Um.. crap. I just took my first bonger of the morning..
Yeah, I can restate it. Let me formulate the thought in a different way...
Ok, thread topic, aid to Israel & effect on American taxpayer, right? Where does that lead the discussion? Quite naturally, to the sources and/or origins of the entire "Israel problem" (that including terrorism, 9/11, etcetera).
With me so far?
Where do people draw their conclusions from?
From the information they acquire.
Where do they (tend) to acquire information?
In large part, in the U.S. (and probably Canada and the U.K. and really any industrialized nation I'm betting) via television.
Still along for the ride?
That means that (this form of) media has a good deal of control of information, because they decide what gets put out and what doesn't. It happens in all forms, but we'll stick with tv because we have to face the fact that fewer and fewer people read newspapers, books, and magazines (i.e. more verifiable sources,
cited sources).
(
Alert: French toast lesson inserted here... lose train of thought, regain train of thought... OK, check)
Ok, so we have a huge group of people who, despite having access to huge amounts of information, choose to select only certain sources for their information. This is somewhat necessary, but also prejudiced by the person making the selection. For our purposes today, we will also understand that this average person is limited in terms of a 'rounded' education regarding world history, and some of the finer points of modern history, as well as politics in their own country, as this seems to fit my general observations and those to whom I was referring in the original remark.
If you're still with me, you'll see where I'm headed by now, which is the extrapolation that the U.S. and its television media tend to be scapegoated, as the
cause (in an a priori manner at times) of the problem, that problem being that we American taxpayers send aid to Israel, which is a big problem, etcetera, when in fact it isn't the problem. There also tends to be, within this group, a tendency to shun any personal responsibility for our government's machinations and actions (again, a personal observation).
I'm saying that the accused are merely scapegoats, and when assessing the situation an individual should endeavor to assess it from a much more holistic view. In order to do that, one cannot only limit their information to television. One must read, history (books), newspapers, magazines and other publications. One must take in as many perspectives and accountings as can be found, but always remembering the history that has gone behind anything that you're trying to understand. It's trite to simply say that the media and our government are to blame, it's an attempt to simplify a complicated mess.
Have I muddied things up for you any better?