Choose three statements – one from each speech – and discuss how each of your statements can be applied to our world and the political or social situations today.
" No one familiar with the history of this country can deny that congressional committees are useful. It is necessary to investigate before legislating, but the line between investigating and persecuting is a very fine one and the junior Senator from Wisconsin has stepped over it repeatedly. His primary achievement has been in confusing the public mind, as between the internal and the external threats of Communism. We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine; and remember that we are not descended from fearful men. Not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were for the moment unpopular.
This is no time for men who oppose Senator McCarthy's methods to keep silent, or for those who approve. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. There is no way for a citizen of a republic to abdicate his responsibilities. As a nation we have come into our full inheritance at a tender age. We proclaim ourselves, as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom, wherever it continues to exist in the world, but we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home. The actions of the junior Senator from Wisconsin have caused alarm and dismay amongst our allies abroad, and given considerable comfort to our enemies. And whose fault is that? Not really his. He didn't create this situation of fear; he merely exploited it — and rather successfully. Cassius was right. "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves." Good night, and good luck."
– See it Now broadcast, March 9 1954
If we confuse dissent with disloyalty — if we deny the right of the individual to be wrong, unpopular, eccentric or unorthodox — if we deny the essence of racial equality then hundreds of millions in Asia and Africa who are shopping about for a new allegiance will conclude that we are concerned to defend a myth and our present privileged status. Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought."
– Ford Fiftieth Anniversary Show, CBS and NBC, June 1953
“We are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable and complacent. We have currently a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information. Our mass media reflect this. But unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognize that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it and those who work at it, may see a totally different picture too late.
Our history will be what we make it. And if there are any historians about fifty or a hundred years from now, and there should be preserved the kinescopes for one week of all three networks, they will there find recorded in black and white, or color, evidence of decadence, escapism and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live. I invite your attention to the television schedules of all networks between the hours of 8 and 11 p.m., Eastern Time. Here you will find only fleeting and spasmodic reference to the fact that this nation is in mortal danger. There are, it is true, occasional informative programs presented in that intellectual ghetto on Sunday afternoons. But during the daily peak viewing periods, television in the main insulates us from the realities of the world in which we live. If this state of affairs continues, we may alter an advertising slogan to read: LOOK NOW, PAY LATER.
For surely we shall pay for using this most powerful instrument of communication to insulate the citizenry from the hard and demanding realities which must be faced if we are to survive. I mean the word survive literally. If there were to be a competition in indifference, or perhaps in insulation from reality, then Nero and his fiddle, Chamberlain and his umbrella, could not find a place on an early afternoon sustaining show. If Hollywood were to run out of Indians, the program schedules would be mangled beyond all recognition. Then some courageous soul with a small budget might be able to do a documentary telling what, in fact, we have done--and are still doing--to the Indians in this country. But that would be unpleasant. And we must at all costs shield the sensitive citizens from anything that is unpleasant.
I am entirely persuaded that the American public is more reasonable, restrained and more mature than most of our industry's program planners believe. Their fear of controversy is not warranted by the evidence. I have reason to know, as do many of you, that when the evidence on a controversial subject is fairly and calmly presented, the public recognizes it for what it is--an effort to illuminate rather than to agitate.
I do not advocate that we turn television into a 27-inch wailing wall, where longhairs constantly moan about the state of our culture and our defense. But I would just like to see it reflect occasionally the hard, unyielding realities of the world in which we live. I would like to see it done inside the existing framework, and I would like to see the doing of it redound to the credit of those who finance and program it. Measure the results by Nielsen, Trendex or Silex-it doesn't matter. The main thing is to try. The responsibility can be easily placed, in spite of all the mouthings about giving the public what it wants. It rests on big business, and on big television, and it rests at the top. Responsibility is not something that can be assigned or delegated. And it promises its own reward: good business and good television.
To those who say people wouldn't look; they wouldn't be interested; they're too complacent, indifferent and insulated, I can only reply: There is, in one reporter's opinion, considerable evidence against that contention. But even if they are right, what have they got to lose? Because if they are right, and this instrument is good for nothing but to entertain, amuse and insulate, then the tube is flickering now and we will soon see that the whole struggle is lost.
This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box. There is a great and perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance, intolerance and indifference. This weapon of television could be useful.
Speech at Radio-Television News Directors Association, Chicago, October 15, 1958.
