|
The
Route So Far
To
open PART IV of THE ESTATES MATRIX, it is
appropriate to review the first three components
of this Backgrounder:
PART
I (“The
Morphed Estate”) focuses on the fact that
citizens are not getting the information they
need to make intelligent decisions in the voting
booth or in the marketplace. It turns out they
are also not getting the information they need
to be effective members or leaders of
Institutions. The reason is that MainStream
Media “has abandoned its responsibilities.”
These duties and obligations were the basis for
Media’s (aka, Journalism’s) claim to special
privileges and control of The Fourth Estate.
PART
I also noted that in order to examine and
understand the scope and reality of
Information deprivation, citizens need a new
Conceptual Framework that provides a context
with which to understand the rise and fall of
MainStream Media.
PART
II (“The
Estates Matrix”) spells out, column by
column and row by row, a new Conceptual
Framework. The draft of THE ESTATES MATRIX turns
out to provide a context for understanding much
more than just the reasons why citizens are not
getting the information they need.
PART
III (“The
Rise and Fall of Journalism”) revisits the
problems outlined in PART I within the context
provided by THE ESTATES MATRIX.
PART
III documents why and how MainStream Media rose
to power and profiles the shrinking role to
which MainStream Media is now consigned:
Promoting Mass OverConsumption.
Enterprises have a legal obligation to maximize
shareholder value – that is what they are
created to accomplish. Within a sustainable
context for society, that is a desirable goal.
However, in the present dysfunctional and
unsustainable context, this objective has been
warped to mean “maximize annual rate of
growth” – aka, short-term profit. For this
reason Mass OverConsumption is the life-blood of
Enterprises and the Second Estate.
Enterprise-owned
MainStream Media outlets have no choice but to
support Mass OverConsumption.
PART
III ended with a review of advertising and
suggested why the advertising base of MainStream
Media may be in jeopardy.
Light
at the End of the Tunnel
PART
IV suggests that if citizens understand their
enlightened self-interest in time to establish
themselves as an intelligent force in the Fourth
Estate, they can drive a stake through the heart
of advertisement-driven Mass OverConsumption. If
citizens can do that, then there is hope that
they can redirect society and achieve a
sustainable trajectory for contemporary
civilization.
Unless
Citizens (individuals and Households) take
action very soon, however, they will have no
role in managing society other than as:
This
summary is neither alarmist nor
hyperventilating. Time is running out.
PART
IV will also outline how citizens can establish
a presence in the Fourth Estate which will
provide the information they need to make
intelligent decisions in the voting booth, in
the marketplace and as informed members and
leaders of open Institutions.
Whom
Do You Trust?
Start
with a simple question.
Whom
do you trust to look out for your interests
and the interest of members of your Household?
Few citizens believe that dominance of any of
the first three Estates – Agencies,
Enterprises, Institutions – will provide a
path to safety, happiness and a sustainable
trajectory for civilization.
Do
you trust Agencies run by the likes of Hugo
Chavez, Evo Morales, Pervez Musharraf, King
Abdulla, Khalifa bin Zayid al-Nahayyan, Sellapan
Ramanathan or Vladimir Putin? Governments
(Agencies) such as the ones in this group
(Venezuela, Bolivia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia,
United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Russia) are
the probable future shape of Agencies if
governance structures do not evolve to reflect
economic, social and physical reality of
contemporary civilization. (See End
Note Twenty-nine.)
When
considering Agencies it is important to
understand that:
Without
a sustainable trajectory for civilization it
is not possible to create and maintain the
economic, social and physical conditions
necessary to make the majority of citizens
happy and safe. Conditions that favor and
serve a few at the top of the economic food
chain is not a formula for prosperity,
stability or sustainability. Having a majority
of citizens who are happy and safe is a
precondition for democracy.
Politicians
and go-along-to-get-along governance
practitioners who now run Agencies rely on
telling voters what they want to hear at
election time. When it comes to what they do
rather than what they say, elected office
holders do whatever nets the biggest campaign
contributions, pork for donors and corruption
for all in the “party” – such an
appropriate name for political Institutions!
