Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Walter Lippmann...

Research his "Public Opinion" and "The Phantom Public".

See if you can tie Weber, Burnham, and Lippmann to "1984".

8 comments:

ALEXANDRA AGUILLON said...

Walter Lippmann is a journalist and worked along side with Woodrow Wilson. Walter had little faith in the democratic system and ended up writing "The Phantom Public" and "Public Opinion" both that talked about alot of the issues brought up in Orwell's "1984." In Walter's "Public Opinion he discussed the way technology has control over the our opinions and behavior. This comes up in "1984" with the whole "Big Brother is Watching you" slogan and the thought police and with also the propaganda. In Walter's other novel "The Phantom Public" he desribes two types of people in our society the agents and bystanders. The agents are known as the insiders who dont by into the mind control and chose to act on what they are thinking and some ways rebel. The bystanders are the people who just watch by not knowing they are being tooked advantage of and are simply followers. We see this in "1984" as well with Winston who chooses to rebel and not by into wat the state is telling him and question. Then there is everybody else who just goes by the law but not knowing that law itself is not really what they think it to be.

Matt Urbina said...

Walter Lippman and Max Weber both believe that the government only achieve hierarchy when the state has the people within this state believe in its legitimacy. "The distortion arising because events have to be compressed into very short messages" (Walter Lippmann). This phrase from "Public Opinion" is what we know as the two minute "hate talk" presented in "1984." Lippmann believes the state will use symbols within the state to mislead the psychological mentality of the people to what, in reality, is actually going on outside the state. For example, the army displays life after enrollment to seem like "Eden" when in reality it is not as favorable as presented. Lippmann also talks about the denials of misleading the people were erased from consciousness, which is altering the truth. In "1984" the state uses "Big Brother" and contradicting ministries to mislead the people within the state. "Big Brother Is Watching You" posters are to preserve the loyalty and fear in the people to maintain the state's power. James Burnham, on the other hand, believes business executives, technicians and bureaucrats will abolish democracy and the old capitalist class and be known as "managers," whom take over economy and deplete private property. They will form "Super States" and constantly compete for total control. He also state democracy never existed. In "1984" the state takes over all citizens rights which are, sexual behavior, thoughts, actions, and speech. The state tries to manipulate the people with "hate week" to prevent the people from actually finding out what is going on. The way they do this is making the state believe nothing is actually happening, and society is perfect under the "NEW STATE."

Anonymous said...

"Public Opinion" is a book on media and democracy by Walter Lippmann. In it, he states that the common interest of people is not obvious and only becomes clear upon data collection and analysis. Therefore, most people need to have the world summarized for them by those who are well-informed. Lippmann proposes having professionals (a "specialized class") collect and analyze data and present the conclusions to the decision makers. The decision makers then use the "art of persuasion" to inform the public about the decisions and the circumstances surrounding them. Therefore, he argues that the control of public opinion is a means to controlling public behavior.
In 1925, Walter Lippmann wrote "the Phantom Public", in which he expresses his lack of faith in the democratic system, arguing that the public exists merely as an illusion, myth, and a phantom. This book followed Lippmann's experiences observing the manipulation of public opinion during World War I and the rise of fascism in Mussolini's Italy.He argues that “the people” are a sort of "superindividual" with one will and one mind. The society is made up of two types of people: agents and bystanders. Agents act executively on their own opinions to address to the bystanders, or public.
Weber defines the state as an entity which claims a monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force. The "state" is similar to Lippman's agents as it is used in "the Phantom Public" and Burnham's managerial class. These groups control the public opinion, which is also similar to the Inner and Outer Parties' work in Orwell's 1984. The public is uninformed of the situation around them, therefore, it is easy for the ones in power to make informed decisions and distribute that information to the public for them to believe. Through propaganda and other methods, all individuals will have the same thoughts and opinions, like the people of Oceania who have turned into Lippmann's idea of the "superindividual".

Anonymous said...

Written by Walter Lippmann, “Public Opinion” is a book about media and democracy. Lippmann strongly believes that democratic ideals had deteriorated because voters are becoming largely ingnorant about important issues and policies. As they become more ignorant, they lacked the competence to participate in public life because they cared little for political issues. Like Plato, Lippmann sees the public as a great beast floundering in the “chaos of local opinions” (Lippmann). The media plays a huge role in the deterioration of democratic ideals because the basic problem of democracy is the accuracy of news and protection of sources. The minds of people are therefore fixed with distorted information, which makes them sees things through stereotypes and subjected to partial truths. He argues that people tend to make up their minds before thinking carefully through gathered facts; this makes the public unable to see the truth because their minds are filled with false ideal. In “The Phantom Public” Lippmann also show his lack of faith in the democratic system. He says that society is made up of agents and bystanders. Agents are people who act executively while bystanders are spectators of an action. Lippmann asserts, however, that not even the agents can continue to have executive powers all the time because individuals move in and out of the capacity. Weber and Burnham arguments are similar to Lippmann because they assert that the state and managerial class also control its people or public opinion by segregating them from the “inner group” or the most powerful group. The manipulation of public control also connects to Orwell’s 1984 because the Party also keeps its people ignorant from important issues by monitoring them with telescreens and controlling their minds with propagandas. The population of Oceania is therefore uninterested in political process because they are kept out of the inner circle.