27 comments:
After watching Good Night, and Good Luck, I was a little confused with the movie. It left me thinking and pieceing together the movie. As we watched it there were some slight hints to the present day. My first statement I chose was “We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result”. I thought that this had to do with the war the United States not taking responsibility for the wrong things we did in Iraq. We didn’t really think about our plan for the government there but we didn’t think about the after effects. We know that there is sterotypes about the United States that we are rich and don’t think out what we do. But we need to take responsibility for our actions. Then next statement that I chose was “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought”. I thought that this realted to today for judgement against iraqy people or anyone that looks like they came from the Middle East. The people in America that are of Middle Eastern culture are treated as if they were apart of the terrorist groups and they are treated differently. In the movie this quote was talking about how the news anchor was being accused of being a Communist off of poor evidence and it is basically juding a person by their apperance. The quote is explaining that they are Americans too, and should be treated fairly until proven guilty. The last statement that I chose was “This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box. There is a great and perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance, intolerance and indifference. This weapon of television could be useful”. I thought that this statement related to real life because TV is an escape for Americans. The top three networks are playing soap operas during prime time instead of educating the people about the world issues. For example, the Darfur genocide in the Sudan, not many know about it. The TV stations can tell the people and then maybe the government will actually take charge and save lives. The TV can educate the people and they willl be knowledgable of what it happening around the world.
I really enjoyed watching Goodnight and Goodluck. The movie pointed out how the government has too much control and is not being watched carefully. Looking over what was said in the movie, it made me realize how similar it was to today’s government. The first quote that I looked at was, "We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law." I think this has to do a lot with the whole wire tapping issue. It seems to me that Bush has been accusing and tracking down people with very little evidence, or even that he has been construing nothing into alleged facts. In order for someone to be guilty, the accuser needs concrete evidence and a trial. The next quote that I came across was, “ Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought”. This quote reminded me of how many Middle-Eastern people in our country are not being treated with respect. Many think that if the person has Middle-Eastern qualities that no doubt they are a terrorist. My Aunt is from Israel and has a very Middle-Eastern look, she has told me that people their have been people who treat her disrespectfully because of her appearance. In the movie if anyone thought you were a communist you definitely would not be treated with the same rights as everyone else. The world still has out of control stereotypes that don’t seem to be decreasing. My last quote was, “Television in the main insulates us from the realities of the world in which we live.” I believe this is a very true quote. If the community only goes to the television to hear the news, they are not getting the real scoop. The government does not allow the truth to be put on T.V. If you want to learn and know what is really going on you need to figure it out for yourself.
There were a lot of good quotes in these speeches that related to today but these were the ones that I felt most strongly about. In the first speech, he said “We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine; and remember that we are not descended from fearful men.” I felt that this related to today’s real life because the people of the United States are living in fear. Since the terror attacks, many people have been scared to travel, and do many other things. It has gotten to the point where we are in fear of one another, some American’s don’t feel they can trust other Americans just because of the fact that they may look different or have different beliefs.
In the next speech I choose the following quote.” We are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable and complacent. We have currently a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information. Our mass media reflect this. But unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognize that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it and those who work at it, may see a totally different picture too late.” I decided that this one related to today because of the fact that people are so obsessed with their TV’s for pure entertainment value. It would be possible to educate the public on serious issues by using the television, however, companies won’t risk losing money and majority of the people in our country, including myself, would rather not listen to some boring educational show instead of a teen soap opera.
The last quote from the three speeches said “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought." I choose this quote because I feel that not all of the people in the United States are getting treated equally. Our ancestors fought for equal freedom and rights for all Americans. Today, people’s phone lines are being tapped into and they are being spied on by our government, violating their rights as an American, simply because of their background, skin color, or religion.
There were a lot of good quotes in these speeches. In the See it Now Broadcast, Murrow said, "It is necessary to investigate before legislating, but the line between investigating and persecuting is a very fine one." I liked this quote because I beleive that there are politicians who step over their boundaries and this needs to stop. We are in war with countries because their leaders abused their control yet our leaders are doing the same things. Politicains need rules and the rules need to be obeyed.
In the Ford Fiftieth Anniversary Show I like the begining quote,"It we confuse dissent with disloyalty-if we deny the right of the individual to be wrong, unpopular, eccentric or unorthodox-if we deny the essence of racial equality then hundreds of millions in Asia and Africa who are shopping abou for a new allegiance will conclude that we are concerned to defend a myth and our present privileged status." This explains that we cannot be known as the home of the free if all of the rights that make us unique are being broken. It shows how our country, even now, is hypocritical and this needs to change or our rights mean nothing.
"Our history will be what we make it." This quote is very relevent not only tho the past or the present but always. It shows us that we need to take care of this country because we are the greatest country in the world. Without America, all other economies would collapse.
We need to pay attention to things we have done in the past that have greatly affected society in a negative way and make sure that they never happen again. Good night, and good luck!
