In “Voting Democracy off the Island Reality TV and the Republican Ethos”, Francine
Prose confidently, and often sarcastically, illustrates her convictions on the ties between the
Republican Party, reality television, and the demoralization of our society. Prose asserts that the projection of ‘Machiavellian’ television shows in which average contestants must constantly deceive and best one another represents a twisted set of Republican ideals. Although shows like
Survivor do not seem harmful at first glance, Prose believes that these shows venerate the paragon of immoral Republican ideals such as“flinty individualism...the belief that certain circumstances justify secrecy and deception, the invocation of a reviled common enemy to solidify group loyalty”(291). Her ultimate fear is that the American public will become so desensitized to political acts of treachery and deceit like the Bush administration’s withholding of information on weapons of mass destruction (292) that we eventually become an indifferent, apathetic representation of what our democracy once stood for (293).
Francine Prose is very quick to draw ties between the Republican Party and what she believes to be the decent into a crumbling democracy where “everyone always votes, for himself”(293). Her undeniable political bias weakens her argument. and her belief that simple perversions like individualism and deception are only Republican in nature is an incorrect assumption. Although she adds strong support to her dissertation of social decline and reality television with the idea of Social Darwinism, her argument becomes a whole new animal with politics involved. She seems to be so set in her ways of opposition against the Republican party that she doesn’t consider the idea that anybody will do what it takes to be on top if they believe
the situation is dire enough. To say that Social Darwinism and the immorality it supports is a
Republican construct is a post hoc fallacy. It is hard not to notice her obvious contempt for
Right Wing politics and the Bush administration, and it might make the reader wonder whether or not her argument is too biased to be valid.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
Social Darwinism- a 19th-century doctrine that the social order is a product of natural selection of those persons best suited to existing living conditions.…
- 365 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
A writ of assistance is a written order issued by a court instructing a law enforcement official, such as a sheriff or tax collector, to perform a certain task. The writs of assistance that James Otis challenged were general warrants allowing officials to search for smuggled material within any suspected premises. James Otis was Advocate-General when the legality of these warrants was attacked, but promptly resigned his office when called upon to defend that legality. Boston merchants then retained him as their counsel to oppose the writs before the Superior Court of Massachusetts. Otis refused the fee they offered, saying that in such a cause he despised all fees. In a five-hour speech, which was witnessed by a young John Adams, Otis argued…
- 175 Words
- 1 Page
Good Essays -
own society. Does our society have similar problems? How so? Are we in danger of…
- 364 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
The “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was composed on April 16, 1963 by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from his jail cell, during his brief incarceration. Dr. King's letter was written as a direct response to an open letter [which criticized his activity]; signed by eight white clergymen and published in the Birmingham News. Further, Dr King’s indirect audience was the United States (U.S.) White Moderate class. In his letter Dr. King made very effective use of the three rhetorical appeals: ethos, pathos, and the abundant use of logos in describing the Whites injustice to Blacks. Dr. King use of ethos is indirect. Dr. King’s direct audience is that of religious and learned men, therefore ethos is established through the use of religious and intellectual codes. The codes are illustrated as follows: “…to my Christian and Jewish brothers” followed with references to the Apostle Paul, St Thomas Aquinas, Socrates, the United States Supreme Court and St Augustine; the use of those code words established Dr. King as a religious, intellectual and highly educated man.…
- 593 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
I am going to let your example know to a twenty seven years old woman that years ago got anorexia because she wanted to be a model, maybe some of her example skinny models were not all bones after all.…
- 106 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
This long complex quote came from the well-known letter of Birmingham jail written by Martin Luther king. Through this letter, he uses a lot of different writing techniques to reach out to his audience. This writing technique has not only made me look at his writing but also feel connected to his writing. He was an American Baptist minister, social activist, humanitarian, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the mid-1950s until his death by assassination in 1968. He is a strong, well known powerful figure from America’s history.…
- 449 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
In the novel ‘The Outsiders’ by S.E Hinton, we see how hard times bring out the best and worst in human nature. Human nature is basically what people are like deep down. As the characters change and their life grows and gets harder, we are shown their true colours. Some of them change for the best, and some for the worst.…
