Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2001 05:32:21 -0500 From: hugh bone <hbone-AT-optonline.net> Subject: Public Intellectuals Don and Eric, et.al. 1) Who are the public intellectuals? Maybe they're like the Abominable Snowman, roaming the forest in theory, but never seen in the flesh. 2) Are they free to speak as they wish? 3) What do they believe in? What is their stance? Where are they coming from? 4) What is their function, vocation, mission, message? 5) What is their scope of operations? National, Global, Political, Economic, Religious, Philosophic, Scientific, Artistic. 6) Can they affect public policy? Do they want action? Coalitions of Third-Parties, Million Mom marches? Where were they, or their spiritual ancestors, in the fight for Labor Rights in the Thirties, Civil Rights in the Sixties, Women's Rights and battles against the Vietnam War in the Seventies? Are they ready for another Gulf War or Kosovo? In Stuart Ewen's book, "PR", he describes how Pres. Wilson and later, FDR, hired and used as public intellectuals, experts who had previously served business and educational institutions as advertising specialists and college professors. According to Ewen, the WWI propagandists organized the support of business and civic groups down to the community level. "Four-Minute men" would appear in movie theaters. Just before the movie started, they would make a short speech to stir up sentiment against the "Hun", persuade the audience to buy War Bonds etc. Hugh
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