For
a sampling of current reality, just Google the
news coverage of topics such as the Consumer
Safety Commission, Federal Election Commission,
Federal Trade Commission, Corps of Engineers,
Department of Agriculture, Katrina / Rita
response ... then try state and municipal
Agencies, the list of failures to govern
intelligently is nearly endless.
Agencies
that now exist have proven to be attractive to
the likes of Spiro, Bob, Bert, John, Karl, Tom,
Ted, Larry and Dick. (See End
Note Thirty.)
Do
you trust Enterprises with track records
like GM, Exxon, Microsoft, Enron or Wal*Mart?
How about Agency-chartered or Agency-regulated
Enterprises (aka, Enterprises With Privileges)
like Fanny Mae, Freddy Mac or Sally Mae, Con Ed,
PG&E, Dominion, etc?
The
emotionally loaded, deceptive and reality-challenged
advertisements and public relations campaigns of
Enterprises drive Mass OverConsumption.
Advertising and public relations efforts do not
convey fact. They are created to convince
consumers what they should want or need.
Enterprises also have set up elaborate gambling
venues called stock markets and futures markets
to create the illusion of productivity –
profit without product.
Chapter
5 of The Shape of the Future
provides a profile of “the winner-take-all”
economic context of contemporary society through
2000. (The term “winner-take-all” was coined
by Robert Frank and Phillip Cook in a book of
that title. Two new books, "Supercapitalism:
The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and
Everyday Life," by Robert Reich and
"Deep Economy: the Wealth of Communities
and the Durable Future," by Bill McKibben
bring this story up to date and will be profiled
in Chapter 17 of BRIDGES, the second book of
TRILO-G. )
As
is the case with Agency dominance, when
considering Enterprise control it must be
understood that:
Without
a sustainable trajectory for civilization it
is not possible to create and maintain the
economic, social and physical conditions
necessary to make the majority of citizens
happy and safe. Conditions that favor and
serve a few at the top of the economic food
chain is not a formula for prosperity,
stability or sustainability. Having a majority
of citizens who are happy and safe is a
precondition for democracy and market
economies.
Do
you trust Institutions such as churches,
conservation organizations, AARP, the Boy
Scouts, the United Way, Red Cross, Blue Cross -
Blue Shield, Harvard, Oral Roberts, Smithsonian,
Rockefeller Brothers, Brookings, Reason, Cato,
Club of Growth, political parties, PACs, First
Fundamentalist Bible Mission, NRA, etc?
Institutions
– the Third Estate – might seem like the most
trustworthy of the three Estates. After all,
they are controlled by “members” and boards.
However, the farther down the list one gets, the
less it seems like trusting Institutions to be
in control of society is a good idea. That is
because of the nature of Institutional
self-interest profiled in PART II.
Institutions
hire professionals to hone their pleas to
members and the messages to support their goals
unrelated to the reality of the message content.
Institution leaders must know their statements
are false and their positions bogus but if it
meets their objectives... even the pleas for
funds from one’s college alma mater are
getting old.
While
not all Institutions have slipped as much as
the Smithsonian or as far as the NRA and some
Mega churches, Institutions do a great job of
demonstrating the truth of the adage: Power
corrupts and absolute power corrupts
absolutely.”
Within
the constraints outlined in PART I, MainStream
Media provides a continuing parade of stories
about overspending Institution managers and
failed pastors. Perhaps the Smithsonian
Institution has fallen the fastest and the
farthest. But for activities that are within the
law, the NRA may take the prize. (For a chilling
view from a gun lobby insider on the depth to
which NRA has fallen see End
Note Thirty-one.)
As
is the case with Agency or Enterprise dominance,
when considering Institutions it must be
understood that:
Without
a sustainable trajectory for civilization it
is not possible to create and maintain the
economic, social and physical conditions
necessary to make the majority of citizens
happy and safe. Conditions that favor and
serve a few at the top of the economic food
chain is not a formula for prosperity,
stability or sustainability. Having a majority
of citizens who are happy and safe is a
precondition for democracy, market economies
and open Institutions.
