Unit 1 - Response Paper 1- Minimum 3 double-spaced pages Reading: “The Social Networks”, by Neal Gabler Writing Prompt: Write an argumentative paper in which you agree or disagree with Gabler’s claim that, “instead of brining comfort, [television] seems

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Survival of The Conservatives

The popularity of reality television (RTV) has rapidly increased in the last decade, despite the word reality being far exaggerated. RTV takes every day activities and turns them into morally conflicting situations; such as taking a job interview and twisting it into a ruthless competition. In “Voting Democracy Off The Island,” Francine Prose implies that one way or another, everything connects up in a society (287). In this case, she discovers a correlation between politics and RTV. She compares the guiding principles of reality television to the Republican Party. Prose establishes six relating themes: “flinty individualism, the vision of a zero-sum society in which no one can win unless someone else loses, the conviction that altruism and compassion are signs of folly and weakness, the exaltation of solitary striving above the illusory benefits of cooperative mutual aid, the belief that certain circumstances justify secrecy and deception, the invocation of a reviled common enemy to solidify group loyalty” (291). These six principles are comparable to the dialogue of the Republican Congress. This correlation implies that the Grand Old Party’s (GOP) agenda is planted in these shows, which established RTV as Republican propaganda.

In Survivor, twelve contestants are placed in remote locations and participate in rigorous challenges — such as the Schmergen Brawl which is a brutal version of basketball that leaves participants susceptible to injury. They must outwit, outplay, and outlast the other members to become the “Sole Survivor”. It is difficult to visualize one’s self battling others in an arena…until the prize is one million dollars. To acquire the money, contestants become bigoted and intolerant to their actions and become flinty individualists. The Survivor cast has turned individualism from self-reliant to self-centered. This principle is prominent in the Republican Party’s actions; such as George W. Bush’s tax cut benefitting the rich. Between 2008 and 2010, twelve top corporations paid no taxes or actually received money from the IRS. The top one percent accounted for 65% of the income growth between 2002 and 2007, while the median household income dropped by 5% (ourfuture.org). Much like Survivor, Republicans are looking out for themselves, rather than the society as a whole. Both the GOP and Survivor cast only care about winning, and will do whatever it takes to get there. Considering the quest to become a millionaire is relatable to viewers, the focus becomes the goal and subconsciously disregards the debauchery of the challenges, because “we all admire a winner, regardless of how the game is won” (292).

To win Survivor you must beat all other challengers. The cast uses a system of progressive elimination, allowing the contestants to vote off other tribe members until only one final contestant remains and wins the title of "Sole Survivor”. The uniquely American brand of individualist ideology and notions of Social Darwinism are first stripped to a superficial level and then exaggerated in preposterous scenarios (washingtonpost.com). The show is a modern paradigm of Herbert Spencer’s “survival of the fittest” theory. Although, Spencer thought of natural selection on a grand scale, it is depicted here as ruthless process. Prose declares the Republican party carries the same principle of “the vision of a zero-sum society in which no one can win unless someone else loses” (291). Philip Kitcher speaks on Social Darwinism and states that “policymakers do not take foolish steps to protect the weak, those people and those human achievements that are fittest — most beautiful, noble, wise, creative, virtuous, and so forth — will succeed in a fierce competition, so that, over time, humanity and its accomplishments will continually improve (nytimes.com).” Kitcher demonstrates the Republican mindset that the weak must be eradicated so the strong may prosper — although the Declaration of Independence promises the equality of opportunity. RTV and the GOP share the same ‘Social Darwinism’ theory; reality shows such as Survivor and The Bachelorette construct a fictitious democracy to extract the weak, while Republicans suggest higher taxes for lower income houses and support a lower tax for the prosperous classes. This ideology has led to billionaire’s taxes as five percentage points less than a bus driver making $26,000 (rollingstone.com).

As the cast members vote others off the island, it becomes clear the difference in characteristics of a “winner” and those who are forced to leave the show. A winner must have strength and good judgment along with a numb conscience. Losers would usually be seen as weak and incapable, but those who are honest and have moral boundaries are voted off on Survivor. The most recent season “Brawn vs. Brain vs. Beauty” consisted of many contestants that were gifted, and one that was treacherous. Tony was a New Jersey Cop that was unafraid to dive into the dirt, both literally and morally (Harsanyi). He was matched against Yung Hwang, which let honor and honesty dictate his path. Hwang believed that his morals would take him to victory, but he was voted off by the jury and Tony won using lies and manipulation. The Principle that “altruism and compassion are signs of folly and weakness (291)” is comparable with the Republican Party’s belief of the poor being deficient. The GOP’s actions suggests that helping the poor leads to weakening our race — which explains Prose’s belief of them dismantling the social security system to increase what elderly pay for healthcare (292). Therefore Tony, the “brawn”, winning over Hwang becomes an underlying Republican message of the rich disburdening themselves of the poor and weak.

Although the challengers follow the principle of “one must lose for another to win,” they cannot reach the top alone. It is imperative that they build alliances and create “tribes” with others. But again, only one contestant can win the million so Tony, among others, was forced to backstab and shamelessly lie to the fellow tribe members. Throughout the show, he was seen swearing on his police badge, family, and his dad’s grave that his actions were for the greater good of the tribe; only to discover, to nobody’s surprise, he was lying. He then used his deceitfulness in the final vote to sway the jury in his favor over Hwang. This principle outlined by Prose is the exaltation of solitary striving above the illusory benefits of cooperative mutual aid (292). She connects the Republicans to this principle with the example of the government robbing us to pay off its supporters in the pharmaceutical industry and how they profit from rebuilding Iraq. RTV contestants and conservatives are similarly creating deceitful alliances for their own benefit. This principle affects political observations: people become insensitive to the government hiding information because they become accustomed to seeing deceitful and secretive characters on reality shows.

