Public expression in the United States has become increasingly
coarse. Whether it's stupid, rude, base, or anti-intellectual talk,
it surrounds us. Popular television, film, music, art, and even
some elements of religion have become as coarse, we argue, as our
often-disparaged political dialogue. This book's contention is that
the U.S. semantic environment is governed by tactics, not tact. We
craft messages that work-that perform their desired function. We
are instrumental, strategic communicators. As such, entertainment
and journalism that draw an audience, for instance, are "good."
This follows the logic that the marketplace, an aggregate of
hedonically motivated individuals, decides what's good. Market
logic, when unencumbered by what some characterize as quaint human
sentimentalities, liberates us to cynically communicate whatever
and however we want. Whatever improves ratings, web traffic, ticket
sales, concession sales, repeat purchases, and earnings is good.
Embracing this communicative paradigm more fully necessitates the
culture's abandonment of collective notions of both taste and
veracity, thus weakening the forces that keep individual desires in
check. Our present communication environment is one that invites
the hypertrophic expression of the ego, enabling elites to erode
public communication standards and repeal laws and regulations
resulting in immeasurable individual fortunes. Meanwhile, perpetual
plutocratic rule is made even more certain by the cacophonous
public noise the rest of us are busy making, leaving us incapable,
disinterested, and unwilling to listen to one another.
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