Theatrical producer Hal Prince has criticized this generation for lulling themselves into blogging each other rather than engaging in political activism. Do you agree? Take the poll to the right. The Poll is active until next Sunday.
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Thank God for the One’s who’ve kept us free. (Right Truth Exclusive for Veterans Day) at Right Truth
Make This Veteran’s Day Different at MoreWhat
Will Spitzer Leave Hillary Hanging in the Wind? at Wake up America
Tags: blog, blogs, politics, poll, media
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I don't agree.
ReplyDeleteMuch of today's "Political Activism" is just the 1960's political activism re-hashed.
"Hey, let's go downtown and join the protest march. Maybe we can score some dope and pick up some chicks."
Blogging requires a lot more thought than that sort of nonsense. It can also stimulate people to take more realistic political action - like voting on issues.
Perri I agree with you that much of the political activism is 1960’s rehashed and that blogging certainly does take more thought! But I wonder if blogging doesn’t take up so much time and thought that some of us find it hard to call and write our congressional reps regularly. Also, much of political activism is face-2-face where blogging is virtual. What would happened to bloggers and blogger support if, God forbid, the internet went down in a national emergency???
ReplyDeleteI agree with Perri. The 60 year olds who were activist in the 60s are just trying to relive their youth.
ReplyDeleteIsn't blogging a form of political activism? Does it have to be one or the other?
What does Hal Prince want this generation to do? Many are involved in the political process. I think they just aren't in the way he apparently wants them to be. Or maybe they aren't on the side he wants them to be on.
First of all who in the hell is Hal Prince ? And second what does a gotdam Theatrical producer know about bloggin' and bloggin' about politics..Hell what does a theatrical producer know about politics? About the same as Jane Fonda? Most of the time we who write about politics on our blogs are just preachin' to the choir..we knw damn well that if we are conservative bloggers the socialist left wing would rather have a sister in a whorehouse than be caught reading our stuff..hell we make sense and they are afraid of anything that makes sense, So yeah, we do link each others blogs and hopefully we can learn something from each other and maybe...just maybe we can get through to just one socialist who can eventually get it through the thick head of just one more until their is that reverse pyramid effect that will convert the left wing...but I have my doubts..to be a conservative one has to have the ability to use deductive reasoning and that leaves out most of the left wing.
ReplyDeletePerhaps he's missed the actions of Gathering of Eagles, Swift Boat Veterans and POWs for Truth, Patriot Riders, Move America Forward, Free Republic and other such groups.
ReplyDeleteSeems to me they have been actively involved in blogging as well as activism when the time comes.
While I agree we link to each other's blogs and tend to preach to the choir, I also agree I [personally] have learned SO MUCH I didn't know before--didn't even think of before. I've met great people who take the time to explain things to me, making it easier for me to fully understand the issues of the day, not just take at face level what the nightly news doles out. I've also learned how to read between the lines and question--something I rarely did before. In short, I was pretty much the average American, complacent with what I was being fed, not really knowing, not really caring and not really questioning.
ReplyDeleteNow--now it's a whole new ball game. Blogging DOES take a lot of time--my children think their mom is a keyboard and screen--but it's given me a political savvy I never had before. It's also, through the education I've received, given me the courage to literally stand up and speak out, putting my job and livelihood on the line at times (something single moms really can't afford to do) to "buck the system and what everyone 'knows'".
I think this Hal whats-his-face is like the rest of the entertainment weird--he HATES the majority of bloggers because we ARE bringing the truth out and he and his ilk can no longer snow us with their alleged superiority due to their fleeting fame.
This is probably the best educated political environment in the history of the world, simply because of the internet--and that makes for more astute, better educated voters who are relentless instead of complacent.
That scares the crap out of fakes, liars, strawmen and liberals.
So talking about politics on our blogs isn't political activism? Hmmmmm. But I suppose cavorting with the enemy like Hollyweird is. I don't think I preach to the choir. I think that like minded individuals read what I write, and I read what they write so that when we come up against Leftists we are more informed and better prepared because of what I learned from my fellow bloggers. Sounds like this guy is promoting division. But, I think it is the opposite. We are not preaching to the choir, we are uniting. United We Stand - Combined We Kick Butt.
