If one doesn't wish to deal with a problem and find a real, viable working solution, then just have a debate. People are invited from both sides of the debate issue coin and can become quite expressive of their emotions that are activated by their imposed belief systems.
I suppose that debates do serve a purpose. They allow people to express their views publicly, vent some pretty strong emotions, and often feel better afterwards. So, in a way a debate can be a positive tool in a culture or society to calm down and silence concerns before they reach a boiling point. We can't allow the natives to become too restless and maintain our power over them. Can we?
Debates can also serve another purpose. They are a tool to distract people from action in the area of a social concern or problem. Many have been taught to believe that to talk on subjects is the same as doing something to change the situation.
Perhaps, this is why politicians so love the debate forum as a distraction or diversion from them being put into the situation of taking action. People in our modern world concentrate on images that are created and propagated by governments and their controlled medias rather than the reality of their everyday living environment. This creates an image of action without any real action ever taking place.
Think about this next time that you view a debate on TV and yes, they are entertainment. View them as entertainment and avoid the disapointment of unrealistic expectations that these problems will be solved. I have been watching debate programs over several years now and all these multitude of problems discussed are still prevalent in the society and have even increased in occurance over the years. Think about this and come to your own conclusions if you so wish.
To end on a positive note and perhaps even contradict myself I will say that there is always the exception to any rule and someone can be moved into real action. Private citizen perhaps, but never a politician and their self serving bureaus.
Now anyone for a debate?
2 comments:
I find debates are useful to expose varying points of view. I'm not sure their purpose is to drive action per se, but I can see them being catalysts to this end.
Unstructured arguments, on the other hand, well...I've not much use for them...
I prefer debates face to face, not pounding a keyboard... 8+)
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