Civic Discourse Amid Cultural Transformation

Abstract

We live in an age of cultural transformation. The industrial age has finally surrendered to the information-based service economy. The era of the printed word is edging into history, ever more rapidly replaced by graphic imagery, whether the still photo, the staccato pulse of television, or the interactive imagery of the Web. Popular culture a localized culture of public participation, whether through town meetings, county fairs, the community picnic on the Fourth of July, attending the high school football game, or something else has largely passed away, replaced by a culture of mass entertainment Disney World, MTV, Hollywood productions, the Super Bowl, or anything skillfully packaged for mass consumption. Authentic experience has begun to be replaced by ersatz experience. No longer does one have to visit Paris or New York; now Las Vegas will do almost as well. Who needs to visit Tierra del Fuego to see penguins when their brightly defined and highly resolved images cavort on large illuminated screens in your home? These and other alterations of culture have produced, and will continue to produce, a distinct and discernible effect on civic discourse. In as few words as possible I hope to outline some of the major cultural transformations that recently have occurred or now are occurring, to relate those events to discernible changes in the nature of civic discourse, and to hazard some guesses about the future direction of our culture and our public discourse.