Human intelligence is the most very weak. It "can be defeated by any of one of its several nemeses: ignorance, superstition, moral fervor, cowardice, neglect." Exemplifying Germany, the cultural and philosophical center of the world was vanished in the 1930's, when Nazi Germany rose. Thus, "by 1969, there was no one left in Germany who had the brains or courage to object." Yet, the author wishes to discuss about the country "founded by intellectuals - men of side learning, of extraordinary rhetorical powers, of deep faith in reason," and whose education system has long been tested, recorded, and researched. The US, "Empire of Reason" has now changed from the centuries ago to the "Empire of Shlock." Unexpectedly, he doesn't analyse the process which transformed the US from reason to "slock", but exemplifies two movies about ignorance. About the first movie, "The Gods Must Be Crazy," Postman concludes that some things aren't so valuable "that they are worth admitting envy, egotism, and greed to a serene culture." In the second, "The Producers," he claims that "the produces of American culture will increasingly turn our [culture] into forms of entertainment, and we will become as a result of a trivial people, (...) a people amused into stupidity." The book "Brave New World" has been, as the author argues, the foreshadowing of the US. Ignorance would come not as a form of oppression, but as something "we welcome and love." Consequently, people "are controlled by inflicting pleasure" in the book, differently from "1984." The pleasure he means is the television, "the medium Americans most dearly love, and (...) the command center of American culture. Americans turn to television not only for their light entertainment but for their news, their weather, their politics, their religion, their history." The problem with the apparatus is that "on television all subject matter is presented as entertaining." Politics has turned into TV commercials, and the two possible rivals running for presidency, one of them being the actual president, are "former Hollywood actor[s]." Religious preaching, education, and even news are "packaged a a kind of show." They "[reduce] all events to trivialities, sources of public entertainment," thus making Americans "the most ill-informed people in the world," proved by his research "on the subject of the Iranian hostage crisis." He concludes that the TV "is not the great information machine. It is the great disinformation machine" forcing people "to comprehend the world through fragmented pictures." TV is bad, because it jeopardizes culture. There are two ways "in which the spirit of a culture may be degraded": violently or softly, "the way of the Americans."
The author starts with an awkwardly written phrase. However, as the essay goes on, things smoothly get organized and take their shape between the paragraphs. The concept of Shlock is explained in an excessively vague way, thus making the concept quite difficult to understand what is being talked about. The author also gives some entertaining information basing his example of "slock" on two movies; "The Gods Must Be Crazy" and "The Producers." This is ironic, because such movies that only entertain are a manifestation of "slock." However, he efficiently retold the first movie, for he only gave the important points that were related to the point he was making. Postman cites the book "Brave New World" and "1984," widely known and read masterpieces, which improves his credibility in the essay and facilitates understanding of the point he's making to those who read them. The author curiously uses "their" when he says "their weather, their politics" even though he himself is American. This could mean that he doesn't use television as a "command center" of culture. Overall, his essay has a natural flow on the subjects, and he constantly goes back to the two movies he cited, preventing readers from forgetting his points. He cites his own research, showing commitment and deep knowledge of the subject he's talking about. To prevent misunderstandings, Postman explains his points accurately in the last paragraphs.
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