Information overload...
If you have a message, how do you get it across?
Something I've always wondered about books like If Democrats Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republicans by Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot by Al Franken: Who is the target audience for these books?
Ann Coulter obviously writes conservative, right-wing Republican rhetoric. Al Franken obviously writes liberal, left-wing Democrat rehtoric. Who's going to read these books? Only conservative right-wing Republicans will read Ann Coulter's work, and only liberal, left-wing Democrats will read Al Franken's book.
Isn't this like preaching to the choir?
It seems to me that the point of writing a book like this is to change people's minds. Yet the only people who will read these books are the people who already agree with them. I've been tempted to read them (I've not read either, because quite frankly, I don't give a shit) just to see if I can gain any new insights into either viewpoint that I do not already have. In other words, would these books actually change my mind? Do the authors have valid points that are well-articulated?
Like I said, I don't give a shit about the topic enough to care.
But I still wonder: even these books and others like them are not read by that many people. I'm having trouble finding statistics on numbers of copies sold, but a few sites appear to claim that she's sold two million copies of certain of Coulter's books. Out of a US population of over three hundred million, that's less than one percent.
If I were willing to sell my soul to a television company and conduct myself according to their regulations, I could get a show that would broadcast across the country. Even then, with hundreds of channels out there, people would be more likely to watch "Big Brother 27" than my show.
Radio gets less attention these days, and there are still options, so that doesn't work.
The only thing I can think of that actually gets attention from most people (and still not all) is demonstrations, marches, rallies, and protests. The news channels would broadcast it, lost of people would be aware of it.
But then, most people don't get the message that the protesters/rallyers/demonstrators/marchers are trying to get across. And even if you DO, most people are merely annoyed at what they see as "improper behaviour," and the whole point is lost.
How do you get people to listen to you? Do you have to be like Martin Luther King Jr. and get a really good message dressed up to sound really good and be able to deliver it in a really charismatic way? Is that the only option for getting your opinion known by a large group of people?
Because quite frankly, that is the ONLY way that I can imagine being able to change the world. Getting your message delivered to a lot of people in a way that will make them listen to it, instead of dismissing it out of hand. Get into people's heads, so they start thinking about it. When they think about it, they might decide they agree. And even those who don't will eventually die, leaving people less opposed to the idea (assuming it's a good idea; desegregation for example was a good idea -- killing all males and leaving a women-only planet is not a good idea). Eventually, the idea will take hold, and the world will change.
I can't think of any other way to do it. But how do you get that message out there without being annoying or asshole-ish about it?
That's what I've been wondering lately.
/rant
Something I've always wondered about books like If Democrats Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republicans by Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot by Al Franken: Who is the target audience for these books?
Ann Coulter obviously writes conservative, right-wing Republican rhetoric. Al Franken obviously writes liberal, left-wing Democrat rehtoric. Who's going to read these books? Only conservative right-wing Republicans will read Ann Coulter's work, and only liberal, left-wing Democrats will read Al Franken's book.
Isn't this like preaching to the choir?
It seems to me that the point of writing a book like this is to change people's minds. Yet the only people who will read these books are the people who already agree with them. I've been tempted to read them (I've not read either, because quite frankly, I don't give a shit) just to see if I can gain any new insights into either viewpoint that I do not already have. In other words, would these books actually change my mind? Do the authors have valid points that are well-articulated?
Like I said, I don't give a shit about the topic enough to care.
But I still wonder: even these books and others like them are not read by that many people. I'm having trouble finding statistics on numbers of copies sold, but a few sites appear to claim that she's sold two million copies of certain of Coulter's books. Out of a US population of over three hundred million, that's less than one percent.
If I were willing to sell my soul to a television company and conduct myself according to their regulations, I could get a show that would broadcast across the country. Even then, with hundreds of channels out there, people would be more likely to watch "Big Brother 27" than my show.
Radio gets less attention these days, and there are still options, so that doesn't work.
The only thing I can think of that actually gets attention from most people (and still not all) is demonstrations, marches, rallies, and protests. The news channels would broadcast it, lost of people would be aware of it.
But then, most people don't get the message that the protesters/rallyers/demonstrators/marchers are trying to get across. And even if you DO, most people are merely annoyed at what they see as "improper behaviour," and the whole point is lost.
How do you get people to listen to you? Do you have to be like Martin Luther King Jr. and get a really good message dressed up to sound really good and be able to deliver it in a really charismatic way? Is that the only option for getting your opinion known by a large group of people?
Because quite frankly, that is the ONLY way that I can imagine being able to change the world. Getting your message delivered to a lot of people in a way that will make them listen to it, instead of dismissing it out of hand. Get into people's heads, so they start thinking about it. When they think about it, they might decide they agree. And even those who don't will eventually die, leaving people less opposed to the idea (assuming it's a good idea; desegregation for example was a good idea -- killing all males and leaving a women-only planet is not a good idea). Eventually, the idea will take hold, and the world will change.
I can't think of any other way to do it. But how do you get that message out there without being annoying or asshole-ish about it?
That's what I've been wondering lately.
/rant