If
one looks behind the campaign promises (First
Estate), the ads and stock prospectuses (Second
Estate) and the fund raising brochures (Third
Estate), it is hard to find any Organization in
which citizens can believe is looking out for
their best interest. Even Institutions with
broad goals like “conservation” find ways to
avoid putting the citizen first. (See APPENDIX
TWO.)
The
Issue of Time
Coming
to well considered public judgments on the
issues facing citizens (individuals and
Households) will require time and attention.
That is something that citizens are deprived of,
thanks to the intentional and unintentional
efforts of the Three Estates.
As
we will spell out in PROPERTY DYNAMICS
(PART I of ACTION PROGRAMS, the
third book of TRILO-G), under the
current conditions, citizens are Running as Hard
as They Can (RHTC). RHTC citizens have no time
to think about fundamentally important issues.
They cannot find time to get enough sleep or eat
a healthy diet. They cannot find time to seek
assistance. They scramble from Estate to Estate
looking for help at every crisis.
This
reality is a clear condemnation of the most
prosperous and most consumptive society in the
history of the planet and the reason why
citizens need to be able to rely on information
to make intelligent decisions in the voting
booth, in the market place and in forming and
managing Institutions.
Alternatives
to a Fourth Estate Vacuum
Broadly
speaking, there are three alternatives –
always three alternatives:
-
Lapsing
to the pre-American Revolution framework of Three
Estates occupied by those in control, in
which the vast majority have No Estate, as
explored in PART II.
-
Creating
a larger number of estates – five, six,
seven, eight -- this is the moral equivalent of
inflation.
-
Evolving
a process that provides citizens with the
information they need within the Fourth
Estate.
Let
us briefly consider these options.
-
People
who fall into the “No Estate” category,
unrepresented by Agencies, Enterprises or
Institutions, would become non-citizens.
This is where most humans existed 250 years
ago. Being in No Estate is not a
pleasant place, as documented by the
experience of millions over the past 12,000
years. The US of A fought at least three
wars to end the No Estate option.
Among
other tragedies, people falling into the No
Estate category have no effective option to
generate the information they need to
establish a sustainable trajectory for
civilization
-
The
second approach is to create more Estates.
Already many interest groups claim to be
“the Fifth Estate.” The Institutions set
up to check “facts” in political
campaigns – www.FactCheck.org,
www.PolitiFact.com, www.fair.org – were
dubbed “The Fifth Estate” by Utne
Reader in the Nov-Dec 2007 issue. A
Google search of The Fifth Estate turns up
over 2.8 million hits, ranging from
blog sites to magazines to Enterprises
to Institutions -- many, many Institutions.
With
the multi-Estate option, one could foresee
religious groups lining up to again have their
own Estate. Soon the various denominations
would be fighting over who controls that
Estate leading to arguments for hundreds of
“true” Estates. When one considers the
breadth of interests represented by
Institutions the number of self-proclaimed
Estates appears infinite.
The
multitude-of-Estates approach also would be
unlikely to create a source for the
information which citizens need.
-
The
most viable alternative would be for
citizens to evolve a process from the
remnants of the Fourth Estate that provides
information for all citizens – the role
that was abandoned by MainStream Media.
Step
One: Real Citizen Media
No
one should expect the leopard to change its
spots. It is naive and counterproductive to
dream that MainStream Media will again assume
the role that it played in 1800, 1837, 1870, 1920, 1950 or
even 1972.
There
is ample documentation of those in one Estate
pretending to play roles in another state for which they
are no longer qualified. History is also replete
– and not just since 1302 – with examples of
the dominant player in one Estate attempting to
over overpower other Estates. Those who champion
control by Agencies (e.g. doctrinaire
socialists), Enterprises (e.g. hyper-capitalists
/ apologists for Supercapitalism) or
Institutions (e.g. true believers) are all convinced that
their Estate should have the upper hand and
control citizens.