Anonymous said...

Walter Lippmann’s Public Opinion is a novel that he wrote in 1922 about media and democracy. In this novel, he states that technology in the twentieth century will be so advanced that it will allow the control over public opinion and behavior. His radical idea appears in the novel 1984, because it shows the extreme use of television screens. In 1984, the inner party has the ability to watch people constantly, such as their facial expressions and their body movement. With this constant supervision, the people in Oceania feel that they must behave inconspicuously and act like the way the party wants. This affects people’s behavior because they are not allowed to act freely. Lippmann also states that “news can sow the seed of opinion” with this powerful ability the media can decide what is fact and fiction and they can easily persuade the public into believing them. This can be seen throughout Orwell’s novel because the propaganda in Oceania causes the citizens fear and makes them believe everything the party is saying. The media is so controlling in Oceania that people forget events that occurred the day before.
Another novel that Lippmann writes is The Phantom Public. This novel is about Lippmann’s loss of faith in the public under a democratic society. He feels this way due to the public manipulation during WWII. He has lost his faith in people because they can be so easily persuaded to commit horrible acts. Orwell portrays this circumstance in his novel because the people in Oceania are so easily convinced by the “two minute hate” that they lash out against innocent people. Lippmann and Orwell both use their novels to expose the blemishes in society.

marisoljf_09 said...

Public Opinion is a book written in 1922 by Walter Lippmann in which discusses that if one gains control of the public opinion, then one gains control of the public behaviour. The book is seperated into five different parts: The World Outside and Pictures in Our Heads, the self cetered man, the buying public, nature of news and news truth and conclusion. The first section, The World Outside and Pictures in our heads expresses the fact that people have the inability to see reality; they cannot avoid fiction but rather embrace it. This concept ties into "1984" because society is unable to see reality and is only faced with a view that they live in a good society, but the reality that they cannot see is the fact that they live in a fictional society where the party makes them believe that what is good for them is bad. The second concept is the self centered man which talks about man thinking on their own and formulating their own ideas for personal gain, while the rest only accept concepts that are acceptable to the media. We can again connect this concept to "1984" because Winston is that "self centered man" in which thinks for himself for her personal groth of knowledge, while the rest of society is manipulated by Big Brother into following him. The third concept is "the buying public" which states that a herd, or a group of people, must pay for what they have not yet seen through the media. They must pay in order to understand what they have not yet seen. In the same way society must give up their dignity, and their own power of ruling over themselves to Big Brother in order to be accepted and be ruled over him. The fourth concept of Lippman is "Nature of News" which he states that people put out news to be used as propaganda. Big Brother uses his great posters of himself in order to cast fear and obedience to wards the people. In some sense it is used as propaganda so that everyone may follow him. The last concept is "News truth and conclusion" which uses news to signaling an event which brings judgemental consequesnces and through writing, opinions can be made. Winston has an epiphany and realizes in what type of society he is living in and through his writing of the diary, he is able to rebel against Big Brother. He creates his own opinions through writing which become his weapon and ultimate power, but yet these events have consequences. His life, and dignity are put at risk.

"The Phantom Public" is a book written in 1925 in which Lippman expresses his lack of faith in a democratic system. He states that the public is only an illusion and a myth. This is also true, tying this in to 1984, because there is really no public. Big Brother seems to be the only one who matters and exists in such a powerful and demanding society. The public is turned into slaves, followers of Big Brother. It seems as if they do not matter, only Big Brother matters because he is portrayed in the book as a god. The public only seems to be in his way of complete power. They do not matter.

Anonymous said...

Lipmann’s “Public Opinion” is about the media and democracy. This book mentions that the twentieth century technology will be so advanced that is will be able to control the opinion of the public. This ties in to 1984, because in Oceania the Party has technology so advanced that they control everything. The telescreens allow the Party, Inner Party, to see everything that their citizens are doing. This not only controls the opinion of the public, it also controls the life of the public.
In “The Phantom Public,” Lipmann conveys his lack of faith in the democratic system. Lipmann says that the public exists only as an illusion, myth, and without a doubt, a phantom. This is seen in 1984, because the people of Oceania really don’t exist. The party controls everyone, so the public is just like a puppet.

Anonymous said...

Lippmann states in Public Opinion that the twentieth century advances in technology will allow the control over public opinion about the world and about the public's interests. Being able to control public opinion means being able to control public behavior. In 1984, the Party is able to control the public's opinion and behavior by the uses of telescreens and media. The public is forced to watch these things and read them all the time and are influenced and convinced. They haven't had any exposure to anything else. As a result, they are controlled by the state. Burnham's opinion about the world is that there will only be three super states (United States, Germany, and Japan). The state will be controlled by the managerial class and control political opposition and free press. In 1984, we don't know how the other super powers are but the superstate Oceania. The state controls political opposition through the press which they also control. They manipulate the public into thinking what they want them to think. Therefore, the state in 1984 only has one political party. Weber mentions that the state keeps control over the people through violence. This is shown in 1984 with the Two Minute hate everyday. The state also controls the food rationing which is in the absence of the people's diet which therefore starves them from other emotions. The state is able to control their emotions and the things around them.