The movie Good Night and Good Luck and the speeches made by Murrow tie in to today in many ways. The first quote I chose was: "We proclaim ourselves, as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom, wherever it continues to exist in the world, but we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home." Today, we claim that we are spreading democracy and freedom all around the world (especially the middle east), yet the president has broken the law and ignored our freedom of privacy by wiretapping and reading our e-mails. How can we spread freedom if our rights are being forfeited at home?
The next quote I chose was: "Every act taht denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the ... confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought." This, like the first quote, says that we can't be looked upon as a symbol of freedom and equality if we take away freedoms from citizens in our own country. The wiretappings spying of the government are going to make people believe that we don't have as many freedoms as it was previously thought. People in other countries who want to aspire to independence and freedom are going to question our country's rights.
The last quote I chose was: "There are, it is true, occasional informative programs presented in that intellectual ghetto on Sunday afternoons. But during the daily peak viewing periods, television in the main insulates us from the realities of the world in which we live." Today, the majority of people who watch TV do so purely for entertainment, watching such prime time shows as "Lost," "Desperate Housewives," etc. If instead, prime time was filled up by news shows broadcasting the Darfur genocide, people might not only learn something, but would also act to help.
The movie Good Night and Good Luck gave me a look at the political and social situations of the 1950's. I thought the movie was kind of confusing at some parts and was boring because it was in black and white. But at the same time educational. In the first speech there is a statement that goes "We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result." This statement is relative to the situations today because today we are in Iraq mainly because of heritage. We are trying to stop Hussein's reign over there and take out Muslim terrorists. We are trying to end the war on terror. Its like teh quote said, we can deny deny our heritage or history, but we cant escape the aftermath of the actions that we take against these things. In Iraq we are doing some things that are bad and we arn't taking responsibility for it. My next statement is "Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the...confidence of men and women who aspire to taht freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought." This statement is relavant because it is also relevant in Iraq. If a country isn't having the freedom that it should have then they will sacrifice the people to get what they want. We still havn't got everything that our ancestors and people are still fighting for everyday. In Iraq we are trying to establish peace with the cost of human bodies. This statement shows that if you arn't happy then people will use themselves to get what they want. Which is relevant to today's issues. My last statement is "We are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable, and complacent. We have currently a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information." This statement talks about the media in today's time. It shows that they will find anything or make up anything that will make the American public happy because thats all the people want is unhappy disturbing information. It seems to entertain better than feel-good information about a dog saving his owner from a criminal. The people would rather hear about a mad man taking a gun a killing a whole building just because his wife left him. I think they like this because it makes the unhappy public think that their own issues cant nearly compare to these other ones that are awful. It makes the "pain" go away. That is why the media is so negative today rather than being positive.
Thanks,
Mike
Good night and good luck was a really good movie, I think. At first I was didn’t know what the big point of the movie was but when it hit me I felt amazed that in the 50s the U.S news was scared to bring up certain points. One statement that relates to today is " we proclaim ourselves as the indeed we are, the defenders of freedom, wherever it continues to exist in the world, but we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home." This reminded me of the wiring taping. The U.S is trying to bring freedom to other parts of the world but they are throwing our rights right out of the window. In his second speech the statement "Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the..." Back in the 50s there were acts to stop people from being/talking about being a communist and today I feel that you can’t even talk bad about the government, they will find reason and limit your freedom with things like email and phone taping. Another statement that fits into to today is " But unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognize that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse and insulate us." I feel that this is just like how today TV is putting a bad imagine into kids minds. They can see almost anything on TV and it’s not informing them, its just corrupting their minds and I think that TV should be more monitored.
Perceptive comments, guys. Well done so far. Keep in mind that people like McCarthy thought they were protecting the country. To what extent their striving for power affected their zeal, I'm not sure. With McCarthy, was he power hungry or really zealous about finding Communists?
Archives have proven that McCarthy was correct in his assertion that the U.S. government was rife with Soviet spies during the 1950s.
More and more as I watched this movie I began to get a better understanding of what they were trying to show us and talk about people using mind games and getting the public to believe such things which aren't true to better position themselves in the audiences view. This relates to my first quote I chose: "His primary achievement has been in confusing the public mind, as between the inernal and the external threats of Communism". This relates directly to todays world and Bush with the war in Iraq. After Sep. 11, we knew who was to blame and it was the terrorists in Afghanistan and Osama Bin Laden and his group Al Qaeda. This is not to be confused with Iraq as Bush as made us believe. He has told us much nonsense on them being a threat to us and having weapons of mass destruction when instead they had nothing but while we grew and grew into the horrible mess where we are today, Osama and the main men of the attack are still out there. Also, the United States has its own "internal issues" such as poverty, Katrina victims, and the huge deficit that the government has built up for the future generation of America. Now are "external threats" are continuing to mount in Iraq as it shows no signs of stoping but also talk about now invading Iraq. Things just continue to grow worse for the U.S. Bush has done just that and has confused the publics mind.
