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A review by safairamariah
Idiot Nation by Michael Moore
4.0
This book is about the corporate world, the American education system, common knowledge (or what should be common knowledge) and hypocrisy. So, I suppose anyone can learn something from this.
I have always heard criticisms of the corporate world, so a critique of it does not surprise me. However, I never caught on to how deeply ingrained brands are in the school system. Of course there are obvious examples like Coca Cola and Pepsi, but the broadcast advertisement example stuck with me the most.
Channel One f.e. is according to Moore one of the worst news and advertisement channels, because only 20% of the airtime is devoted to politics, economics and social issues, in other words, educational topics, what we PAY for. The rest is just pure advertisement. I never knew that and reading this was slightly disturbing to me, in addition to reading that Channel One is shown disproportionately in low-income communities with large minority populations.
In my opinion, these are the communities that tend to need decent education the most. We all know how far the corporate world goes and how sneaky it can be, but to target the people with the worst socioeconomic status and in the most need of education is plain devious.
Towards the end of the book Moore suggests that if we really want change, those in power must overcome bad things. I do not know how I feel about this sentiment, because on one hand I truly get the thought. It’s one of the only ways of getting what middle or lower-class people need. On the other hand, I do not agree with intentionally wishing people -whether they are in power or not- bad things. At the same time, change is needed. See my conundrum?
All in all, I truly enjoyed the book, its analysis and conciseness.
I have always heard criticisms of the corporate world, so a critique of it does not surprise me. However, I never caught on to how deeply ingrained brands are in the school system. Of course there are obvious examples like Coca Cola and Pepsi, but the broadcast advertisement example stuck with me the most.
Channel One f.e. is according to Moore one of the worst news and advertisement channels, because only 20% of the airtime is devoted to politics, economics and social issues, in other words, educational topics, what we PAY for. The rest is just pure advertisement. I never knew that and reading this was slightly disturbing to me, in addition to reading that Channel One is shown disproportionately in low-income communities with large minority populations.
In my opinion, these are the communities that tend to need decent education the most. We all know how far the corporate world goes and how sneaky it can be, but to target the people with the worst socioeconomic status and in the most need of education is plain devious.
Towards the end of the book Moore suggests that if we really want change, those in power must overcome bad things. I do not know how I feel about this sentiment, because on one hand I truly get the thought. It’s one of the only ways of getting what middle or lower-class people need. On the other hand, I do not agree with intentionally wishing people -whether they are in power or not- bad things. At the same time, change is needed. See my conundrum?
All in all, I truly enjoyed the book, its analysis and conciseness.