Public Discourse (EC)

Given that the heavy criticism thrown at cable news programs in this class (and rightly so), I find it amazing that the same phenomenon exists in the sports world. Most of the talk shows feature two individuals verbally sparring to the point where it is theatrical more so than rational and informative. The king of these programs is ESPN's First Take. For the non-sports fans, imagine everything you don't like about cable news shows and transfer that to a sports program. For as much criticism as First Take receives, it still gets great ratings , so why would it change?

I have completely turned against Hollywood and the entertainment industry, as I'm tired of them lecturing people on how to live their lives and moralizing, while openly celebrating the likes of Roman Polanski and Alex Baldwin . They are such hypocrites, and sadly it's beginning to affect sports as ESPN was recently forced to cut almost $100 million in on air talent , as they too are beginning to drift away from sports and admittedly are focusing more on lecturing others on how they should act and speak . This is extremely hypocritical, given that ESPN is owned by Disney, who are more than happy to take billions from the brutal Wahhabi-ruled theocracy  in Saudi Arabia and do business in Qatar . If Disney/ESPN really championed women, they would refuse to be involved with such regimes. It is interesting how they put on a front like they actually care about these issues to suck in well-meaning people, but are ultimately about the money when it comes down it. People who are

As far as social movements go, social media brings both positives and negatives. Most importantly, it gives people a platform to exercise their right to free speech, which is something that unfortunately too many people in the west take for granted. That fact alone means I really cannot be too critical of social media in general. The downside is most of social media is that too many people use it as a platform to virtue signal and give themselves a false sense of moral superiority (I support their right to do it but choose not do it myself). This will be an unpopular thing to say, but take for example Emma Watson's #HeForShe campaign. While she is well-meaning, unfortunately she is being used and the campaign is a scam. The UN has no credibility at all, especially since Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Cuba are members of it's Human Rights Council . Saudi Arabia was also just voted onto the UN's Women's Right Council , proving that truth is indeed stranger than fiction.