There is such a thing as too much choice - Jul. 12, 2006

There is such a thing as too much choice - Jul. 12, 2006:

This commentary (worth the read...click on the link above) about the upheaval in our culture is a fascinating examination of the changes that are underway in this country and in Western civilization, generally. It's sad to think that 'the good old days' may have been held together by the shallow institutions, icons and cultural symbols he suggests. I would prefer to think, perhaps naively, that our shared values were more deeply rooted in what we believed rather than what was fed to us by the media; the two may be so deeply connected that we cannot separate them.

Nevertheless, Western civilization faces a tremendous threat from the Islamic fundamentalists, in addition to specific acts of terror, if our culture is as shallow and deteriorating as Mr. Gunther suggests. In fact, that is what the Islamists believe and are acting upon that belief...and they are in it for the long term. That is why the radical Islamists must be neutralized or eradicated.

The problem is much bigger than journalism and/or politics, as suggested below. I think our survival is at stake. The Roman Empire is no more. Our fate could be similar.

"He said we may lose some superficial ties to one another as the culture fragments, but that we gain deeper ties to smaller, virtual communities made possible by the Internet as we pursue own passions. I think the explosion of choice has left us poorer in at least two arenas.

The first is journalism. (Yes, as a Fortune writer, I've got a stake in the health of the mainstream media, which bloggers call the MSM.) The network evening newscasts, big-city newspapers and the national news magazines once had the money, access, skills, commitment and power to deliver lots of original reporting and put important issues on the national agenda. Today, they are all diminished.

The second arena where we are worse off is politics. This is related to journalism, as the moderate and responsible (okay, bland) voices of the MSM get drowned out by partisan, opinionated cableheads and bloggers. Politics in America has become polarized for many reasons, but a big one is the fact that people can now filter the news and opinion they get to avoid exposure to ideas with which they disagree.

Anderson suggests that this could well be a temporary problem, and that if the major parties continue to move to the extremes and the quality of debate continues to deteriorate, the Internet could well enable a new party or parties, to arise."