Citizens
have fared best when measured by the metrics
of safety and happiness where and when there
was a Balance between the Estates. Before
1837, there was thought to be a Balance
between three Estates. Actually the three-Estate
system did not work for at least a century
before, as documented by the US of A
Revolutionary War, the French Revolution, etc.
Since 1837, it became imperative to have a
Balance among four Estates.
The
reason that three Estates were replaced by four
is documented in PART II. In summary: As society
became more complex and communication more
essential, three Estates did not meet the needs
of the vast majority of humans who aspired to,
and have the right of, full citizenship.
To
create a sustainable trajectory for
civilization, citizens need to create new,
participatory processes to help manage society.
The first step is to take over the creation and
dissemination of “news,” the information
citizens need to make intelligent
decisions.
The thesis of this Backgrounder
is that citizens need to establish a complex
framework for information generation and
distribution in the Fourth Estate.
Citizens can do
this by creating something we initially called
“citizen media” and now call “Real Citizen
Media.” (For the difference between ‘citizen
media” and “Real Citizen Media” See End
Note Thirty-two.)
This
is not the place to detail the evolution of
citizen-driven processes but it is clear that
there are already thousands of saplings
springing up around the Globe. Ongoing projects
at SYNERGY/Planning will articulate some
alternative processes in the future.
Most
of those now referred to as “citizen media”
do not see themselves as addressing the
overarching issue of information generation and
dissemination. They are just addressing a need
that they and their friends / contacts / networks
/ supporters have identified. Further, as
pointed out in End Note
Thirty-two, many of these groups are
interest / subject focused with no geographic
orientation. None of the citizen media efforts
we know of are aligned or congruent with the
organic structure of human settlement patterns,
especially at the Cluster-, Neighborhood-,
Village- or Alpha Community Scales.
It
is also clear that many “grass roots”
efforts by community-serving MainStream Media
(the “local” and “community” dailies and
weeklies serving Neighborhood-, Village- and
Community-scale urban agglomerations or the
“periodicals” of advertising, subscription
or Institution supported special interest
publications) are an attempt to syphon off
Neighborhood-, Village- and Community-scale
energy that might drive an alternative media
outlet, Real Citizen Media or some alternative.
MainStream Media controlled blogs, e-zines,
etc., are created for the benefit of MainStream
Media. They do not have to pay for the work of
the bloggers, they do not pay the reporters in
“News by You” or “citjays,” or for the
work in “Photos by You.” This
volunteer effort enhances the MainStream Media
product and keeps Enterprises in control of the
revenue stream and the apparatus for originating
and disseminating information.
The
primary goal of these pseudo-grassroots efforts
is to foster a low cost way to create the
illusion of “information” while protecting
the advertising base. If there are two or three
media outlets in a Community then an e-presence
by MainStream Media can be a nice add-on but it
is not a replacement for competition or for Real
Citizen Media.
While
we will not speculate on the best way to evolve
Real Citizen Media at this time, here are four
contextual parameters to consider:
Labor.
The only way to economically support the labor-
and detail-intensive task of information
gathering and dissemination is to harness the
interest, insight and ability of volunteers to
serve their self-interest.
This
parameter – the need to vastly expand
enlightened self-interest volunteerism – is
also a prerequisite for Fundamental Change /
improvement in education and many other spheres
of Agency, Enterprise and Institution function.
Agencies cannot afford to expand service because
of resistance by citizens to taxes and fees. Citizens do not trust that the money will be
spent wisely.
Enterprises will not support these
activities unless there is a way to make money.
That is why MainStream Media abandoned its role
in the Fourth Estate.
Institutions can be
counted on to push their own narrow interests,
as we note later in PART IV with respect to
Alternative (“independent”) Media. (See
End
Note Thirty-three.)
