Collectively, we are in thrall to media - because they deliver to us many of the psychic goods we crave, and we know no other way to live. Todd Gitlin More Quotes by Todd Gitlin More Quotes From Todd Gitlin Some versions of patriotism come close to the tribal, which we all want to surpass, and some don’t. Todd Gitlin versions patriotism want The genius of the economic machine is in its ability to convert these indulgences into profitability. It converts desire into attention, a grip on our eyeballs and eardrums, which in turn can be marketed to advertisers. Todd Gitlin genius desire attention Some fine day, Democrats may figure out how to get on the right side of the value divide - how to define America as a place of the common good and not a playground of the strong. Todd Gitlin strong may america Right now, we have no possibility of politics because we have a one-party state. Todd Gitlin possibility party states I am concerned about how to reverse the process by which a fundamentalist right and a corporate elite were able to seize power in the United States. Todd Gitlin united-states able process I am a realist as well as an idealist, and I think that it is incumbent upon those of us in opposition to try to work within what are always arduous circumstances to stretch the limits of the possible. Todd Gitlin limits trying thinking A century of convulsive change leaves huge demographic gouge marks. Todd Gitlin demographics mark century All I will say is that there are particular features of the American constitutional system that renders a third party futile - at best. Todd Gitlin third-parties particular party Americas are, for a variety of reasons, the most adept at producing the kind of entertainment that delivers easy satisfactions. Todd Gitlin entertainment kind satisfaction I don't think anyone in the media thinks strategically about society. Todd Gitlin media thinking There is a fuzzy but real distinction that can and I believe should be made, between patriotism, which is attachment to a way of life, and nationalism, which is the insistence that your way of life deserves to rule over other ways of life. Todd Gitlin attachment real believe My book is focused on the power of the American state, not least because the government of the United States governs so much that the case could be made that everybody around the world ought to have a vote in determining some of its policies. Todd Gitlin government power book world So every day I'm mindful as I watch the Bush crowd extend their sway into policies of every imaginable variety, and over almost every square foot of earth, that the control of the American state is a matter of urgency. Todd Gitlin every-day control day matter The only people available to change the world are the people now living in it, with all the beliefs they bring along - however retrograde those beliefs may appear to those of us who see ourselves as enlightened. Todd Gitlin change-the-world change people world The manufacture of desire isn't at the heart - if it isn't absurd to speak of a heart - of the media torrent. Chronic dissatisfaction is at the heart of the matter. Todd Gitlin media speak matter heart
