November 08, 2010 07:42 PM UTC

Progress

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• by: JO

I know, I know, conflation was Word of the Month for October. Still, in honor of what could be the last day of summerish weather for awhile (and in memory of DST), I offer a tie between seemingly unrelated subjects, victims of conflation:

1. When one hears the term “industrial revolution,” one thinks of factories, churning out tie rods to be included as part of a car. “Agriculture” was what preceded the Industrial Revolution, except, of course, for this: once upon a time 90% of the population was engaged in producing food; today the figure is around 2%, and that little sliver is turning out more high fructose that ever before. The reason is that the “industrial revolution” had an impact on agriculture, too, Harvesters replacing harvesters et centera. Revolutions, whether Bolshevik or Industrial, aren’t confined to their intended playgrounds.

2. The fact of this blog (not the Facts, mind you) is testimony to one way that the Digital Revolution has impacted the media as well as, say, vinyl records. We all know this, so no need to go into it, except to note that the quantity and quality of The Press has steadily gone down.

3. Up in arms! Keith Olbermann was suspended for two episodes! “We’re a news organization,” MissedNBC proclaimed. As if. In olden times, “news” on the TeeVee meant Edward R. Murrow or Walter Cronkite giving a good impression of reading The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/?src=hp… to the hicks in the Stickenloopers. But the very first moment that CNN, owned by Ted Turner, went live, TeeVee “news” was over, having crossed the intellectual Rubicon into the world of entertainment. Maybe TeeVee news was lurking there already, since MadMen types have always hoped for some elixir to prompt ratings, having discovered that on the TeeVee, it isn’t the news that attracts the audience; it’s the face reading the teleprompter. Isn’t it?

4. Praise God From Whom All Clauses Flow. Yes, children, the Constitution of the United States has joined Holy Scripture, at least in the minds of many. For more on this, read Samuel Freedman. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11…

Alongside this phenomenon is the rise of the American Fundamentalists; nothing learned in the past 5,000 years or so is to be taken into account; it’s just as it was when the Pentatuch was hot off the scrolls. Woe unto him who dare challenge it! (I could, I suppose, look up earlier posts by JO about changing the role of the Senate, doing away with “states,” calling a new constitutional convention to reboot, but suffice it to say: once written, never erased.)

So, let us unscramble this omelette. What’s the point?

A. The “fourth estate” has always been an integral part of democracy. Can’t have one without the other. It’s necessary to keep government under the spotlight of the appointed agents of the demos; it’s also about generating a shared version of Current Events, at least for sets of like-minded communities.

B. The fourth estate has been critically, if not terminally, wounded by the Two Horsemen of the Digital Apocolypse: TeeVee and Internet. Freedom of the Press isn’t about ranting and raving in your pajamas; it’s about roaming, asking, inquiring–and then publicizing what you learned — about politics.

C. A political system (The Constitution, praise be to Saint James Madison) that ignores the profound changes in the surroundings, including and especially the grievous wounds suffered by the Fourth Estate, cannot work, is not working, will not work. [Off the topic here to go into equating Little Rhody with California in the U.S. Senate, but that too.]

Solution? Go back to bed, I guess. Or inquire: whatever happened to whatshername who misused the Seal of the Sovereign State of Colorado in her campaign literature? What about the guy for whom every weekend is Hallowe’en, with his SS costume and all? Gotta boost the ratings, after all. Gotta get those page views over two million an hour! Gotta keep fillin’ the Front Page that has no end.