Geographic
Orientation. As pointed out in End
Note Thirty-two, Real Citizen Media must be
geography focused with an outlet / process for
every Cluster, Neighborhood ... Subregion and
Region. The role of Real Citizen Media beyond
the New Urban Region scale may not be badly
needed. If well functioning at the New Urban
Region scale and below, the views of a
Region’s citizens may be well presented by
media efforts of Agencies, Enterprises and
Institutions and the efforts of coalitions of
multi-Regional, continental and
inter-continental Institutions.
Capital.
What will replace advertising / entertainment
revenue that now supports MainStream Media? In
PART III we suggested that advertising may be on
the way out because citizens do not “need”
much of the “stuff” – goods and services
– and because advertising and public relations
efforts are not creditable in the eyes of the
vast majority of citizens. Endorsements by a
valid cross-section of geographically focused
citizens may replace advertisements. What better
vehicle for accurate and believable endorsements
than unaffiliated, independent citizens of Clusters and Neighborhoods with profiles
much like your own?
Structure.
The most important change will be to turn
governance on its head. The place to start is at
the Cluster, Neighborhood and Village scales.
Instead of a party “leader” in a white house
isolated and insulated by thousands of miles (or
by many impenetrable “degrees of
separation”), the most important governance
practitioner to every citizen should be the
Dooryard representative on the Cluster Board.
The second most important governance
practitioner should be the former Dooryard
representative who is now the Cluster Rep on the
Neighborhood board.
This
can be accomplished by allocating Agency control
to the level of impact with shared control when
more than one level is impacted. Shared control
was cumbersome in 1775 but modern communications
opens the opportunity for sophisticated shared
control between levels of governance.
Sharpening
the Focus: Citizen Understanding of MainStream
Media
Before
citizens will come together to support Real
Citizen Media, a critical mass of individuals
must be convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt
that the existing distribution of power among
the first three Estates will not provide them
the information they need.
The
second step will be a threshold understanding of
“issues that matter” to catalyze the start
of the process at the Neighborhood, Village or
Community scale. PROPERTY DYNAMICS (PART
I of ACTION PROGRAMS) outlines a
process to achieve this goal. Here are
some of the flash points of MainStream Media
perspective that can ignite citizen action:
Growth
Raises All Boats. Mainstream Media
incessantly repeats the mantra, "Growth is good!" Especially
desirable is growth that results in more and
bigger advertising budgets. This perspective is
especially transparent in the “community”
segment of MainStream Media which tends to
support any change that benefits advertising
income and growth of the media Enterprise.
Concerns
for impact and Balance go out the window when a
potential advertiser proposes to develop a new
or expanded facility. It can be assured that
“community” media will support any new chain
or Big Box even if it means existing retailers
(and advertisers) will be put out of business.
We will examine this issue further in the
Backgrounder “THE PROBLEM WITH CARS,”
forthcoming. (See End
Note Thirty-four.)
Settlement
Pattern Conflicts Ignored. At the
Neighborhood-, Village- and Community-scales one
of the most important flash points is the
failure to recognize the drivers of
dysfunctional settlement patterns.
Almost
without fail, “community” news outlets
assign reporters to write stories, welcome
letters from readers and spill editorial ink
about the horrors of traffic congestion and the
demise of the Countryside. At the same time
these same media Enterprises print feature
stories and distribute weekly and monthly
supplements advertising “country properties”
and “country living” for urban citizens.
These messages glorify the benefits of
scattering urban dwellings on lots of 5,
10, 20, 30 acres and larger lots and the
scatteration of Jobs / Services and Recreation.
Without a fair allocation of location-variable
costs, this distribution of urban land uses
drives the dysfunctional human
settlement pattern that the media
Enterprises claim to abhor.
These
scattered and dysfunctional urban land uses
generate new ad revenue not just for septic tank
services, large lot lawn moving, Autonomobile
service and repair but for all goods and
services because scattering J / H / S / R / A
results in geographic incoherence and ignorance
about what is available where.