The lesson we are learning from reality television — more specifically Survivor — is that immoral actions can be justified. They insinuate to the viewer that the malicious actions of the contestants are validated by the million dollar prize. This principle is “the belief that certain circumstances justify secrecy and deception” (291). Republicans recently passed a legislative rule that restricts tax money from being transferred between the Social Security retirement fund and the disability program. This means disability benefits would be cut by 20% and workers may only use full benefits after retirement, or pay back the government a pretty penny. Rand Paul tries justifying this rule by saying “Over half of the people on disability are either anxious or their back hurts. Join the club” (MSNBC). Passing on this principle to viewers leads to societies converting unethical decisions into plausible actions. Can lying to a friend be okay as long as they lie to your first? Or could sleeping with your supervisor be justified as long as you receive a raise?

The last lesson we learn from RTV is the invocation of a reviled common enemy to solidify group loyalty (Prose). This principle, in Survivor’s circumstance, is used to take focus off one’s self by creating a greater evil. When the game boils down to a handful of “survivors” remaining, once adversaries, contestants Kass and Spencer create an alliance to take down Tony. Kass concedes, “Spencer and I have had a lot of animosity in the past, but now we have a common enemy. I’m no longer the enemy. Tony is the new enemy.” Spencer then illustrates, “…Tony goes from being a threat to the biggest threat there has been in the history of this entire game.” During George W. Bush’s presidency, he was criticized by the public for his despicable leadership in the war against Iraq. Then on September 11, 2001 he froze while the nation was under attack and fled to the west. Although he ignored the CIA’s warnings of Bin Laden’s threat, he benefitted politically because during a time of terror, he was able to pull the focus to the attacks as the nation rallied behind their leader impulsively (Parry). Hiding behind a larger enemy has been exemplified in both reality shows and the government; they use the “greater of two evils” to cover the evils of themselves.

These six principles of reality television established by Prose are, without a doubt, associated with the Republican rhetoric. Both parties use deception and lies to take down other competitors. They attempt to convey themselves as strong and deserving of the prize while condemning the weak and poor. They build alliances that appears to be intended for the greater good of the tribe/society — while they hide their evils behind a larger adversary — only to deceive their allies to advance their own agenda. But all of these principals are hidden from the viewer behind the million dollar prize which seemingly justifies all immoral actions. This correlation indicates that Republicans use underlying messages in reality television to sway the viewer toward the conservative path, equivalent to the Survivor cast manipulating the judges to keep them in the game. Their utilization of propaganda in reality television will presumably continue, if not intensify, through the upcoming election year in hopes of not being voted off of the island.

Works Cited

"Season 28: Episode 11 - Havoc To Wreak" 6 Oct 2005. CBS.com. 29 Jun 2015 <h http://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/episodes/213159/ >.

Dickinson, Tim. "How the GOP Became the Party of the Rich." 9 Nov 2011. RollingStone.com. 31 Jun 2015 < http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-the-gop-became-the-party-of-the-rich-20111109 >.

Fieldhouse, Andrew. “Tenth Anniversary of the Bush-era Tax Cuts" 1 Jun 2001. epi.org. 31 Jan 2015 < http://www.epi.org/files/page/-/EPI_PolicyMemorandum_184.pdf >.

Harsanyi, David. “Survivor Is the Most Morally Contemptible Show On TV" 23 May 2014. TheFederalist.com. 30 Jan 2015 < http://thefederalist.com/2014/05/23/survivor-is-the-most-morally-contemptible-show-on-tv/>.

Kitcher, Philip. “The Taint of ‘Social Darwinism’" 8 Apr 2012. nytimes.com. 29 Jan 2015 < http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/the-taint-of-social-darwinism/ >.

Owens, Ronn. Voice of Reason: Why the Left and Right Are Wrong. Hoboken: Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2004.

Page, Noah. “‘Reality Television’ And The American Reality That Produces It" 31 Mar 2005. WSWS.org. 29 Jan 2015 < http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2005/03/real-m31.html >.

Parry, Robert. “President Self Centered Jun. 23, 2005." 19 Jun 2003. ConsortiumNews.com. 29 Jun 2015 < https://consortiumnews.com/2005/062305.html >.

Prose, Francine. "Voting Democracy off the Island." Maasik, Sonia and Jack Solomon. Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers. Fifth Edition. Boston: Bedford/St.Martin's, 2006. 808.

Quijano, Elaine. "CNN.com Political Ticker Bush on Iraq: 'We're kicking ass'." 7 Sep 2007. CNN.com. 30 Jan 2015 <http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/09/07/bush-on-iraq-were-kicking-ass/>.

Richardson, Heather. To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party. No Place: Basic Books, 2014. Print.

Timm, Jane. “Rand Paul: Half Of Disability Recipients Are ‘Gaming The System’" 14 Jan 2015. MSNBC.com. 31 Jan 2015 < http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/rand-paul-half-disability-recipients-are-gaming-the-system>.