80% of Republicans are Uninformed Democrats

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. came to speak at the University of North Texas recently about environmental responsibility, media responsibilities, and the role corporations now have in our society.

He was insistent that there must be a middle ground between capitalism and the government. The current government has tried to control the shared resources of air and water, which belong to the state (not to TXU) to pollute. By privatizing the resources, like air and water, it is creating pollution.

The Bush administration has appointed some of the top 100 polluters to the heads of environmental agencies. The majority of citizens able to vote are not aware of this problem.

Kennedy made a wonderful point dealing with today’s media. The information being covered by today’s media is determined by ratings and corporations. This leads to the spread of “popular” news, not substantial news. In 1988, Reagan abolished the Fairness Doctrine, which led to the unfair and biased reporting allowed today. The coverage we see today filled with celebrity gossip, which takes the focus off the real issues, with which we need to be dealing. With the smallest amount of war reporters ever, it is evident we are not being well informed about the true situation occurring overseas. Since stockholders have a say on the content of the news they hold shares in, it is for profit, and guess what, sex and scandal sell.

When our society originated, the uninformed were looked upon as a detriment to the nation. I say it is still the case. Is it possible to pass legislation which makes the public stay informed with unbiased information? Is it time to forcibly educate the masses?