On Lessig

I just finished listening to the speech by Lessig on culture today. While he raises a lot of interesting points, there was one point in particular where I could not agree with him more. Lessig makes the assertion that in today's society, control of culture has fallen into fewer hands than in year's past. I think that this is both sad and true.

Not to sound too much like a hippy, but I truly believe that corporate interests have completely taken control over American culture. Marketers tell us what to eat, what to buy, what movies to see, what to do with our free time and what to think. Control of culture has fallen into the hands of people who care less about culture and more about selling their goods and pushing their agendas. Like it or not, business and special interests have a great deal of control over the media. The few corporations that control the media don't care about what is good for society, only what is good for profit and loss statements.

Even in our field of political management, we craft messages to persuade people what to think and who to vote for. Sometimes I get the feeling our jobs are less about persuasion as much as they are about mind control. While that may sound cynical, it is true that we aim to control what and how people think. Are we just as bad as the companies that try to get us to watch their crappy movies and eat their gross food?