From the second speech, I chose:"Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought." This can be redirected to today's world in how some Americans feel toward Arabs and Muslims and think just based on there ethnicity that they are intertwined and connected with terrorist groups and people who hate Americans.This has become a major problem today when entering a plane or subway or just anywhere really. Many see a muslim and just without knowing him or finding out his personality judging him on his attire. This is wrong and costly to our country and unfair and injust to the people who do just as must as any other American.
The final quote I chose was "But I would just like to see it reflect occasionally the hard, unyielding realities of the world in which we live." As im sure everyone is aware, TV mostly now a days doesn't show the real world we live in but rather the fantasy world and dream world the media is wanting us to become like. This includes flawless bodies and wonderlands with imaginable cars and houses. There are continualy commercials advertising cosmetic surgery and trying to up the status and physical statue of the public. TV needs to become more realistic and more educational unlike some of the stupid pointless shows that we have nowadays. TV could help shape America if better shows were placed on TV and less garbage was on.
~Q
I found that a lot of the things in the movie can be related to today, not only politically, but also/especially socially. In the first speech, Murrow said, "We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law." People often announce things before they get all the facts, making accusations based upon gossip. Today we do have a problem remembering that accusation is not proof; people pay more attention to the initial news than any evidence, whether in favor or against the original news, that may come up. This not only happens in celebrity tabloids but also in politics. Whether used as a political bashing tactic or simply to create a selling story, this problem is extremely damaging in society as people lose interest in hard facts and rely solely on gossip. Another quote was, “If we confuse dissent with disloyalty - if we deny the right of the individual to be wrong, unpopular, eccentric or unorthodox - if we deny the essence of racial equality then hundreds of millions in Asia and Africa who are shopping about for a new allegiance will conclude that we are concerned to defend a myth...” I feel that this relates to today, as it is saying that if we mix up differing opinions with disloyalty, we are essentially denying people their right to have their own opinions and unique differences. We like to say that America is the great melting pot of cultures, races, religions, etc. Yet whether we like to admit it or not, this country still has biases and beliefs of what is right and wrong, good and bad. Hundreds of millions of people, not only in Asia and Africa, see this in the American people and accuse us for our twisted value system, seeing us grasping at straws to uphold our conviction that we are nondiscriminatory. While we say that we give equal opportunity, we do look down upon those who are different, and we can fool neither the world around us nor ourselves. A final quote was, “There are, it is true, occasional informative programs presented in that intellectual ghetto on Sunday afternoons. But during the daily peal viewing periods, television in the main insulates us from the realities of the world in which we live.” I feel that the industry realizes and exploits the fact that television is an escape from reality for many people. People feel they have enough reality by simply living real life, and the television industry caters to those people wanting to sit down in front of a screen refuge where they can stop worrying about the issues around them for a while. And while part of the industry’s job is to create entertainment for the viewers, there is also the responsibility to make reality available during the peak hours. Even I am guilty of this, as I quite honestly would rather watch my favorite TV shows than the latest political news. It is an issue that needs to be dealt with, as it is far too simple to ignore world issues when they are put on the back burner so that we can catch up on the trials and tribulations of silk charmeuse and jersey on Project Runway (I’m still not over the fact that Chloe won).
-Ellie
The movie had a lot to do with the world that we live in today. The first example would be when Murrow said, "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves." This relates to the Darfur awareness activity, the fault isn't already planned for us its what we decide our faults to be. We can stop ourselfs from doing stupid things, we can control our destiny.
The second way it connects to our life is we have to adjust to people being different. We can't blame people for what they believe in or how they act. Like when it says, "if we deny the right of the individual to be wrong, unpopular, eccentric or unorthodox." We can't hate our religions or sexual ideas because we think they are different our weird. Its not just for Bush to not allow gay marriage and its just not right for their to be hate crimes still today.
Finally, in the last speech it says, "But unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognize that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it and those who work at it, may see a totally different picture too late." This is very true we look to television for answers to everything, we dont rely on books or wiser people anymore. We think we can trust people on the info-mercials and we can learn things from reality television. But really the new t.v. shows are just making us fatter and stupider. We need more information shows, but don't change ESPN its fine how it is.