Mass
OverConsumption. The winter holiday season
is an excellent opportunity to observe the
conflict between citizen interest and MainStream
Media interests. The past winter holiday season
found many media outlets touting the value of a
“green” holiday. As a clear example, a story
in a recent “community” weekly focused on
reducing the ecological footprint of consumption-driven
holidays. It opened the third paragraph (“the
money graph”) this way:
“Shopping
habits is a good place to start. While some
presents fill a practical need, many adults in
the United States have more than they know what
to do with.” (One might add that many not-yet
adults of all ages have expectations and desires
to acquire far more than they will use or
dispose of intelligently.)
The
rest of the issue – including piles of
seasonal sales suffers – was devoted to ads
and stories exalting the glories of Mass
OverConsumption. The problem is not that
MainStream Media does not know what is driving
Mass Over Consumption, it is that the media does
nothing to put in perspective their support of
Mass OverConsumption when it benefits their
bottom line. (See End
Note Thirty-five.)
Regional
Media Not Focused on the Region. Many of the
most pressing problems facing citizens are
“regional” issues: The Mobility and
Access Crisis, the Affordable and Accessible
Housing Crisis and the Helter Skelter Crisis,
which are problems in their own right and also
the drivers of air and water pollution, loss of
competitiveness, excess energy consumption,
income inequity, etc. are “regional”
problems.
These
dysfunctions are the primary threats to
prosperity, stability and sustainability and
can be effectively and efficiently addressed
only at the New Urban Region Scale.
That
reality does not prompt a conclusion among
reporters and editorial writers that there needs
to be one level of Agency or a dominate regional
Agency. As readers of The Shape of the
Future know, there are seven levels of
organic structure below the New Urban Region
scale, and to be effective, New Urban Region
governance must align the level of decision with
the level of impact.
Most
of the Flagship MainStream Media outlets are
Regional newspapers. The most prominent ones
serve the largest New Urban Regions – New
York, Los Angles, Chicago, Washington-Baltimore,
Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay and Dallas-Fort
Worth.
The
complete lack of understanding that led to the
statement by the WaPo Ombudsperson cited
in PART I (“The Post, like most big-city
newspapers, is suffering from decreasing revenue
and so is doing less...”) is not just typical
of Geographic Illiteracy and Locational
Obliviousness, it is pervasive.
Ignoring
Human Settlement Pattern. The front hook
indicator of MainStream Media’s failure to
provide the information citizens need is the
failure to address issues impacting human
settlement pattern. News coverage and
advertisements perpetuate the myths that
maintain dysfunctional settlement patterns and
thus the Mobility and Access Crisis, the
Affordable and Accessible Housing Crisis and the
Helter Skelter Crisis. (For details on these
issues see End
Note One and columns at www.baconsrebellion.com.
Also see again End
Note Twenty-four.)
It
is not possible to overstate the importance of
understanding human settlement pattern -- and
not just to address current crises. As Chapter
23 (“The Test of Sustainability) of The
Shape of the Future documents, citizens
cannot achieve a sustainable trajectory for
civilization directly, it is too great a leap
from the current state of society. The first
step is for citizens to understand the need for,
and start the evolution toward, functional human
settlement patterns. From this new platform
a sustainable trajectory is an obtainable
objective.
Growing
Income Inequity. At
the same time that many adults in the US of A
have “more than they know what to do with”
(and many not-yet adults of all ages have
expectations to acquire far more than they will
know what to do with), a growing number have far
too little of what they really need to be part
of a prosperous, stable and sustainable society.
Far
too many are in poor health, are addicted to a
range of legal and illegal substances, and / or
are trapped by the consequences of prior poor choices. Political
candidates get standing ovations for decrying
isolated and marginalized components of society.
The
critical issue is not that it is humane to
feel sorry for the less fortunate. The core
reality is that democracy, market economies
and open Institutions can only exist if the
majority benefits.
