. I refused to pick a candidate just based on those reasons. I rather know everything there is to know about a candidate before I make a final decision.

In my opinion, this article is a very good read. It opens your eyes and makes you realize how politically stupid America is, Sad but true. Hirschhorn makes a good point and argument. He lists different examples that really help to understand where exactly he's coming from.

So, when the public says their either "left-leaning" or "right-leaning, well lets put it this way:
Just because you own a piano, doesn't make you pianist.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/democracy-for-dummies.html