Asymmetry may be the least of it’s crimes. Bill Moyers’ show the other day featured an excellent interview with Marty Kaplan from USC’s Norman Lear Center that should stand as warning to all concerned about the plight of democracy in this entertainment age. We are trying to operate a democracy in the absence of being informed by a free and independent press so critical to its success. The kind of press needed to serve a democracy is nothing like the kind needed to raise profits for shareholders and advertisers. Neil Postman warned of this many years ago in his book “Amusing Ourselves to Death;” Kaplan does a superb job of describing just how it works and how dangerous it is. The show is called “Big Money, Big Media, Big Trouble” and can be seen here: http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-big-money-big-media-big-trouble/

I’m reminded of a column Steve Forbes published in his magazine early in the Clinton administration. He argued that increasing CAFE fuel economy standards would actually lead to an increase in gas consumption, because people would drive more. Yes, he actually said that. I immediately wrote to congratulate him on, perhaps without realizing it, solving the fuel crisis. Clearly, what the government needs to do is mandate WORSE fuel economy in our vehicles. Then people will drive less and we’ll save oodles of gas. Problem solved!