- 446 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
One of the major ideas brought about in the late nineteenth century was Social Darwinism. Social Darwinism explains the “why” in how some people are wealthy and some are “sloth.” Hebert Spencer idol of Social Darwinism, virtually described it as a natural process in which all people deserved their dismal fates. It was encouraged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to justify imperialism to discourage intervention.…
- 444 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Nowadays, humans have made incredible discoveries; we have created a wonderful world of technology, which leads us to make some enormous progress in the field of medicine; especially in how to treat diseases which were, at some time, considered incurable. My point is, that since we have made such progress in technology, I am scared that we are keeping too many people alive, including some that might not fit the environment in which they live. In addition, we are allowing some infertile people to reproduce through in-vitro fertilization, when apparently they were not capable naturally. We are also letting babies survive by saving their lives at their birth even though they might not be perfectly healthy or other traits which could bedetrimental for the human species. But through science and the new technology, we have let these babies live and we have given them the opportunity to grow up and reproduce, transmitting their traits to other generations. Due to these facts, it is very probable that we are acting against natural selection in human beings, ever since humans became people who think and care for one another and we have made it immoral to kill another individual or to let him die.…
- 519 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Jonathan Kozol’s essay on The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society (1985) claims that based on the beliefs of Socrates and James Madison, illiteracy is a moral dilemma. Kozol supports this claim by speculating what a number of tragic outcomes could be as a result of illiteracy. His purpose is to show how a person’s daily life is affected negatively by being illiterate in order to prove that illiteracy in a broad sense is a moral dilemma. Kozol’s intended audience in writing this essay would be the public.…
- 589 Words
- 3 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
On a Christian Living perspective, there are a few anthropolgies that could be a principle to the social problem. One is, Man is a person, on the saying that we are rational and conscious beings, we have free will and we have self-awareness. This anthropology shows that people who does drugs and such should be aware on how their actions could affect them. They should know that these bad actions leads to nothing good, in fact it can make your life worse. Yes we have free will but we should know how to use them right. Another is historical reality where in we exercise our freedom in order to improve ourselves since we do have a task given by God that we should do with God's grace. This anthropology teaches us that we have a chance to improve…
- 263 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Social Darwinism is the theory that only those who are relatively strong can survive and achieve wealth and the weak will remain poor. It credited the gap in fortune between the rich and the poor to the fitness and strength of the wealthy. One of social Darwinism’s principal slogans was “survival of the fittest”, which was invented by Hebert Spencer not Charles Darwin. The belief was that society was comparable to the animal kingdom and that individuals who weren’t fit enough to survive in the conditions of the world created the underprivileged population. Those who believed in this theory thought that poverty and other society troubles were the result of bad genetics.…
- 238 Words
- 1 Page
Good Essays -
Social Darwinism is merely all about evolution and adaptation to a species, not “one will…
- 1534 Words
- 7 Pages
Better Essays -
The theory of Social Darwinism, despite the name, was developed by Herbert Spencer in the late 19th century. He strongly believed that no assistance should be provided to those in need. The poor, less fortunate would die out while the stronger, more intelligent or the “fittest” would thrive. By letting this happen, he believed that a more advanced society would form. From this theory, “survival of the fittest” became well known (Henslin 6). This harsh way of thinking would mean that those born into poverty would never have a chance or anyone else that fell behind for that matter. Also, stronger or more fit would begin to develop radical ways to eliminate the weaker parts of…
- 117 Words
- 1 Page
Good Essays -
F. Scott Fitzgerald once said, “The reason one writes isn 't the fact he wants to say something. He writes because he has something to say.” This quote applies directly to Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s novel A Grain of Wheat. One could infer from this quote that some writers write not just for the enjoyment derived from it, but rather out of a feeling of obligation to let readers hear what they may have to say. Ngugi’s message that he feels obligated to convey is delivered, however, he uses a very unusual writing technique to arrive there. He wants the readers to understand the pain, suffering, and confusion that took place during the Emergency. Through jumbled chronological order, numerous character and point of view changes, and a powerful conclusion, Ngugi relays his message with immense authority.…
- 1242 Words
- 5 Pages
Powerful Essays