Media and perceptions

First some history... many years ago I was seating in a history class here in San Diego, and the topic of discussion was
whether the US Media was responsible for people thinking the US was RICH and life was easy... The instructor turned to me
and asked... point blank, what do you think? (He knew I had come from Mexico City, where i grew up)

Well yes... the most popular program is Dallas and of course everybody lives like those people. RIch people, good food, fast cars and lots of money...

I see...

And a bunch of protests from other students, in particular the young republican who could not accept Hollywood and its movies were partly responsible for the image of good and easy life the US had outside the United States, especially in the third world.

The media is playing the same game here in San Diego with the rest of the country

What are they showing?

The very well to do Rancho Bernardo neighborhood, where folks do drive escalades and live a good life... granted some of them are over extended but you get the point... in the bidness of image creation they are ideal.

They will not show you the working class neighborhoods near by, or for that matter Potrero (and hour away and a hell to get to), or Barrett Junction, or Ramona, or even Vista... why? Well those places are small, old, and the cars outside are on average ten years old, if not older.

The image in the US of California is that we live on the beach all the time, and everybody is rich. Don't expect the media to break that image.

I'll use my sis as an example... since she had to evac...

They live on her salary since her husband was outsourced and currently is retraining. When they bought their house it was just barely in their affordable range with TWO salaries... now they have to make the payments on ONE salary and once he starts teaching, he will not make his previous salary either. Oh and if they had to buy today, they couldn't afford that house, since it has doubled in value...

Yes, they have a twenty year old beemer parked outside, that happens to be my parents, and they use it when they come to visit. (for the record it has the same MPG as my hybrid)... but I guess since there is a 20 year old beemer you will say, she's rich... WRONG...

They live check to check and cannot afford to save, and have two kids

You tell me, they are rich, aren't they?

So don't let the media create this image of amazing wealth round these parts... there are plenty of poor, white, and brown people in this county, and many of them don't have a home to go to either. Yes, the media will concentrate on Rancho Bermardo, two reasons, they lost most of the houses there, and they help with the story line... but they are not how most of California lives, or rather struggles day to day

Hell, my husband and I live in the condo my parents bought many years ago... and we could not afford to buy it on his salary... he works for the USPS, and his truck if fifteen years old... the hybrid... is five and my parents gifted it to us when we came back after he retired from the Navy... we live also paycheck to paycheck... and I have been trying to get a small bidness going on.. and I am going to throw the towel by December if I don't see any movement.

But we are the average... not the folks at Rancho Bernardo.

Oh and we still find a way to help others in need... and to send care packages to Iraq... and this month to take supplies to a station, so they could be taken to evacuation centers, regardless of social condition for the people who needed them..

What I am saying is.. if you think all Californians live life on the hog... the Media has accomplished the mission of further dividing US.

:kick:

report it. Ask AL Gore.

as finding a way to live high off the hog. They do not serve any community. They do have good footage of events, which you cannot get anywhere else.

As for wealth, many people think you either are rich or are jealous and want to be rich, with no other options. Many poor people think that way too.

the LOCAL news media has been astounding, even KOGO, the right wing gasbags that they are... have had moments of brilliance

The locals are showing the situation all over... rich, poor, dark, light... doesn't matter They are in the front lines telling us what we need to know...

It is the NATIONAL news that have helped to reinforce this image that we live high on the hog over here.

Well for those who think that... perhaps I should get the caviar and champagne out :sarcasm:

avoid reality based posts like this

I wonder why

Very good.

Right on. Great post.

the media has spun this... and they have swallowed it... hook, line, sinker, bait all the way to the shoulder

The truth needs to be seen.