America's Meltdown: The Lowest-Common-Denominator Society

241 Pages·2003·1.47 MB·English

by  John B. Arden

AMERICA’S MELTDOWN
The Lowest-Common-
Denominator Society
John Boghosian Arden
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Arden,JohnBoghosian.
America’smeltdown:thelowest-common-denominatorsociety/John
BoghosianArden.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0–275–97639–4(alk.paper)
1.UnitedStates—Civilization—1970- 2.Popularculture—United
States.3.UnitedStates—Socialconditions—1980–4.Massmedia—
Socialaspects—UnitedStates.5.Socialpsychology—UnitedStates.
I. Title.
E169.12.A7242003
306(cid:1).0973—dc21 2002030727
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationDataisavailable.
Copyright(cid:2)2003byJohnBoghosianArden
Allrightsreserved.Noportionofthisbookmaybe
reproduced,byanyprocessortechnique,withoutthe
expresswrittenconsentofthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:2002030727
ISBN:0–275–97639–4
Firstpublishedin2003
PraegerPublishers,88PostRoadWest,Westport,CT06881
AnimprintofGreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc.
www.praeger.com
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Thepaperusedinthisbookcomplieswiththe
PermanentPaperStandardissuedbytheNational
InformationStandardsOrganization(Z39.48–1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
1. TheMeltdown 1
2. Cyberspaced 17
3. VicariousLiving 31
4. Infotainment 47
5. RetailGovernment 65
6. LockandLoad 81
7. TheBottomoftheBarrel 91
8. ShoppingandDropping 99
9. MenandWomenArefromEarth 111
10. HypedSports 121
11. WagingtheSoul 131
12. PunchingtheClock 145
13. McMedicine 151
14. ShrinkWrap 159
15. DumbsizingtheSchools 165
16. MallArt 175
17. TheSpiritualSupermarket 185
18. RebuildingtheFuture 193
vi Contents
Notes 213
FurtherReading 229
Index 231
1
The Meltdown
InAmericayouwatchTVandthinkitistotallyunreal,thenyou
gooutsideandit’strue.
JoanArmatrading
Not long ago, a perplexing commercial appeared on television in
whichamaninawhitecoatstated,“I’mnotadoctor,butIplayone
onTV.”Asifheis nowworthyofourrespect,hegoesontorecom-
mend that the viewer buy a certain over-the-counterpain-relieving
medication.Whathascausedmanyinoursocietytoacceptanactor
asamedicalauthority?
Thereare,infact,manysignsthatoursocietyisgravitatingtoan
overlysimplisticandoftenabsurdviewofreality.Wemightbemelt-
ingdowntothelowestcommondenominator(LCD).Wecanseethe
LCDsyndromeemerginginwhatweconsidernewsworthy,whatwe
regard asentertaining,howwedispensemedicalcare,andhowwe
educateourchildren.Wehearaboutchildrengoingonrampagesat
their schools with assault weapons. In the emerging LCD society,
sensationalism,gossip,andaconstitutionalcrisiseruptedoverasex
scandal.
ConsistentwiththeLCDsociety,GeorgeW.BushaccusedAlGore
and others like him of being “thinkers.” After assuming the role of
President, Bush joked that he was a “C” student and that other C
studentscouldhopetobecomePresidenttoo.
Despite the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the LCD syn-
drome has deepened. That same proud C student used terms such
as “Axis of Evil” and “crusade” in the political campaign against
terrorism.Yethispopularitysoared.
Sales of gas-guzzling, environment-ravaging, and collision-
mangling SUVs have not dampened. In fact, the LCD cruisers
proudly fly the American flag as an expression of patriotism. Few
2 TheMeltdown
have asked if our manic hunger for cheap oil has driven American
foreign policy to continue to prop up dictatorships called “king-
doms” on the Saudi Arabian peninsula. These dictatorships have
wipedoutallmoderatedissent,leavingonlyterroristsmasquerading
aspiousMuslimstoexpresstheirdissent.
