Robert McChesney is dreaming for a utopian society, wherein the perturbed will have a say in and will speak about the goings on. Unfortunately, I don't think we"re even close to having that kind of say so. At least he realizes that even the most rational and logical solution cannot be forced upon the people and that they will have to be the ones to stand up and say, "We need media reform." It's happened before in many other ways. The people of the United States have gotten together and protested, pushed, and petitioned their way to getting the results they desire. This is the only way that any kind of reform will happen.
A huge problem in the lack of participation among the general public is just that - they"re general. A large portion of the population is under informed of the issues. This is quite obvious in voter turnouts on years that a president is not being elected. Even on such occasions when one is, many are unable to separate the issues and distinguish the candidates. I"m not saying everyone is dumb. Not by any means. However, the ones acting forth on such reforms already and not getting anywhere are knowledgeable about the conflicts and tribulations. In cases such as these, of the people standing up and taking actions, I believe that Joe Schmo will need to be the one to get off the couch and speak. Unfortunately, Joe Schmo hasn't any clue about there being any problems. His idea of a problem in the media may be when the cable goes out. Unless people are made more aware of the situations at hand, then nothing will happen.
The problem of media dominance and hyper commercialism needed to be stopped long before it started. Years and years ago, my little brother had a book about a mouse. Recently, I was watching the movie Air Force One and they quoted this book. I think it applies very well to the problem of media corruption and hyper commercialism: "If you give a mouse a cookie, it will want a glass of milk.