Persistent
and growing inequity is not a stable condition
over the long term, even with dictatorships. The
vast majority of citizens must have a reasonable
expectation to achieve a quality life and that
the distance between the top of the economic
food chain and the bottom is not so great that
the majority are below water. As is currently
evident, even a small number who believe they
are not fairly treated can become terrorists,
and every generation of new technology gives
terrorists more weapons with which to terrorize the majority.
Under
current circumstances the vast majority of those
who are "successful” have no time to
consider the future as noted below. In addition,
many are focused on Myth-driven goals. (See
Backgrounder “A
New Metric for Citizen Well Being.”)
Growing
income inequity is the largest long-term threat
to prosperity, stability and sustainability.
MainStream Media contributes to
counterproductive trends by recycling the
campaign promises of Agencies, the
advertisements of Enterprises and the calls for
donations by Institutions. Citizens are left
with no basis for making intelligent decisions.
Alternative
Media aka "The Independent Press"
There
are some elements of the alternative / special
interest / independent media that are still
holding the fort in the Fourth Estate but they
need help and the credibility that large numbers
of citizens can provide. Some will be of help to
citizens in establishing Citizen Media, but not
a lot. Why? Because for the most part “the
independent press” is really the Institutional
Press.
In
the Conceptual Framework provided by THE ESTATES
MATRIX, alternative media is not in the Fourth
Estate, it is in the Third Estate and promotes
the interests and perspective of the
Institutions – especially the leadership of
foundations that provide grant money. This is
clearly the case for foundations established by
Flagship MainStream Media families such as the
Center for Citizen Media discussed in End
Note Thirty-two.
For
a quick overview of Alternative Media, a review
of two recent issues of Utne Reader is a
good place to start. In the November / December
2007 issue Utne lists the
“independent” media outlets nominated for
its annual awards. In the January / February
issue, the magazine names the award winners and
publishes examples.
We
have followed these listings for several years. Utne
appears to do a conscientious job of reviewing
potential candidates. Further research would be
necessary to determine if the selection has been
biased by Utne’s social libertarian
perspective.
Over
the past 30 years we have been a
professional member of, or a personal friend of,
at least half a dozen of the independent media
outlets listed by Unte this decade. We have
subscribed to over a dozen of the publications
and have read over a score of them. Our
experience with The World Future Society, which
publishes The Futurist, and the American
Planning Association / American Institute of
Certified Planners, which publishes several
publications including Planning, is typical. The Futurist,
as one might guess focuses on “the future”
but it is not everything about the future, only
that which is of interest to those who work for
Enterprises and Institutions as professional
futurists.
Beyond their Institutional perspective and a lack
of a coherent geographic focus, Alternative
Media with wide circulation hire journalists
infected by He Said / She Said reporting. For
example, conservation interests get their
viewpoint presented but the anti-conservation
perspective (“growth is good,” “growth
raises all boats,” etc.) is given equal
weight.
Francesca Grifo of the Union of
Concerned Scientists described the He Said / She
Said issue in the
context of the MainStream Media’s approach to
the politically expedient disregard for Science
– e.g. the Science of Climate Change – as
follows:
“With
the media, there’s this notion of needing to
provide a balanced perspective. That’s not
necessarily a bad thing, but as some point, the
preponderance of opinions and evidence falls on
one side. At that point, it becomes a disservice
to the public to resurrect the one scientist out
of 800 who feels a certain way on an issue.” (See
End
Note Thirty-six.)
Institutional
leadership concerned with fund raising may say
that coming down hard on MainStream Media will
scare away key Institution funders. That may be
true but, if it is, then it is an indication of
the deplorable state of understanding among
those relied upon to support Institutions. We
explore this issue in APPENDIX TWO.
Beyond
the Media
THE
ESTATES MATRIX presented in PART II illuminates
relationships and realities beyond the rise and
fall of MainStream Media. THE ESTATES MATRIX
reinforces the fact that there is a need for a
Fundamental Change in human settlement patterns,
and to achieve that, a Fundamental Change in
governance structure.
