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November 08, 2010 07:42 PM UTC

Progress

  • 13 Comments
  • 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.

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13 thoughts on “Progress”

  1. But here’s a link that describes the process of convening a new constitutional convention http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C…

     2/3 of the, err, states can call for it.  Amendments thus proposed become law if 3/4 of the…err…states ratify.

    Ratification can be by state legislatures or special conventions called in each…err…state for the purpose.

    1. Do I seem like someone who lies awake days worrying about what a document written 200+ years ago says that We the People can and cannot do?

      I stopped reading when I read Tom’s words: “…that to secure these ends, governments are instituted among men, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed…” plus something about what happens when governments stop serving that end. Nary a mention of The Constitution. Nary a mention of God, or The Supreme Monarch. Did George (King, not Washington) tell the colonists, “Go ahead, rebel.” Did the House of Lords proclaim: “Go ahead, form a confederacy.” Was it the Tories who agreed: “Go ahead, form a federation.”

      No. We the People rented a room in Philly and made it up from scratch. Wasn’t God. Wasn’t King George. It was We the People, and We the People did what we damned well pleased at the time.

      If then, why not now? Funny thing about time. As they say, it marches on. Some folks think it cool that the Constitution has lasted this long. Some think that means it’s time to get started on a new one, all the sooner!

      As for states. Seems to me they started as charters. One of the monarchs or other said: “Go ahead, boys and girls, set yourselves up a colony. Name it after the Virgin Queen. Fine by me.” Voila: states sprang from the earth. SO WHAT? That was then, this is now. That was before the telegraph; this is after broadband. In those days, TV meant Terra Vita (didn’t it? Should look it up). Et cetera. Did the Roman Senate approve by a two-thirds margin the dissolution of The Empire? Gotta wonder what the charter of the Holy Roman Empire said about splitting up, dumping the pope, etc. Was Louis Le Roi waving a document as he strode up the steps of the guillotine? See my meaning?

      I have no sore points except this: people imagine, insist, even, that decisions by folks long-since rotted in their graves are binding on me.

      PS: My post was about (a) how silly it is to imagine something meaningful took place when Olbermann was suspended, and (b) how the decline and fall of the Fourth Estate has removed a critical underpinning of democratic government in its current form.

      1. as was your live link.

        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?

        1. A discussion between JO and Voyageur on this and closely related topics is time wasted. Voyageur evaluates the feasibility of a given course of action in the current context and makes a judgment. JO thinks differently. Fine.

          Interesting, though, that you cite Section 5, in that it refers to amendments, not replacement entirely (including abolition of state governments) AND that it is herein that slavery by another name is reinforced by  reference to Art. 1, Sect. 9. Those Founding Fathers were going to have their slaves, no doubts allowed!

          1. a constitutional convention is the only process by which the Constitution can be replaced, root and branch.  As for You the People doing it by a hasty post or two on a blog, well, I wouldn’t bet too heavily on that.

              I agree with you about slavery but in your worship of Thomas Jefferson’s language in the Declaration of Independence, you overlook one tiny flaw in that claim that “all men are created equal, etc.”

               Jefferson owned slaves.

            1. …something about the life of Thos. Jefferson, I wonder, as vaguely as it’s possible to wonder, why, or to what end, you typed the above.

              As for a constitutional convention … did I suggest that was not appropriate … under it’s own terms? And while we’re at it, why not invite Canadians to come along, some or all, as they like. And Mexicans?

              If you can’t come up with better than this, maybe you should open your mind to something you hadn’t imagined on your own.

                1. As in “the federal government, faced with problems, is functional.”

                  Or “we live in a democracy, one person, one vote.”

                  Or “there’s no need to consider updating the structure of a government formed in an age when 90% of the population was agrarian, slaves were recognized as an important economic resource, ‘electricity’ was something at the far end of ol’ Ben Franklin’s kite” and so forth.

                  Rooted in reality. I like the first word especially.

  3. That is what you need. And a cowbell.

    JO, why do you keep coming back to this horrible soul and human civilization killing blog? Answer that question and you might figure out how much clinical help you need.

    1. Dunno. Maybe to make sure the Seal of the Soverign State of Colorado doesn’t appear in any candidate’s campaign literature.

      Or in hopes of learning why certain suburban participants click on a diary that carries the name JO as author.

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