Bill O’Reilly
Bill O’Reilly is the kind of person who is impossible to convince he may have a flawed point of view. He refuses to look at situations from both sides. In the article “Ignorance is Not Bliss”, Bill talks about how the United States has become ignorant and does not know “the wonders of this grand experiment”. He also states that “the internet and pop culture have created a generation of self-absorbed, distracted and ignorant people.” This may be true but it has also given people a reason to get together and relate. As stated, he only can see the bad side of situations. He claims that schools have stopped teaching the amazing ways America has come to be and are focused on “alleged sins”. The problem is that if we did not teach about the wrongs that did in fact happen, nothing alleged about it, then we would be doomed to repeat our mistakes. He also states that people know too little about what is happening out in the rest of the world. The problem is that we can only get our information second hand. The news, magazines, blogs and other sources of information are all looking for a big story. If they twist the story to fit what they are looking for, who will ever know? Also when something does happen, it may be kept from us. Held back so we don’t hear of a terrible event because we may not take it well. So, to finish, the only way we can actually know what is going on in the world, is to be there when things happen. I agree most Americans are ignorant, but it is not always because we choose to be.
Do you feel that Americans are all ignorant,and that internet and pop culture are ruining us?
I do not feel that all Americans are ignorant, though I definitely feel that some are. Maybe we don’t know everything that’s going on, and the media does twist things, but with social media we know things faster and from more sources than ever before. O’Reilly sounds a little dramatic and paranoid in thinking everything is kept from us. I do not think the internet and pop culture are ruining us, because people have been messed up since the beginning of time, not since the internet started. The amount of time people waste on the internet and pop culture might be ruining their own lives, but Americans are not being ruined from it. Bill O’Reilly just sounds like a grouchy old man complaining about “kids these days”.
I don’t think that Americans as a whole are ignorant, in fact, I would not even go as far as saying that the majority of people are ignorant.. A lot of people choose to be very involved in social affairs and are definitely not ignorant. I don’t think that pop culture and social media are ruining people either. Sometimes I do agree that without all of the social media now a days life would be much simpler and less dramatic, but it is very useful as well. It allows us to catch up with friends and have fast access to different affairs happening around the world. For this reason, I don’t think that we know too little about what is happening around the world. Some things may not be shared with us, but also we cannot worry about every problem in surrounding countries as well as the problems of our own. I think Bill O’Reilly is being very critical of Americans in this column.
-Colleen K.
Although i do not feel as though all Americans are ignorant, i am very well aware of how many are. I actually do on the other hand think that the secondhand information, although interesting, does more harm than enlightenment. I know that Bill O’Reilly can be extremely one sided in his columns but i think this specific review does a good job of capturing an issue that actually all Americans can relate to, and most can agree with. Being a teenage girl, i do know how pop culture can affect us and i do have to say that yes it can ruin us very easily.
I don’t think that Americans are ignorant. There will always be that group of people who are. But, there are not even close to enough ignorant people in this country to label them as “Americans,” implying that everyone in this country as a whole is ignorant. As for the internet and pop culture, I do believe that in some ways they are ruining us. You do not always get the full story. Only what you are allowed to see by the publisher. This can be damaging in the sense that you may not get both perspectives, so your opinion may be biased. However, the internet can also be very useful and educational if it is used the correct way. As for pop culture, young children are introduced to a lot that they should not be learning about at a very young age. Most music and movies are inappropriate and talk and show violence and drugs. I think that these things being shown to a young person is damaging, and they should not learn of these things until they are older and more mature and know right from wrong.