While watching Good Night, and Good Luck, I found it hard to find any relevence to today. But after reading these quotes, I was able to make the connections. The first quote I chose was, "We proclaim ourselves, as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom, wherever it continues to exist in the world, but we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home." I think this quote is a great explaination of what is happening in New Orleans. With such a huge disaster in our own country, it is hard to believe that Iraq is still getting more attention. New Orleans went without soliders to help them because we were to busy worring about another countries affairs. We cannot fix the world without fixing our own problems first.
The next quote I picked was, "Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought." I think this quote relates to two events occuring today. First, it relates to the wiretapping. Privacy is an American right, and the wirtapping defies that right. When the government exploits the right to privacy, it causes people to lose their trust in the government. The second relavence has to do with voting. In some states, ex-criminals are not allowed to vote. Voting is also an American right, and if that person has served their punishment, they should be treated as a normal American. To me, not allowing the ex-criminal to vote is unnecassary continual punishment, which causes distrust.
The third quote I chose was, "Responsibility is not something that can be assigned or delegated." I think this quote relates to the responsibility of the government. I believe that some of the senators and delagators are not taking responsiblilty to take a stand becuase they were not told to. For example, the government workers that believe the war in Iraq should be ended, are not pushing for that becuase that responsiblity was not given directly to them. I think that this applys to everyone. People don't take responsiblity unless forced to, or it is completely necassary. The government and the people are just waiting for someone else to take the responsibilities, when they are the ones who need to step up to the plate.
Natalie
I enjoyed Good night and good luck and I thought it was a very educational and information fun movie. The first quote I want to talk about is "We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law." I think that this relates directly to the way Bush has been using wire-tapping to arrest and convict people. I think that he shouldn't be allowed to do that unless the person is under extreme circumstances because that is a violation of their privacy rights.
Another quote from the paper that I thought could relate directly to today was “We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine; and remember that we are not descended from fearful men.” I think this can relate to the way people fear others who dont look or act like them. For example a lot of times a majority might fear a minority and cry. I cry when I think about all the racism in the world and it makes me so I can't stop crying.
And the last quote I thought that related to today was "Our history will be what we make it." I think this is an accurate statement for today too. I think that the U.S. is so powerful that we control our own future and we have the power to control what we want. It is up to us to make the world a better place. I cry everytime I think of how nice this world could truly be if everybody loved each other.
AJ
In the movie, many things that Murrow said can be applied to today. Like in the first speech, “This is no time for men who oppose Senator McCarthy’s methods to keep silent, or for those who approve.” This reminded me of the war in Iraq and how so many people oppose how he is handling the war. They speak up, but don’t do anything about it.
The second quote I took from the speeches was, “If we confuse dissent with disloyalty- if we deny the right of the individual to be wrong, unpopular, eccentric or unorthodox- if we deny the essence of racial equality…then hundreds will conclude that we are concerned to defend a myth and our present privileged status.” This also reminded me of the war in Iraq. If we oppose the war, then we are being disloyal to our country. But aren’t we allowed to have opinions and be different then others? We need to be equal to the people in the Middle East. Or else we are just pretending to believe that we are all equal when in our mind we know that it isn’t right.
The last quote I got was, “We are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable and complacent. We have currently a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information.” Here in America, we are the richest country (and the fattest) where no one pays attention to what’s happening to others around the world. Like in Darfur. We have just learned to accept that we don’t really care about anyone but ourselves. We have an allergy to anything outside of home.
-Maggie
There are a lot of good quotes in these three speeches. In the first speech he said, "We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result." I really like this quote because I feel it holds truth today. Many people today feel stongly that the war in Iraq is wrong, but how many rallys and protests has come up in this issue? People today are not speaking out, people today are not speaking there mind like the people of the 60's and 70's. So all we can do is wait and recieve the responsibility for the result.
"Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought." That quote was from the second speech. I thought this qoute also fit the times today. As the quote states that every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual costs us the cofinidence of men and women. So I ask you would invasion of privacy fall under this? Would wire tapping and email reading really be for the good of the people or would the confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak diminish in the use of wire tapping?
"But unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognize that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it and those who work at it, may see a totally different picture too late." In the third speech this quote is truly what is happening to America today. All the telivision programs are full of dramatic and comedic T.V. shows, but none of them show you the truth of whats going on in the world. The only T.V. show I can think of that accually informs you of what is going and is the news and not even the news tells you everything. So what is the result of this happening? Are the people now not responisble to know whats going on or are people just not interested?
Daniel
Good Night, and Good Luck was a great movie about how controlling our government was, and in a lot of ways still is.
