The American press exists for one purpose only, and that is to convince Americans that they are living in the greatest and most envied country in the history of the world. The Press tells the American people how awful every other country is and how wonderful the United States is and how evil communism is and how happy they should be to have freedom to buy seven different sorts of detergent.
Interpretation
This quote critiques the role of the American press in shaping public perception of the United States as superior.
Gore Vidal's quote highlights the notion that the American press serves a specific purpose of promoting a patriotic narrative that emphasizes the United States as the best country in history while disparaging other nations. Through selective emphasis on nationalism and consumerism, the media influences citizens to feel fortunate for their freedoms, thus perpetuating a specific worldview that aligns with American exceptionalism and capitalism.
In practice
In a discussion about the responsibilities of journalism during a national holiday celebration.
We must declare ourselves, become known; allow the world to discover this subterranean life of ours which connects kings and farm boys, artists and clerks. Let them see that the important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
American writers want to be not good but great; and so are neither.
Writing fiction has become a priestly business in countries that have lost their faith.
The important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
For the average American, freedom of speech is simply the freedom to repeat what everyone else is saying and no more.
Ayn Rand's 'philosophy' is nearly perfect in its immorality, which makes the size of her audience all the more ominous and symptomatic as we enter a curious new phase in our society.... To justify and extol human greed and egotism is to my mind not only immoral, but evil.
Wine is like the incarnation--it is both divine and human
Civilisation, the orderly world in which we live, is frail. We are skating on thin ice. There is a fear of a collective disaster. Terrorism, genocide, flu, tsunamis.
I know the place. It is true. Everything we do Corrects the space Between death and me And you.
Understanding of the self only arises in relationship, in watching yourself in relationship to people, ideas, and things; to trees, the earth, and the world around you and within you. Relationship is the mirror in which the self is revealed. Without self-knowledge there is no basis for right thought and action.
The western mantra is that Israel seeks negotiations without preconditions, while the Palestinians refuse. The opposite is more accurate.
I've never meditated in my life. I don't practice yoga nor any religion. I'm a tourist on the realm of stillness.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.