Gore Vidal Essay, Research Paper

Gore Vidal is a well known. He has written various books such as “The Thirst Evil” and “The City and the Pillar”. Through my research on Gore Vidal, I did not find many readers that did not like his writings. Most of his readers are astonished by his writings. I found “Paranoid Politics” an enjoyable reading. Gore hits many points of interest to me that I would like to discuss.

A point of Gore Vidal I would like to mention is on page 769 and continues on page 770.Gore writes about how our world has no sense of clear national identity. I agree on that for “America does not have a motherland or fatherland to be shared with others of his tribe, for the excellent reason that he has no tribe?” America is really caught up in “the American way of life”. What is “the American way of life”? Is it selfishness? Gore shows are great example of selfishness in his first paragraph on page 770. It is true that “A man might gladly give his life for a totem like the flag or Cross, but who would give so much as a breath for a washing machine not yet paid for?” On page 770 Vidal mentions “Americanism”. What is “Americanism”? How can we have so-called “Americanism” when we live in America with non-Americans? Students while standing and saying the pledge of allegiance watch some of their fellow classmates sit. What does that show for America? For one, I think it shows a lack of respect and unity. We should all be working together in this society rather than working against each other. Why is that we have people that have no national pride in there own country? I can easily answer that question. We are supposed to trust our government that has lied to us numerous times. I mentioned above that I think it shows a lack of respect and unity not to show pride for ones country, but respect is something you give and take. The people of America are being lied to and disrespected. How can they expect us to show respect back to them? One prime example of Americans being lied to goes back to the Vietnam War. The government kept the war a huge secret from the people. What does that show to us?

For hours one could have a debate on the government. I am one of those bystanders when it comes to the government. I am 18 and not registered to vote. I have no desire to vote. I feel I do not have much say in what the government does. I would just rather be neutral and let everyone else worry. I strongly believe everything happens for a reason. As For Gore Vidal, I give him credit for going on the topic of politics. He has some real good points, but honestly, they do not enlighten me.