In the first speech I choose that quote: "We proclaim ourselves, as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom, wherever it continues to exist in the world, but we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home." America is protesting freedom across the world as we help other countries. But at home, we continue to be hypocrites. We might be the defenders of freedom in other places, but at home we have the government taping wires and listening in on our private phone calls.
In the second speech I thought that this quote was relevant: " Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country cost us the...confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we seek and for which our ancestors fought." I think that this is a good quote because it states that our ancestors fought hard for freedom, so that everyone could be treated equally. Now in the state of the world, Iraqi people are being discriminated against. Even if a person has no ties to a terrorist group, based only on their race, the are judged. Despite what they look like they are innocent until proven guilty and should not be prosecuted for racial heritage.
In the third speech I choose the quote: "But unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognize that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse, and insulate us, then television...” This quote is just as relevant today as it was 40 years ago. People now more than ever use television as an escape tool for entertainment sources. Even when I do turn into the news I feel like it is all tainted. I always feel like the important things are being left out, most likely by the government. Television is not used any more as a main informative, if is used as an escape tool, and because of this people are more aware of what is happening in The OC then in the world.
~Alyssa
I thought Goodnight and Goodluck was a very good movie. It was one of my favorites that we've watched so far. Probably because I could actually understand what was going on.
My first statement I chose is,
"We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law."
This statement reminds me of the present day situation in Guantanamo Bay, where many accused terrorists are being held without actually being convicted and are not being given a fair trial.
My second statement is,
"It is necessary to investigate before legislating, but the line between investigating and persecuting is a very fine one and the junior Senator from Wisconsin has stepped over it repeatedly."
This statement reminds me of our discussion we had in class the other day about wiretapping and invasion of privacy. Even though I don't agree with the majority of our classes opinion of favoring privacy, I do believe that there is a point where invasion of privacy can go to far.
My final statement is,
"Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought."
This is just like how Middle Eastern, or even people that resemble Middle Eastern people are thought to all be terrorists after September 11th. Middle Eastern people are being unfairly targeted and unfairly treated.
yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Jay
So just to start… I didn’t like the movie AT ALL!!! I mean I enjoyed watching it in class because it was a change of pace from the “educational” movies we normally watch. The characters talked to quietly and it just didn’t grab my attention. ANYWAYS…back to the journal.
“We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine,; and remember that we are not descended from fearful men.”
This quote relates to today because it is talking about not being crushed by fear and to stand up for what you believe in. This quote reminds me of September 11, 2001. We were all shocked by fear and disbelief. But as a country, we did not back down. Although we are in a war that we should not be in, we had to show the terrorists what they were doing to us and other countries around the world was not okay with us.
“Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs usthe…confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought.”
We are all equal and should be treated as such. If racial discrimination starts up again, only bad things can come out of it. People immigrated from across the world to get these freedoms so we shouldn’t waste them.
“This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends.”
I believe that TV’s can teach because of the History channel and the Discovery Channel. I also believe that it can illuminate because it lights up a dark room. And I also agree that it is up to us to determine how to use it. I love TV and I think I am using it very well!
In my opinon i think the "Good Night and Good Lcuk was a good but very confusing movie. Some of the political statements that were given back then still relate to the political issues going on today. "but the line between investigating and persecuting is a very fine one" that qoute relates to the present day because it reminds me of wire tapping on how the government is reading thousands of poeples emails and phone conversations without a probalbe casue or a good reason.
Another quote that reminds me of the present day is "Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought." This qoutes reminds me of how people who look like they are middle easterns and who wear turnas on their head are being searched and watched just beucase they look middle eastern and look different. They have rights and they have the right to live in america with out being searched for no reason. They have rights and thats why they came to america. Also another quote is “Television in the main insulates us from the realities of the world in which we live.” i think that TV makes it look like we live in a perfect world when it only shows bad things about other countries but it dosen show anything bad about america.
Bob
The movie Goodnight and Goodluck was a pretty good movie and I thought that it showed me a lot about life today. The movie showed how the government has a lot of control that we may not even realize and is not being watched carefully. This showed me how the movie was very similar to todays government. The first statement that I chose was "We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine; and remember that we are not descended from fearful men." I really liked this statement because I thought that it was something that SHOULD be very true with social situations today. We shouldn't be afraid to write things, speak, defend or assoiate to causes that aren't popular at that moment in time. We should be able to think and believe in whatever we want.
The second statement that I chose was "....confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought." I think that this is just a really true statement because our ancestors fought SO hard for us to have all these freedoms and rights, so we should be able to express them!
