Robin Garwood, adding to the group-think discussion, raises questions regarding the legitimacy of corporate advertising in society, and the mass barrage of messages we are faced with daily; making it list-germane by referring to >...the recent Target Market campaign, whose goal is to pull > the curtain away from the advertising methods employed by the tobacco > industry...
Seems to me it's all about 'free speech.' After all, what is the Target Market campaign other than just another ad campaign? Designing and addressing a message to a target audience... just like toothpaste or automobiles. I believe critical thinking/analysis skills are more important today than ever before; and they grow more valuable daily. However, I question how effectively such skills can be taught in the Minneapolis public schools, given that 47% of 8th graders couldn't pass the recent basic-skills reading test, and 52% couldn't pass the math test. Then, in high school, about half the students drop out before graduating. I'd suggest that way too many of these students simply aren't good candidates for critical thinking/analysis coursework-- their time would be better spent on phonics, reading (books, magazines and newspapers--even the ads) and basic math. Critical thinking/analysis coursework in high school would be excellent as an elective with prerequisites that make it interesting and challenging. And, sticking to the subject head above, looking on my shelves I've also got some suggested reading for any organized reading initiative in Minneapolis-- or any unorganized initiative for that matter-- coffee shops, park benches, etc. (needless to say I'm mostly into non-fiction): Native Roots, Jack Weatherford Across the Wire- Life and Hard Times on the Mexican Border, Luis Alberto Urrea I Will Fight No More Forever- Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce War, Merrill Beal Wisdomkeepers: Meetings with Native American Spiritual Elders, Steve Wall and Harvey Arden Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglas An American Slave Written by Himself The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Alex Haley A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold A River Runs Through It, Norman Maclean Beyond the Hundredth Meridian, Wallace Stegner Reflections from the North Country, Sigurd Olson On the Road, Jack Kerouac Steady State Economics, Herman Daley Free to Chose, Milton Friedman Dangerous Currents: The State of Economics, Lester Thurrow A Random Walk Down Wall Street, Burton Malkiel Competing for the Future, Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad Post-Capitalist Society, Peter Drucker A People's History of the United States, Howard Zinn Danger in the Comfort Zone, Judith Bardwick Ethics for the New Millennium, Dalai Lama Suburban Nation-- The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream, Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk and Jeff Speck The Geopolitics of Information- How Western Culture Dominates the World, Anthony Smith Necessary Illusions, Noam Chomsky The Prize, Daniel Yergin Biography of a Germ, Arno Karlen Living Terrors-- What America Needs to Know to Survive the Coming Bioterrorist Catastrophe, Michael Osterholm What is Nature Worth?, Edward O. Olson, writing in Wilson Quarterly, Winter 2002 Hope everyone can enjoy several good books and many magazine articles over the spring/summer... visit your neighborhood library this week! Relax and enjoy life. It's healthy. TGIF!! Michael Hohmann Linden Hills > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of > Garwood, Robin > Sent: Friday, April 19, 2002 1:59 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: RE: [Mpls] Reads One Book Initiative > > > 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 _______________________________________ 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
