Dastardly Discourse

Product Description Screaming at the television, compulsively firing off tart little tweets, and blogging until we are blue; these signal that we are feeling the effects of dastardly discourse. We live in a world where people feel entitled to use words to hurt, exploit, and publicly degrade humanity. We daily consume rhetoric that makes a mockery of decency and civility. Leaders of key social institutions, including government, news media, and religious organizations, who are supposed to be role models of reasoned and compassionate communication are often the ones with the loudest lies and the hardest hate. We can change the channel. We can unplug. We can even encourage others to do the same. We may not do so, however, until we grasp what is fundamentally at risk in our current norms of communication. Nasty words are just the tip of the dastardly discourse iceberg. What lies beneath is a steady flow of propaganda that aims to control our personal narratives. This book is about that propaganda, the importance of owning our own narratives, and improving our own rhetorical capital—the ability to analyze and evaluate information—for the sake of sustaining human dignity, decency, and civility. Review "Meg Gorzycki begins by explaining how civil discourse in American political, marketplace, media, and higher educational life is seriously tarnished and ends up by exploring how the 'sacred purpose' of each person's narrative story is the way to 'spiritual and psychological freedom and solace.' Dastardly Discourse does this with biting insight, deep socio-political analysis, and with sometimes hilariously edgy examples from everyday events in recent American life."--Peter Frederick, Wabash College"Dr. Gorzycki has penned another challenging and indeed disturbing critique of contemporary society's inability to demonstrate and appreciate respectful and incisive dialogue even when one intensely disagrees with another. We do well to heed her warning before we descend into the anarchy of despotism and authoritarianism that inevitably accompanies what she so aptly names 'dastardly discourse.'"--Don McLeod, St. Joseph's College, University of Alberta"It is stimulating to find one so clear in both one's logic and experience in addressing the curse of today's discourse. But is this any different from those we encountered in the past? She illustrates the deep psychological need for leadership and why such a fragile thing as democracy needs constant champions. In this age of skewed rhetoric, this volume is an ameliorative correction, along with a how-to section for those conscientious academicians willing to right the scales of 'truth.'"--Tom Saylor, software entrepreneur About the Author Meg Gorzycki is an educator of thirty-five years trained in the Benedictine and Jesuit traditions. She is a pedagogical consultant, course designer, and researcher interested in critical thinking, moral development, and literacy. She has taught courses in history, media, and education in the United States and abroad. Her books include Caesar Ate My Jesus, God Bless Our Cubicles, and The ABCs of a Troubled Republic.