The last statement that I chose was, "We are currently wealthy, fat, confortable and complacent. We have currently a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information." This statement is SO true to life today for example the Darfur genocides. Were not starving, we have PLEANTY of food, plenty of money and were comfortable in our surroundings and don't live in the constant fear every day that we could be killed. Basically just waiting for it to happen and having no control over it or anywhere to go to escape it. We all know that it is going on but we still continue to do NOTHING about it, expecially our government. We hear about it and all of the horriable things that are going on there and we think, "wow thats really terriable." And then just go back to our everyday lives, complaining about stupied things that really don't even matter, and none of us realize how lucky we really are. I know that I too am very guilty of this but it all comes with how you grow up and are brought up. This statement tells how we tend to block out things that we don't want to hear, and only listen to the good things in life...that we want to hear.
~MELISSA
In the first speech i chose the statement "We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result." To relate this statement to wahts going on now i woiuld have to compare it to the war in Iraq. It's true we can't deny our heritage and history but we have to take responsibility for it and deal with it. We are trying to just end teh war on terror but we are doing things that we haven't really thought through, the effects. But there is nothing we can take back we just have to accept responsibility and move on.
In the second speech i think the statement: "If we confuse dissent with disloyalty - if we deny the right of the individual to be wrong, unpopular, eccentric or unorthodox - if we deny the essence of racial equality then hundreds of millions in Asia and Africa who are shopping about for a new allegiance will conclude that we are concerned to defend a myth and our present priveleged status." has to do with everyday life. We can't deny peoples right to think differently. We cant confuse peoples view of things with distrust, because its not like that. I mean we think that we dont treat people differentl but really we have hidden biasies, everyone does. But if you treat people differently by how they think then thats like taking away their right to think and thats not even possible. You cant take away peoples right to have their own opinions.
In the third speech i chose "This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can only do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends." This has to do with today because everyone watches TV and they learn from it. People take things from TV and can be inspired by it or it can help you get through problems in your life. I think TV is a good thing to have to an extent. Once TV becomes your life you know you have a problem. But its true people do learn from what they see on TV but it can be bad if you are learning the wrong things. People rarely watch things that are happening around us, they would rather watch like their favorite shows instead of learning about the political problems.
Brit
When watching Good Night, and Good Luck, it showed me that a lot of what they were talking about back than, can relate to today's world. The first quote i chose was," We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law." Just by what people say, or what is heard, does not make it right. Showing evidence, or proof can make the statement right, but accusing does nothing but spread a rumor. In today's world, the law states that you are innocent until proven guilty. But there have been cases where only accusing someone was enough evidence.
Another quote i chose was, "Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought." I thought that this related to today's world with people from the middle east. It seems like ever since 9/11, they have been getting treated like they were the terrorists. Just because they are of the same race of the terrorists, doesn't make them a terrorist. Back than, people were not even allowed to say something bad about the government, or disagree with them. Well that's taking away our freedom of speech, freedom to express ourselves. When doing so, or discriminating against people that do so, than people stop expressing themselves. And that's taking away our freedom.
The last quote i choose was, "To those who say people wouldn't look; they wouldn't be interested; they're too complacent, indifferent and insulated, I can only reply: There is, in one reporter's opinion, considerable evidence against that contention." Some people think they are speaking for all, when really that's only their opinion. A lot of people are interested i think in what's going on in the world today. Back than i don't think the government stressed the politcal/econmic problems enough. So many people didn't know what was going on, how can you show interset in something, if you don't know what it's about. Now it seems like more people are free to express themselves, which i think is good, becasue the people should know and have input on what's happening. After all it's usually our money we use, and our people for war, and other actions the government takes.
Joslyn
"We proclaim ourselves, as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom, wherever it continues to exist in the world, but we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home."
I liked this quote a lot because it sums up what our issue is a lot of times with other countries. Often we have gotten caughten up with who our enemies were and where they might be, what they might look like, how they might talk; identifying them- and forgotten that doing so is defending our freedom. Standing up for one group in another country (for example, germans in wwi & ii) has resulted in deserting our own peoples freedoms (anti-german prejudice in US against american-germans).
"Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought."
This quote is basically saying that every act that takes away our freedoms as americans is llowering our confidence in those freedoms. I feel like our government is doing this because they are taking away our right to privacy, especially those of certain ethnic groups, such as middle-easterners or arabs. In invading our privacy and taking away that right, it is causing americans to lose trust in the government's leaders.
"I am entirely persuaded that the American public is more reasonable, restrained, and more mature than most of our industries' program planners believe."
I think that this quote is saying that the media shouldn't "dumb down" or sugar-caot the TV programs that are broadcasted because the average american is mature and level-headed. What is persented to the Americans should be brutally honest and harsh, because we as citezens are competant enough to face things the way they are and fix situations.
