Comments in bracket by Jan Lamprecht, the site owner.
[Oh boo hoo hoo, this idiot on CNNMoney is bemoaning the loss of "Mass culture". Translation: Choice means that the masses can no longer be BRAINWASHED by the FEW AGAINST THEIR WILL THROUGH LACK OF CHOICE! Yes, that's what this jerk is really crying about.
It's actually an argument that runs against the excellent analysis of Professor Adam Smith in 1776. Adam Smith showed, in a long and detailed analysis that the Free Market produced the lowest prices and was the most efficient mechanism. If the Free Market is good for economics, I see no reason why it can't be good for the media and for ideas and for a (supposed) free society.
Radio, TV and the Newspapers were dominated by a few oligopolies for decades and it was a prime instrument in the dissemination of propaganda by ALL countries on Earth.
Now, suddenly, "choice is bad" for politics. No you idiot! "Choice is bad" because it means the whole world isn't being fed a lot of Liberalism or Communism. It means people can actually be Conservative or something else if the hell they want to.
So he whines that the newspaper is closing its Moscow and Johannesburg offices. Well, idiot, I live in Johannesburg, and I think your newspaper is doing a pretty crap job of reporting on what is going on in my city. It is not even coming close to telling Americans what is going on. So I am *GLAD* and utterly delighted that its closing its offices. There will be other, better sources of news of what is going on in Johannesburg - like my own website for example - which is telling all the stories which your "professional organisation" was too damned useless to report on.
Sod the mass media. I will enjoy watching Internet Websites dancing on the graves of CNN, Larry King and all the rest who lied by ommission and who told the twisted stories they wanted to tell. The sooner some of these organisations, like CNN go BANKRUPT, the better.
And what great "mass culture" are we going to miss? A bunch of hippies? Frankly, I see nothing worth missing. Instead I am hoping that people will be more individualistic and will do some thinking about their own views instead of being brain dead.
Let the Internet smash the Mass Media into the ground, because as far as I'm concerned the Mass Media played a major, major role in the destruction of Africa by covering up so much of the truth. You dug a grave for us, and I am delighted that you Liberal bastards are going to fall into it yourself. Jan]
The extinction of mass culture
The advent of 300 channels and the Internet has fragmented audiences - and the explosion of choice has left us poorer
By Marc Gunther, Fortune senior writer |