I've posted this here before but it seems relevant: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Amusing-Ourselves-Death-Discourse-Business/dp/014303653X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279047532&sr=8-1"]Amazon.com: Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (9780143036531): Neil Postman…[/ame] A book about how TV has replaced social discourse. Great read even if the author does get a little "cranky-grandpa" on you in parts.
It has a really interesting chapter on the Lincoln-Douglas debates and the ideas each of them expressed without rehearsals, speech-writers, etc. I doubt there's a politician in this country anymore who could stand up to a debate like that, let alone agree to it.
The author also talks about how half of Americans today probably wouldn't understand some of the words, concepts, and oratory devices Lincoln and Douglas used, even though the audience of 1800s townspeople did.
It has a really interesting chapter on the Lincoln-Douglas debates and the ideas each of them expressed without rehearsals, speech-writers, etc. I doubt there's a politician in this country anymore who could stand up to a debate like that, let alone agree to it.
The author also talks about how half of Americans today probably wouldn't understand some of the words, concepts, and oratory devices Lincoln and Douglas used, even though the audience of 1800s townspeople did.