As I read through the three quotes I realized how powerful each statements are in each one.
In the first quote the statement that I choose was "...we are not descended from fearful men. Not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes..." The way this statement cant be applied to our world today is that noone is affraid to publish their views on certain issued anymore. We don't have to be afraid of being called a communist or anything else. People publish things about political and social issues which are usually read by most of the American population.
In the second speech, "Every act tthat denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the...confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which out ancestors fought." This statement could be seen in two ways, the way that paris portrayed it where because of the war in Iraq the US government is accusing every one who looks like someone from the Middle East to be involved in a terrorist group. Another way to look at this is that in class when we were trying to figure out whoch rights we could give up, it was really hard to choose because all of the rights are important and identify us for who we are, as it says in the statement, they are the rights "for which our acestors fought [for]."
For the third big quote; "This instrument [televistion] can teach, it can illuminate; yes it can even inspire." this statement is very true. Without television I don't think that anyone would know what is going on around the world and certain condition at which people are living across the oceans. I agree that we sould have more educational chanells, but we have enought to teach, illuminate and inspire many people. Before reading this quote i didn't realize what a big informator tv really is, I admit that there are a lot of bad things that people show on tv, but then I think that all of the informatative stuff (news, cancer doncation ads, etc.)kind of covers up the bad stuff.
-Neha
"His primary achievement has been in confusing the public mind, as between the internal and the external threats of Communism. We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine; and remember that we are not descended from fearful men. Not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were for the moment unpopular."
This quote relates to today because:
- fear of communism is replaced by fear of terrorism
- racial profiling is the confusion of dissent and disloyalty
- the patriot act is the accusation without proof (habeus corpus)
- we still don't desend from fearful men
- we cover our fear by increasing security in the airports and putting up wire taps
"if we deny the essence of racial equality then hundreds of millions in Asia and Africa who are shopping about for a new allegiance will conclude that we are concerned to defend a myth and our present privileged status."
- people still (kind of) see as as the "land of the free"
- maybe if we want to stop immigration problems we should only advertise anything with white christian men in suits and ties (yay!)
- we will do anything to stay a superpower (WWII, war on "terror")
"“We are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable and complacent. We have currently a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information. Our mass media reflect this. But unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognize that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it and those who work at it, may see a totally different picture too late."
- maybe the governments isn't as wealthy anymore but the businesses are very wealthy (McDonalds, Pepsi, Nike, etc.)
- there's still a problem with people not watching the news, they'd rather watch The OC or Gray's Anatomy. Few people watch the news really anymore.
Well i didnt see the movie Goodnight and Goodluck but uh im gonna try and do this without seeing it.
The quote that stood out for me in the first speech was this one. "We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine; and remember that we are not descended from fearful men. Not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were for the moment unpopular." This quote relates to todays world because there is a lot of fear in the world right now. Mostly for americans because of the terriost attacks. Most people are even scared of the people that are around them everyday, because you never know. But this also tells us that we should stick up and defend our fear no matter what is happening.
The second quote i liked was this one. "Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought." I think that this quote is very important because of how it relates to todays society. Most people view the United States as a place for equality and freedom thats why people immigrate here, but we cant say that when most people here dont even get the freedom and equality that they want.
In the third speech i liked this quote. “We are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable and complacent. We have currently a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information. Our mass media reflect this. But unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognize that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it and those who work at it, may see a totally different picture too late." This quote justs tells me that americans are glued to their television. All the worlds media is displayed through this technology, but all it really is is junk for bored people who think it's educating them but its just an excuse for pure entertainment.
-emily
“We proclaim ourselves, as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom, wherever it continues to exist in the world, but we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.” I chose this quote from the first speech because today, we are fighting the war in Iraq for their freedom and rights, but at the same time, at home, the government is taking away our right to privacy by tapping lines and reading emails and snooping around people’s business.
“Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the…confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought.” When the government taps into our phone calls and our emails, that takes away part of our freedom and one of our rights, and being an American includes the right to privacy. How can people believe they are living in a free country, when they always feel like they are being watched or spied on?
“I would just like to see [TV] reflect occasionally the hard, unyielding realities of the world in which we live.” Today, if you turn on the TV you won’t see reality; you will see perfect, wealthy, beautiful people and places. The media is trying to plant in our minds that this is what reality is, and should be, but it’s not. TV makers on shows like “Laguna Beach,” a “reality show,” don’t show all the poverty in that area, they only show the rich people with perfect lives because they know that is what’s going to attract viewers, not the actual reality of what the world is really like.
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