In this essay by Neil Postman begins by giving a brief introduction, revealing the entitlement he feels towards the subject of "future shock," yet he distorts the message for a new audience the public. The "future shlock" he then refers to is the aftermath of "future shock," Postman characterizes this phenomenon as, "the rapid erosion of collective intelligence." Postman then moves on to speak of how fragile human intelligence is in a world of distortion, ignorance, and neglect. He exemplifies this phenomenon in Germany, where a drastic suppression of knowledge destroyed a once thriving intellectual nation. Nevertheless, his focus is on America, the once pro-intellect nation has taken a turn from the Empire of Reasoning, to what the author calls, the "Empire of Shlock." This degradation of intellect and learning has had its toll on public culture, especially through new technology. After recounting the events of the movies The Gods Must Be Crazy and The Producers he concludes that there are major concerns which sprout from the plots of these movies. The latter movie reveals the emphasis the world has on technology and developing around it, while the former reveals the focus on entertainment American society has. All of these cultural trends have changed mainstream thought, replacing ignorance for knowledge and suppressing intellect because it was "trivial." Postman continues by adding that Huxley, author of Brave New World, assumed correctly that the things society accepts are the things most likely to take a deathly toll on "humane creativity." Furthermore, the technology which transmits this information, namely television, has been perfected to merely expose culture through entertainment, taking from it the serious elements of reality. The language of television has incorporated itself into politics, religion, and the news, taking the actual value behind them and distorting them to support a more visually oriented audience. Postman explicitly states that he does not oppose the visual arts or entertainment industries, rather he opposes the role it has taken in society. He ends by stating that there are two ways culture may be destroyed, by either "becoming a prison...[or] becoming a burlesque;" yet of the two society is more susceptible to the appealing, opening itself to it and falling because of it.
In his article Postman does a good job of conveying his message through well though-out arguments, yet his sometimes condescending tone may be at times repulsive. Throughout his essay he makes a point of condemning several aspects of society which have led to cultural degradation, yet he does not point to a solution for this problem. Nevertheless his language is fluid and his arguments are clear, allowing the reader to clearly understand what is at stake while also understand his perspective on cultural degradation. To do this he uses clear transitioning while also backing-up his arguments with credible sources and analogies which are able to clearly represent his thought. On the other hand, he does take the Bible out of context at one point, using God as a scapegoat for the way in which he condemns society. He uses God as a way to tone down his own feelings about the subject, presenting why the visual industry is wrong in God's eyes and then in his own eyes. Nevertheless, his analogies to the two movies and to both Huxley and Orwell were extremely effective, he was able to easily create a strong basis for his argument and one which underlies several social problems seen today. Overall, his essay was able to convey his purpose by following an easy structure. His tone highlighted the urgency of society to recognize the real enemy, one which may be much closer than is apparent. Furthermore, he is able to create an appeal to logos and ethos, presenting logical facts while appealing to the good of the majority.
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