Theforcescontributingtothismeltdowninconsciousnessareper-
vasive. Never before have we witnessed such dramatic synergybe-
tweenmassmedia,demographicchange,andcorporatedomination
of the economy. The combination of these factors has restructured
every aspect of society. For example, individuals with controlling
interestsinthemultinationalcorporationsknowthatthewaytoen-
sure profits is to use the media to sell their products to the largest
number of customers. To reach that audience, they appeal to the
LCDbyusingoverlysimpleformattinginadsandprograms.
Advertising consultants pay attention to the 250,000 Americans
who wrote to Marcus Welby for medical advice. These consultants
also know that several studies have shown that information deliv-
ered by a familiar person is more easily accepted than the same
informationfromanunfamiliarperson.Thusweseeactorswhoplay
doctorssellingmedicine.Thistypeofpersuasionoccursevenwhen
thepresenteriscontradictedbythefacts.Weseemfarmoretouched
byourvicariousexperienceswithacharacterontelevisionthanwe
arebyfacts.
InthenewLCDsociety,politicalcandidatesoperatewiththisdy-
namicinmind.Forexample,duringtheReaganyearspollsindicated
that many voters who did not agree with his political positions or
hisversionofthe“facts”aboutoursocietyvotedforhimanyway.To
borrow a phrase uttered as a Freudian slip by the great communi-
catorhimself,“Factsarestupidthings.”
UNCONSCIOUSLY INTO QUICKSAND
As we sleepwalk into the twenty-first century, we might be step-
pingintoquicksand.Manyofthesocietalchangesnowswayingour
consciousnessareself-perpetuating.Considerthatsincetheadvent
of television,therehasbeenasteadydeclineinsocialparticipation
andcivicengagement.
Withtheexceptionofabriefresurgenceofasenseofcommunity
post September 11, 2001, Americans volunteer less, participate in
fewer political discussions, and attend fewer dinner parties. We
TheMeltdown 3
spendlesstimeatmeetingsorbowlingleaguesandsimplyconverse
less with one another. In short, we spend approximately a quarter
ofthetimesocializingtodaythanwedid35yearsago.1
We have replaced social ties with dependence on the electronic
media. It has been estimated that the television is turned on in the
average American family home from two and a half to five hours
daily, and Americans spend on average 40 percent of their leisure
timewatchingit.2
InasurveyofAmericansbetweentheagesof15and25conducted
in 2002, it was found that despite the brief sense of trustingovern-
ment institutions, actual involvement in the community continued
to go down.3 The percentage of these people who volunteer even
occasionallyhasdropped7percentinjustoneyear.Since1998there
hasbeena14-pointdropinpeoplewhomadeacharitabledonation,
an 11-point drop in those who have joined an organization, and a
10-point drop in the percentage of those who volunteer at commu-
nityorganizations.
AccordingtoaGallupPoll,thenumberofpeopleadmittingtohav-
ingreadnobooksthepreviousyearshotupfrom8percentin1978
to16percentin1998.4JohnRobertsonoftheUniversityofMaryland
showed that between 1948 and 1985, the percentage of people who
readmagazinesonagivendaydroppedfrom38to28percent.5
The reliance on the electronic media as a replacementforsocial-
ization has contributed to mutations in our consciousness. Social
disengagement has also long been associated with impairments in
physical and mental health.6 Researchers have shown that people
with decreased levels of social supportexperienceacorresponding
increase in illnesses, depression, and difficulties in intimate rela-
tionships.Forexample,inarecentstudy,54percentofchildrenages
4 to 6 indicated that they like television better than they like their
fathers.7
On the other hand, technological and media advances have en-
abled people to communicate with one another over geographical
distancesoncethoughtunfathomable.Cellphonesnowmakeitpos-
sibleforadyingclimberonMt.Everesttohavecontactwithfamily
members in New Zealand. With a few strokes on a keyboard, an
e-maillettercanbetransmittedinamatterofsecondsfromCairoto
HongKong.Thelatestnewscanbeviewedontelevisionorheardon
the radio from Antarctica to Greenland. Styles and modes of com-
municationcanbemodeledontelevisionandinmotionpicturesfor
4 TheMeltdown
viewersanywhereintheworld,thankstosatellitedishes,cable,an-
tennas,andvideotapemachines.
