cynical lethargy

yesterday was my last day of classes...ending with my favourite class on news discourse and political communications. similarly to spring of 2006, with my political economy class, I really feel like my world view has evolved in this past semester. i've discovered, for one, that i am a theory nerd. I love the truly theory-heavy courses...tackling the big concepts...and so, I hope to continue and pursue this. as well, I really enjoy news analysis! it's so exciting to discover something that you really love...and I'm eternally thankful. I've really begun to understand how important news media is in our meaning-making of politics and the world...and how important it is for us to be critical (i.e smart) about what we see.

my professor (who lovingly brought us mandarin oranges and timbits) mentioned something in her lecture that really stuck. democracy, as we know it, is far too often articulated through market liberalism. we've grown so cynical of politics (with coverage being concerned with horseraces and slander) that participatory democracy has been transformed into the freedom to consume. we establish ourseleves as "people of the free world" because of our ability to buy, and not because we are free to congregate and participate in societal decision-making. her words stuck because I could see how this resonated in my life. by upholding our freedom to make money and spend money, we've forsaken community life and social equality. our obsession with consumerism has driven us complacent....we want the world to be better, but refuse to be part of the public sphere because that would require too much effort. even charity has become a form of consumption, and is too often articulated as a type of feel-good product...it helps us "do good without any strings attached". in our cynicism about public life and politics, we've grown lethargic...we no longer see ourselves as functioning within a democracy that involves us.

what will it take for us to wake up?