Schmith 1 Gabriel Schmith Mrs.

Laurie Oberg English 12 16 October 2013 Education for Democracy In his AlterNet article, 8 Reasons Young Americans Dont Fight Back: How the US Crushed Youth Resistance (Levine)i, Bruce Levine addresses eight reasons the youth of the United States havent seriously challenged controversial ideas set into place by the powerful political leaders of our country. His seventh point really got my attention. Levines seventh reason as to why U.S. youth dont fight back is because of television. On pages three to four of his article, under Television, he covers a few sub points. Of these, Im arguing three. First, that, in his own words, the mere act of watching TV pacifies. Second, that television isolates people so as to prevent them from uniting in a move of resistance against authorities. Third, that, related to television, video games can give one a sense of potency where none actually exists, thereby leading the individual to believe they are somewhat powerful and thereby shouldnt be considered a threat to the, in Levines terms, ruling elite. Television pacifies by putting its viewers into a hypnotic state and making their brainwaves slow down; in addition, the human mind tends to pick up on the quick movements of films and emotion-triggering images (Swanson).ii For this reason those whom create movies and television shows tend to include said quick movements and emotionally sensitive images. It is special effects like these that keep a person glued to the television until the program is over.

Schmith 2 Television has isolated people by making the world smaller (leecher777).iii Since television news broadcasts information from one location to another to update an individual on current events via satellite, cable, or digital relay (e.g., from New York to California; Great Britain to United States; United States to Great Britain), people no longer have to leave their homes to stay connected with the rest of the world. While this may seem like a good thing, people are trapped in a virtual world where they dont receive the entire accounts of national and international affairs as they are sometimes biased. Concerning the matter of video games giving a person a sense of potency, there is a reddit post under the Games section titled What games do you love because 'they make you feel powerful'? (i_706_i)iv So far the post has received over five hundred comments by various users, numerous of which speak specifically about the video games that make them feel powerful. In addition to these responses countess other users and nonusers view the page. With so many people expressing interest in this reddit post it is obvious that video games can indeed give a person a sense of potency as so many people have well indicated likewise. So as weve gone over, the main reasons why television (and video games) is in part responsible for U.S. youth not fighting any of the freedom-binding political systems controversial concepts, bills, and laws set into place by the many power misers in control of this system is because watching television pacifies, isolates those that adhere to its siren call, and video games (which are related to television) can give a person a sense of potency.

Schmith 3 Works Cited

Levine, Bruce E. "8 Reasons Young Americans Don't Fight Back: How the US Crushed Youth Resistance." AlterNet. N.p., 31 July 2011. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. <http://www.alternet.org/story/151850/8_reasons_young_americans_don%27t_fight_back%3A_how_th e_us_crushed_youth_resistance?page=0,0>. ii Swanson, Mike. "How TV Hypnotizes You, Pacifies You, and Makes You Waste Your Life Away - Mike Swanson (03/17/2013)." WallStreetWindow. N.p., 17 Mar. 2013. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. <http://www.wallstreetwindow.com/node/7906>. iii leecher777. "How Television Isolates Individuals." AllFreeEssays. N.p., 25 Jan. 2011. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. <http://www.allfreeessays.com/essays/How-Television-Isolates-Individuals/200484.html>. iv i_706_i. "What Games Do You Love Because 'they Make You Feel Powerful'?" REDDIT. N.p., 01 July 2012. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. <http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/vvkok/what_games_do_you_love_because_they_make_yo u_feel/>.