Demographics are now being used to manipulate politics and pocketbooks, from comedy shows to academics. The greatest loss to us as citizens is the public ignorance of the Rule of Law. Currently working as a published citizen journalist advocating for the fine and performing arts, with a Masters Degree in Entertainment Business, my goal is to extend my expertise to include discussion about the Rule of Law in a public forum. The ideals are explicit and well-stated and apply to all walks of life, all ages, all ethnicities.
From Black’s Law Dictionary, “The concept of the Rule of Law goes back to ancient times and it can be summed up by the well-known phrase, ‘nobody is above the law’. In other words, a governing system based on the Rule of Law, everybody is held equally accountable under the same laws.” The Four Pillars of the Rule of Law include: 1) The law applies to everyone 2) The laws are not secret or arbitrary 3) The laws are enforced fairly and 4) The justice system is fair. It is becoming more and more difficult to interpret information when we as a society, are being bombarded with sound-bites, demands of advertising, and emotionally charged packaging.
From Merriam-Webster the noun “Demographic” is defined as the statistical characteristics of human populations (such as age or income) used especially to identify markets. A market or segment of the population identified by demographics. This sounds innocent enough but it is my conjecture, the demographics are sometimes used against the average citizen distraction techniques. It also sets up groups that unfortunately, are used to behave badly towards other groups, creating a hostile environment for open public discourse about societal problems we all face.
From Dumbing Down America: The War on Our Nation’s Brightest Young Minds, “At a time when the U.lS. Education system consistently lags behind its international peers, Dumbing Down America shows exactly why America can’t keep up by providing a critical look at the nation’s schools through the eyes of the children whose minds are languishing in countless classrooms….Dumbing Down America packs a powerful message, if we want our nation to prosper, we must pay attention to its most intelligent youth.” The idea here is that the emphasis seems to be agreeing with the crowd instead of standing up and stating different ideas. The politicization of thought in schools limit creativity and support for many bright.and vulnerable minds, hungry for morality and intelligent conversation about ethics. The ideas of liberty, independent thought, and critical thinking seem to be disappearing with opinionated celebrities, who often quit school to become famous, or shaming others for a religious belief system. Again, the Rules of Law interplay with so much of what is not being taught, concerned about or addressed as a topic.
As educators and legislators compete with media systems promoting short term attention spans, and sometimes ignorance as truth, I agree there is a psychological war against the citizen. With greater exposure to the Rule of Law remedies much of this sad condition. I appreciate the positive that has come from becoming more aware of those groups of persons who have been left behind or overlooked. There needs to be a conscious effort made to respect and protect the individual citizen, each of whom is born with unique, divine gifts and purpose, entitled to the fairness and justice discussed by the Rule of Law.
Norman Rockwell Painting
References
Black's law dictionary. (2004).
MN: West.Delisle, J. R. (2014). Dumbing down America: The war on our nation's brightest young minds TX: Prufrock Press.
Dictionary by Merriam-Webster: (n.d.). Retrieved April 30, 2020