But as New York University Professor of Media and Journalism
Michael Stephens has argued, the advances in film have led to less
reliance on the written word because of a greater ability to com-
municate ideas through images. Though he applauds this develop-
ment, he acknowledges that the reliance on visual imagery hasled
toasuperficialorientationtotheworld.Hewrites:
Indeed,theincreasingrelianceuponimages,whichbeganwithphotography
andacceleratedwithfilm,certainlyseemstohavecontributedtoanincreas-
ingconcernwithimage—withstyle,possessionsandpublicrelations,with
surfacesandappearances,withwhatCokecommercialsareselling.8
Simultaneous with the shift from the written word to visual im-
agery, the number of people with deficits in attention span, short-
term memory, and intellectual curiosity has increased. Also, the
numberofpeopleseekingimmediategratificationthroughmaterial
possessions and entertainment has surged. We have come to crave
gossipoversubstance,acrimonyoverharmony,andsensationalism
overdeepmeaning.
What we consider hard news has essentially disintegrated into
gossip. We discuss in great detail a President who has affairs and
congressmen with secret lovers who disappear. A generation ago
thesesubjectswerenotconsideredworthyofmainstreamnewscov-
erage. The mainstream press followed a code of ethics. The press
did not cover the speculation about alleged extramarital affairs of
Presidents Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Kennedy, or Johnson. Today
these stories are omnipresent despite the fact that the viewing au-
dienceclaimstobedisinterested.AmediathinktankinWashington
reportedthattelevisioncoverageoftheClinton/Lewinskysexscan-
dalwasmoreextensivethancoverageoftheothersevenbigstories
in1998combined.9
During the summer of 2001, Congressman Gary Condit was all
over the media despite the fact that there was no breaking news
aboutthisstory.OnlyaftertheSeptember11thterroristattacksdid
Condit drift out of the news. Then actor Robert Blake was charged
with the murder of his wife, and Condit was supplanted by a new
personality.
Thetabloidshavealwaysattractedareadershipinterestedingos-
sip about celebrities. There was a time when stories about a Presi-
TheMeltdown 5
dent’saffairsdidnotgracethefrontpageofTheNewYorkTimesor
Washington Post. Now they do. The House of Representativespar-
ticipated in the news tabloidization by releasing graphic details of
former Independent Council Kenneth Starr’s reporttotheInternet.
AnyonewithacomputerwasabletoreadaboutPresidentClinton’s
sexual encounters with Monica Lewinsky, including their use of a
cigar,oralsex,andphonesex.10
Meanwhile,violenceintheworkplace,massacresinschools,and
internationalterrorismgetlittlein-depthdebateoranalysis.There-
sponsetoone of thesestories amountstoflashheadlinesalmostas
ifitwereacommercialforatelevisionshowtitled“AmericaStrikes
Back.”
Manyobserversofgunviolenceinourschoolshaveblamediton
television,themovies,computergames,guns,andincreasedfeelings
of alienation. The massacres cannot be tied to any of these factors
alonebuttoallofthemcombined.Theyrepresentanepisodicnight-
mareinouremergingLCDsociety.
The potential for more terrorism hangs over us like an invisible
cloud.TheOffice of Homeland Securityissuedreportsofdailyrisk
forterrorismthewaytelevisionmeteorologistsforecasttheweather.
They have developed a color-coded forecasting system. Will it be a
red or yellow day tomorrow? Or is anyone paying attention
anymore?
TWO WORLDS INTO ONE NOT-SO-BRAVE NEW
WORLD
Halfacenturyago,twopopularviewsofthefutureofcivilization
were described in literature. One view was put forth by GeorgeOr-
well in his novel 1984. He envisioned a totalitarian state in which
“BigBrother”policedthethoughtandbehaviorofitsfearfulcitizens.
OrwelldescribedtheMinistryofTruthasanorganizationrespon-
sible for controlling the minds of citizens. The Ministry used New-
speakandthefollowingmind-bendingsloganoftheParty:WARIS
PEACE;FREEDOMISSLAVERY;IGNORANCEISSTRENGTH.11
The rigid control of the press in the former Soviet Union, its sat-
ellites, and the People’s Republic of China are but contemporary
examples of societies where the ignorance of the masses has been
factoredintothestabilityoftheState.Thebrutalrepressionoffree-
dom of speech in Tiananmen Square in 1989 and the incarceration