Democracy Matters Are Frightening in Our Time by Cornel West
link: http://www.logosjournal.com/west.htm
Differently from the society we live in, in which true nature of facts are often masked by massive media and consumerism, the Cornel West made a clear and specific choice when presenting deterioration of democracy through three dogmas that determine our society.
It really stroke me when West commented on the Free-market fundamentalism shifting the focus from health clinics to plastic surgeries, from children’s care to strip clubs. The huge difference between this matters, health care and esthetic treatment for instance, are many times not perceived in society. And while television and radio are announcing the new laser hair removal center, people are dying from not receiving proper medical care. I find it insulting that we are lead to believe we are the only existing human beings in the world at the same time as business leaders are homogenizing us.
If you think about the second dogma, aggressive militarism, you begin to understand how cyclically the system regresses. In order to end crime and violence the U.S. government chooses to make use of the very same. West resumes: “It views crime as a monstrous enemy to crush rather than as an ugly behavior to change”
It is really fascinating how he is able to unfold the three dogmas and link them to racial issues that haunt society for centuries.
I just commented on the two most striking segments of the reading for me, but there’s much more to learn ourselves if you read the whole article.
- Paula Rebelo
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