ReplyDeleteI think blogging IS activism. Take the immigration reform issue as just one example....everyone banded, produced numbers, contact forms, Beth there even spent days compiling staffers email addresses and we jammed their phones, crashed them, we never let up, we FORCED them to listen and it worked.
ReplyDeleteJust by the number of .gov and senate.gov visits on my sitemeter on any given post tells me they are watching and blogging IS another form of activism.
A powerful one.
An apparently liberal theatrical producer, my opinion, tries to achieve some relevance... LMAO...
ReplyDeleteIf this guy doesn't think blogging is ACTIVE political activism, he doesn't know a damn thing about blogging and the force that bloggers truly are in the political arena...
Why do the media continue to act as if entertainers (and I add theatrical producers into the mix) is that whenever they speak on any subject, they are treated as if they know what they are talking about. Barbra Streisand and Mike Ferrell (who hasn't done a thing since MASH except be a liberal activist) come to mind.
ReplyDeleteThis guy doesn't have a clue. Blogging has created a way for us to express our views and connect with like minded people across the world. Perhaps what Prince and those like him are afraid of is that bloggers are proving the leftist liberal mindset isn't the majority...
What I meant to say is... ""when entertainers speak on a subject..."
ReplyDeleteStarted one thought and ended with another - oops... :)
That a great question. I believe it's because the entertainment industry is America's royalty. Like it or not we all created this monster.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree either. Blogging is a form of activism which leads to ACTIVITY. Nothing wrong with that, it's a new generation.
ReplyDeleteheck yea ..blogging and joining together is activism..we have sent many an email and phoned many politicians and have seen MANY changes right before our blogging eyes hun! !..Blessed Veterans Day! :)
ReplyDeleteI gave up being an activist when the conservative party of Canada went pro death.
ReplyDeleteI blogged before and after. When conservatives turned left I blog more.
Come on, Hal!
ReplyDeleteWhat are you talking about? Blogging is a form of activism.
It's called raising awareness...check your Activist Handbook, page 144 or something...
And that's all I have to say about Hal.
There is an important social principle that is currently being violated by many manufacturing activities: the principle that, while engaged in a profit-making activity, one must not leave a mess behind for the rest of society to clean up.
ReplyDeleteThis principle is understood in a societal context as common decency, but is continually breached in our economy to such an extent that nobody even objects!
The easiest example is that of mineral water and soft-drink manufacturers, who sell a product that results in a consumer who usually discards a non-biodegradable PET bottle into the environment in an unregulated manner.
We should mobilize citizens to demand legislation that every manufacturer must repurchase/collect and recycle as many tonnes of raw material as he uses on a week-by-week basis. For example, if a mineral-water manufacturer uses ten tonnes of plastics per week to manufacture bottles, he MUST buy back ten tonnes of plastic scrap and safely recycle it. The same goes for automobile manufacturers, who must buy back that many tonnes of metals, plastics, glass etc. every week, and find ways to recycle them. The cost may be met by raising the market price of their product... but the responsibility to make the recycling activity happen MUST be fixed on the manufacturer of every product.
The same goes for manufacturers of tyres, batteries, plastic goods, newspapers, clothes, chemicals, auto-lubricant oils, etc. The list is long.
And if this makes some manufacturing and marketing processes unviable, it means that their economic activity was unviable in the first place, and was sustainable only by passing on hidden costs to the environment, to society, to consumers etc !
Many industrial activities are environmentally and socially subsidized to keep them economically profitable. Let us lobby governments to knock off that subsidy and see how many activities remain sustainable!
I propose peaceful demonstrations to remedy this
Small groups of citizens shall collect the branded packaging material of various manufacturers from the environment, and delivering them in large bundles every week to their corporate offices. It belongs to them, right? So let them have it back!
A peaceful demonstration like this, sustained over some weeks, would make a powerful statement. I think this will make a powerful media impact as well... and thereby, an impact on the consciousness of people.
What say? I would appreciate your detailed responses to this idea.
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Krish
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