#14,016 in Biographies

Reddit mentions of Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance

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We found 2 Reddit mentions of Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance. Here are the top ones.

Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance
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Found 2 comments on Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance:

u/TreeFan ยท 1 pointr/AskReddit

For those too lazy to check themselves, here are some of the best books on the subject that this thread deals with:

This guy saw it starting long ago...
Anti-Intellectualism in American Life - Richard Hofstadter:
http://www.amazon.com/Anti-Intellectualism-American-Life-Richard-Hofstadter/dp/0394703170/ref=pd_sim_b_27

another (old) book by the same guy, equally prophetic:
The Paranoid Style in American Politics:
http://www.amazon.com/Paranoid-Style-American-Politics-Vintage/dp/0307388441/ref=pd_sim_b_40

The Age of American Unreason - Susan Jacoby:
http://www.amazon.com/Age-American-Unreason-Vintage/dp/1400096383/ref=pd_sim_b_30

Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and The Triumph of Ignorance - Alexander Zaitchik:
http://www.amazon.com/Common-Nonsense-Glenn-Triumph-Ignorance/dp/0470557397/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278099576&sr=1-8

Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free - Charles P. Pierce:
http://www.amazon.com/Idiot-America-Stupidity-Became-Virtue/dp/0767926153/ref=pd_sim_b_3

u/tob_krean ยท 1 pointr/politics

While I doubt your sincerity as I think this post was more likely to provoke rather than discuss -- as this information is easily obtainable, I'll still take a few moments and spell it out for you.

First off you can start with Common Nonsense and Tears of a Clown which could provide background.

But I imagine you are looking for fireworks, something where you can go "ah-ha!" and that is where you will be disappointed because his message is primarily subliminal and he states it over an over and over again, over a backdrop of hyperbole in a reverse psychology method.

From Common Nonsense

Page 17: They warn that Beck's fearmongering and message of ticking-clock urgency can only lead to violence. This is surly the prospect that most terrifies Beck. He knows his audience and understands better than anyone that the game he's playing could backfire. A common refrain in his books and broadcasts is a plea to fans to "leave your rifles at home." And usually they do. But as one popular sign read at the September 12, 2009, march on Washington, "WE LEFT OUR GUNS AT HOME -- THIS TIME."

Page 144: What's most interesting about the book {Beck's Common Sense} is the frequency with which the authors remind the reader not to kill anybody. The book literally opens with an exhortation against murder. It precedes even the title page. "You might find yourself wondering what can be done to change our nation's course," read the first words in Common Sense. "I lay out several options, but I want to be clear that none of them include violence." A few pages later, the authors repeat themselves and add, "Violence is the easy way out." For good measure, they later remind readers a third time, "Leave your muskets at home."

Continued: Later that summer a Beck fan named Nancy Genovese was arrested "scouting out and taking pictures" near an Air National Guard base with a trunk full of guns, including an assault rifle, a shotgun, and five hundred rounds of ammunition. Her MySpace page documented the inspiration she drew from an episode of Glenn Beck. "I just saw Glenn Beck tell it like it is!" she wrote in her online diary.

----

Now you could say, and I could agree that when someone goes off the deep end, they are no longer right or left, they are in fact mentally disturbed -- if you don't, you should.

What is disingenuous about Beck is that he routinely will draw up these elaborate schemes, create waves of hyperbole, do things that are very specifically designed to incense the viewer who is predisposed to his message -- Beck is a master of this, he's highly intelligent media manipulator and knows when his audience is gullible.

He also specifically chooses times in history - 1776, Nazi Germany in the 30's - with a narrative of half truths or outright lies that paint a specific picture and then draw a parallel, plant a suggestion. He will also do specific emotional ploys like when he pretended to be lit on fire with a gas can of water

Then when he has proverbially short-stroked them to the point of frensy, he'll stop and say:

  • "I'm not saying (some false conclusion he just led people to)" or
  • "I'm not suggesting (specific acts of violence)"

    So the mastery isn't that he directly tells people "go do x" is that he gives them a overload of his carefully crafted rhetoric and chooses how to be a catalyst.

    Here is another view of it that sheds light in his approach.


    Personally, I don't think he wants actual violence, or may not even care about his political message even though he acts like a modern day Father Coughlin from the 30's forefather of hate radio.

    If an incident did happen, he would be distraught, because aside from the violence, it also means he overplayed his hand that would fatally damage his empire as he has managed to monetize virtually everything that comes out of his mouth... ...pulled in $32 million in revenue during the 12 months that ended March 1.

    The main problem, even without the suggestive violence undertones is that drawing parallels to other figures is simply false equivalence. Hell, he makes Bill O'Reilly seem rational left of center by comparison. This skews conversation because it draws a large captive mainstream audience further in one direction than most anyone else. Like "Hannity and Colmes" as a conterpoint - Colmes had no teeth -- you'd need Hannity and Ed Schultz, that at least would be closer. Beck just takes it off the charts for "mainstream." Never once have I seen Olbermann come close to lighting himself on fire.

    As a conservative -- I'll give you the benefit of the doubt -- a real conservative, you should want to see that these people aren't speaking for you. Even George Will will say not to listen to Ann Coulter because George is old school. There was a time when conservatives would reject the fringe, and now they opened their tent wide to let them in, for a specific demographic.