An interesting thread between Alan and Brandon. A few thoughts: I don't think you can accurately categorize opinions as groupthink that the dominant culture outside a system does not hold to be true. Not only is our state and national government not governed by the principles Alan listed, in many cases they work actively to their detriment. (By the way, what is "deep ecology" exactly? How does it differ from plain old ecology? The first I heard the phrase used was in that ridiculous logging lawsuit up north, and I regard it more as a reflexive pejorative to apply to environmentalists than a term of any useful or specific meaning.)
All that said, I would argue with Alan on the assertion that any of the principles he listed are as powerfully ingrained in Minneapolitans as he seems to think. If they were, why would we not all be bicycling? Why would a three-term City Council incumbent have criticized her Green Party challenger with a phrase that went something like this: "some of his socialist views simply wouldn't work in a capitalist economy"? To a certain extent, accusing those with whom you disagree of groupthink is an attempt to delegitimize their perhaps well-founded beliefs without debating the beliefs themselves. Now to get Minneapolis-specific so I don't lose my membership card. I agree with Brandon that a resistance to groupthink has never really been taught in our schools, but should be. However, I think the largest source of unquestioned thought in our culture is not academia, as Brandon seems to suggest, or government, as Alan clearly asserts. I think it's corporate, and it enters us through the three thousand advertisements the to which average American is subject on a daily basis - the greatest impediment to critical, independent thinking the world has ever seen. I have thought for some time that we need a required course in secondary education to act as a vaccine against the methods and messages of the sophisticated modern advertiser. This course would analyze specific ads from each medium and encourage kids to ask and answer questions like "what are these people trying to get me to do? What are they doing to me to produce this behavior?" The course could use several wonderful books (whose titles I can't remember right now) and the periodical Adbusters as curricula, as well as copies and videos of mainstream advertisements. I'm encouraged by the recent Target Market campaign, whose goal is to pull the curtain away from the advertising methods employed by the tobacco industry, but we need the same effort against advertising in general, and the schools would be the ideal setting. I'd be interested in getting responses from Brandon and other current School Board members and candidates about these few questions: Would you support the creation of such a course in the Minneapolis Public Schools? What are your views on the pervasive product placement and advertising in our schools? Robin Garwood Seward Elected Member, Minneapolis/5th District Green Party Steering Committee _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
