On Sep 28, 2006, at 3:19 PM, Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
> On 9/28/06, Carrol Cox <cbcox at ilstu.edu> wrote:
>> I would think that newspapers make a difference, if they do make a
>> difference, only collectively, over a considerable amount of time, on
>> general response to the world, but make no difference whatever on
>> specific issues on a specific occasion. It would be interesting to
>> try
>> to formulate The Message which u.s. papers, collectively, over
>> periods
>> of years or decades, issue. That formulation would be the answer
>> to the
>> question, "What difference do newspapers make?"
>
> 1. "The United States is the greatest nation in the world, and
> Americans are freer and richer than any other people in the world, so
> the rest of the world envy us."
>
> 2. "The United States is obligated to make the rest of the world
> better -- bring freedom and democracy to them if possible, or
> establish stability at least. Those who think neither is possible are
> selfish isolationists or racists who believe that the rest of the
> world do not want or deserve freedom and democracy."
Etc. Was this an actual attempt to answer Carrol's question? If it is, it makes me wonder if you read the NYT or any other half-decent newspaper. Yeah, there's a lot of crap in the NYT, but there's a lot of useful information too - a lot more than you typically find in the "left" or "alternative" press.
Doug