-
Meaning And Purpose
November 24, 2020
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
We have learned, this past decade or two, that words have power.
We’ve learned that our nation is divided on too many issues, that our identity as a nation, our survival as the world’s hope is at risk.
Yes, part of your job is to take me away from the ceaseless shouting and yelling and discord.
In our time of suffering and daily death counts, the ability to make me smile, to make me laugh, is a gift meant to be shared. We need you now!
Still, I’m writing this mostly for Talk Radio and the personalities that have made it so dangerous. I think you have a responsibility too. Some, Charlie Sykes, for one, understood where Talk Radio was going, saw the effect it was having on unstable listeners, and left the business.
Alex Jones swears under oath when in court that he is acting, that what he says is not what he actually believes. The poison he spews has made him wealthy. He doesn’t seem to care who he hurts.
Whoever “QAnon” is, s/he would have you believe that there is a worldwide cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who abduct, sodomize and then cook and eat children. S/He points the finger at Tom Hanks (of all people), the Clintons and the Obamas.
One of the QAnon faithful sits in prison right now for taking loaded assault weapons to a pizzeria near Washington, DC. He thought he would find and free children who were victims of this plot. He was surprised, stunned, when he found only normal people and families eating lunch. He apologized when he was arrested.
Your words have power. Choose your words to heal our world not to set it on fire.
That is the first and most basic of any on-air talent’s responsibilities.
“Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life.
Thus, people haunted by the purposelessness of their lives try to find new content not only by dedicating themselves to a holy cause but also by nursing a fanatical grievance.
A mass movement offers them unlimited opportunities for both…
There is a deep reassurance for the frustrated in witnessing the downfall of the fortunate and the disgrace of the righteous. They see in general downfall an approach to the brotherhood of all.
Chaos, like the grave, is a haven of equality.
Their burning conviction that there must be a new life and a new order is fueled by the realization that the old will have to be razed to the ground before the new can be built…
A sublime religion inevitably generates a strong feeling of guilt. There is an unavoidable contrast between loftiness of profession and imperfection of practice. And, as one would expect, the feeling of guilt promotes hate and brazenness.
Thus it seems that the more sublime the faith the more virulent the hatred it breeds.”
“The True Believer” was written by Eric Hoffer in 1951 and brought to prominence when quoted by President Dwight D. Eisenhower during his presidency.
It almost seems prescient now, doesn’t it?
-
-