Hey! First of all, thank you very much for taking the time to read this, especially since I'm sure dyslexia could make it a bit difficult. It's very cool of you to engage with this, and I read through all your thoughts and really appreciated them!
When it comes down to the organization, yeah, haha - I didn't write this for a class or edit it down very much because, honestly, I didn't think that many people would read it. It's also almost a year old, so it could definitely use some polishing. I appreciate the feedback!
Regarding your points about the content - I actually super agree that bills are more conceptual and abstract than my quick example made it seem. That's a really obvious dint in the argument of what I wrote, and bills aren't the best example of "real" things versus abstract social constructs. I think bills are an abstract concept that people /view/ much more concretely and affects their day-to-day lives a lot more than their conceptualization of the United States, but yeah, not quite the clear dichotomy I think I wanted to go for.
Also, as a history major, I love and really appreciate the references you brought up. 100% true - mass appeal/entertainment does have concerning potential, but avoiding it as a tool altogether is definitely a loss of a valuable way to connect to people.
As for a solution? I'm not sure! There are definitely drawbacks to either way. The post was made with the idea in mind that it's in the wrong direction right now (too boring) and we'd benefit from spicing it up, but as for the things you brought up, I'm not sure what an ethical way to dance around those concerns might be. Dramatization can turn to misinformation, emotion can be used to manipulate, etc. etc. But without emotion, of course, people aren't as easily motivated to act for justice without emotion - and in the end, I think my moral philosophy ends up landing in the zone of AOC's balance. She seems to try really hard to be as accurate as possible, but definitely dabbles in emotional and even sensational responses. I like that, and think it's really effective. That's the closest thing I really have to an answer now, but I wish I knew how to solve that balance as well - but, some the best political scientists I can think of struggle with it as well, so at least we're in good company trying to figure it out! Thank you again for reading and discussing. :)
