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Trivial Pursuits and the Triumph of Info-Tainment
Or else, to the contrary:
These issues are eclipsed because discussion and contemplation thereof require serious reflection, and critical linear thought has become less and less "fashionable" of late. In the evening network TV news shows, word-laden "content" has been replaced with "images." In cable TV, ideas and events give way to "personalities." Public Television has fallen ever more under the control of its corporate "contributors." Even the so-called "educational channels" (e.g., the Discovery and History Channels) have become the video equivalents of "The National Enquirer," whereby every sort of far-out kookery might be displayed, while informed scientific inquiry recedes into the background. The public demands "entertainment," and images have been found to be more entertaining than ideas, astrology more entertaining than astronomy, and "show-biz celebs" more entertaining than scholars, writers and scientists, who are dismissed as mere "talking heads." The "free-market of ideas," envisioned by Jefferson and J. S. Mill has succumbed to a kind of "Gresham’s Law," whereby quality ideas and argument are driven out by junk and drivel. And so, a new regime prevails in the media: If information is not also entertaining, then fagedabowdit! Hence "Infotainment." Thus, in the present campaign, rats, moles, kisses, lullabies and sighs prevail over health care, education, national defense, global warming, etc. And in the "Great Debates," we have seen the media behave more like drama critics than journalists, as they meticulously examined demeanor, tone, charisma, "comfort level," and "connection," while they ignored substantial issues and policies. The media, with the acquiescence of the candidates, have adopted "the mushroom theory of politics: "Keep ‘em in the dark and feed ‘em bullshit." Quite frankly, as a citizen of the US of A, I am acutely embarrassed, and I
fear for the future of my country as I contemplate Jefferson’s observation:
"That nation that wishes to be ignorant and free, wishes what never was and
never will be."
Carved over the front entrance to the Supreme Court Building are the words "Equal Justice Under Law." The justices who voted in the majority in Buckley vs. Valeo (1976), must have habitually entered the building through the rear entrance. In this, the most wrong-headed decision since Dred Scott, the Supremes proclaimed that "cash is speech." Thus the court apportioned electoral influence with wealth – in effect, legalizing bribery. So much for "equality before the law." And so we have a system whereby the demand of the majority for handgun control is effectively "outbid" by the arms industry and its surrogate, the NRA. Prevention and treatment of nicotine addiction is squelched by a Congress which, in fact, pays subsidies to the tobacco farmers. The oil consumption spree continues unabated, as no politician dares to point out that some day, sooner or later, the Earth must yield the final barrel. (Sooner, given our aversion to energy conservation). Meanwhile, research in alternative energy sources languishes. All this is the result of a Congress that is more "bought and paid for" than elected – that represents its sponsors more than its citizen constituents. (See our "Modest Proposal," this site). No other Western democracy has so completely mortgaged its election procedures to private and corporate wealth. And, since 1976, this outrage has been validated by the Supreme Court. The Court must be given another go at this, but only after it has been sufficiently "liberalized." Don’t expect this from George W. Bush, whose exemplar of the ideal Justice is Antonin Scalia.
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