Spring Break
Technological shift streamlining progress
Dean Galaro
Issue date: 2/25/09 Section: Opinion
We see the president every day on the television, on billboards, on the internet, and so on. We are constantly inundated with facts and figures that we want to know or need to know because we're told we need to know it. We are a people stuck on the escalator of technological innovation and progress, yet we don't even know or don't care. In a culture where we have some kind of right to know everything, where do we draw the line on what can or should be known? Today are the days of the paparazzi and the blog, where the dissemination of information, whether in the form of audio, video, or pictorial, is instant and for some reason gratifying, yet what have we really gained?
Many people probably feel like they know President Obama more than any other recent executive figure because of the ways in which he has taken advantage of the multitude of social media outlets like Facebook and YouTube. Thanks to the radio, we could hear FDR tell us how he's saving the country from the depression. Thanks to the television, we could watch Kennedy lose a debate with Nixon and yet come out the handsome victor. Thanks to the internet, we can watch Obama reassure us that his stimulus plan is going to engage the economy and get us out of the gutter of this recession. We can also read his books, see him on the news, and find his face emblazoned in blue and red graffiti in the streets. Granted, we are still on our honeymoon with Obama, and while this is not a slight at the man himself, let's make sure we're not letting ourselves be blindly led along.
Why was it headline news that Obama wanted to keep his personal Blackberry? Because people want to know what the president is doing at all times, and because he is a public personality and figure, he is now fair game for personal and obtrusive involvement. Since he is leading our country, we might as well get to know the man, right? But, by the same token, should we not then get to know our Congress, since they are the ones actually debating and writing the law? Should we not also get to know our Judiciary, since they are the ones with the power to throw our law out? We don't-and these days, can't-because there are just too many of them in too many places for us to try and know all of them.
Many people probably feel like they know President Obama more than any other recent executive figure because of the ways in which he has taken advantage of the multitude of social media outlets like Facebook and YouTube. Thanks to the radio, we could hear FDR tell us how he's saving the country from the depression. Thanks to the television, we could watch Kennedy lose a debate with Nixon and yet come out the handsome victor. Thanks to the internet, we can watch Obama reassure us that his stimulus plan is going to engage the economy and get us out of the gutter of this recession. We can also read his books, see him on the news, and find his face emblazoned in blue and red graffiti in the streets. Granted, we are still on our honeymoon with Obama, and while this is not a slight at the man himself, let's make sure we're not letting ourselves be blindly led along.
Why was it headline news that Obama wanted to keep his personal Blackberry? Because people want to know what the president is doing at all times, and because he is a public personality and figure, he is now fair game for personal and obtrusive involvement. Since he is leading our country, we might as well get to know the man, right? But, by the same token, should we not then get to know our Congress, since they are the ones actually debating and writing the law? Should we not also get to know our Judiciary, since they are the ones with the power to throw our law out? We don't-and these days, can't-because there are just too many of them in too many places for us to try and know all of them.
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