I think its great that he is concerned. We all should be. BUT. As the other posters pointed out, some things have to be taken with a grain of salt.
Much of the discourse today begins with the "I have a nightmare.." speech and goes from there.
What should be done is to get a deep grounding in political history and theory and then the events and claims of today can be compared to the past.
1. Read a broad survey of world history.
This is very good. Its not perfect. But it is broad, inclusive, and the attempt at synthesis sets the stage.
http://www.amazon.com/Story-Civiliz...mp;ie=UTF8&qid=1324496076&sr=1-12. Read biographies of great leaders and place them in the world historical context. This will tie people to historical events. Pick a leader and read about them. Then another. Rome, China, Greece, Europe, Japan, India. Think about what you might have done different. Pick a time when things went really bad and look at what was or was not done.
For example, there was a monetary and climate crisis in Europe in the early 1300s. Phillip IV of France probably did the most to bring great ruin to Europe because he responded to the various challenges of his day - and there were very many - by doing the wrong thing at each turn. On the other hand, William of Orange did all the right things in the late 1600s.
3. As you read, google the events for more perspective.
4. Read psychology and economics. Try to understand how genetics, resources, and behavior are tied to the current or past world. Think about how one gets knowledge, validates it, then uses it.
5. Finally, pick several people who are in their 50s or older who know history well, were trained as a scientist, and who have been involved with a leader or scientific or political policy, who focus on many things, and read their blogs. Pick across the political spectrum and avoid those who are strident. This will give you perspective and longer view and links to other interesting things.
I like these.
http://johnhawks.net/http://www.monbiot.com/http://jerrypournelle.com/jerrypournelle.c/chaosmanor/As for SOPA... wake me when it gets out of committee.
The time to stop it is when it is in Committee.