As
noted earlier, Thomas Jefferson’s coining of
the phrase “separation of church and state”
in the early 1800s can be logically interpreted
to mean that Jefferson assumed continuation of
separate Estates.
Here
is how this might fall out: Under a new
Constitution, an Estate exists that is the
“state.” (In THE ESTATES MATRIX we term this
the First Estate / Agencies.) Second, the
logical interpretation of the “church /
state” separation idea would be that the
“church” once separated from the “state”
would remain an Estate that looked out for the
spiritual (other worldly) welfare of all
citizens. After all, before 1775 the church and
mobility were in separate Estates.
(In
THE ESTATES MATRIX we suggest that due to the demise
of the “official” church and the rise of
diverse “churches,” the religious / other
worldly focus of each church became one of many
Institutions that make up the Third Estate.)
Finally,
it would be logical to assume that if asked,
Jefferson would have agreed that a third Estate
existed that was made up of the well-to-do /
landed gentry and that this Estate would replace
the old Second Estate, the Nobility.
(In THE
ESTATES MATRIX we suggest that these interests
became the Second Estate and that this Estate is
now dominated by Enterprises. In Jefferson’s
era the impact of the Industrial Revolution in
the US of A and the rise of the Enterprise to
replace the landed gentry, and the very wealthy,
would not have been easily foreseen.)
Further
examination may turn up some clue as to
Jefferson’s view of who would look after the
interests of the old Third Estate – the
Commoners. Our guess is that he might have
believed that the well-to-do landowners
(gentlemen farmers) and the very wealthy could
serve this role. On the other hand, he might
have noted the need for a Fourth Estate before
Burke did in 1837.
We
do not speculate about this to put words in
Jefferson’s mouth or to suggest we have
examined this issue, but to suggest further
exploration beyond the scope of this
Backgrounder would be useful.
What is crystal
clear is that a logical construct for the Estate
Conversions is far easier in retrospect than it
would be from the perspective of someone at the
time these Conversions were taking place.
What
is also clear from THE ESTATES MATRIX is that:
Fundamental
Change in governance structure must go beyond
reallocating powers among three branches of
Agencies.
This
Fundamental Change must intelligently address
the shortcomings of the 18th century idea that
three levels of Agencies within a nation-state
are sufficient for functional governance.
Even
more basic, there must evolve a new context for
governance and a broad recognition of the fact
that there must be a Balance among Estates to
manage civilization on a sustainable trajectory.
(See End
Note Thirty-seven.)
The
Rate of Change
THE
ESTATES MATRIX sheds light on the wide spread
confusion over the rate of change in society.
This issue was first raised in the section
“Time Frame Overview” in PART II. (See End
Note Thirty-eight.)
In
their recent book, "Revolutionary Wealth:
How it will be created and how it will change
our lives," Alvin and Heidi Toffler explore
the speed with which Organizations change. THE
ESTATES MATRIX puts this discussion in context.
THE ESTATES MATRIX expands Toffler’s analogy.
It is not just that “government” (aka, First
Estate Agencies) changes more slowly than
Second Estate Enterprises. Enterprises change
only to achieve more profit. Further,
Institutions change only to gain more members
and thus power.
The
rate of change is an issue but the context of
change is even more critical. Citizens must
create processes within the Fourth Estate that
contribute to the evolution of Balance.
Providing a context for considering these issues
in the Conceptual Framework of Estate
Conversions is perhaps the most important
application of THE ESTATES MATRIX – a
framework for the management of civilization.
A
Look Ahead: New Realities / New Technology / New
Players
Before
wrapping up this Backgrounder, it is useful to
look ahead at what impacts future Estate
Conversions might have on society. We earlier referred to the Super
Rich, the impact of Robert Reich’s “Supercapitalism,”
and how Reich’s perspectives lay out the
impact of economic competition beyond the
“Winner-Take-All-Society” profiled in
Chapter 5 of The Shape of the Future.
Some
of the topography of the 21st Century is already
clear. Fund Managers (aka, “The Masters
of the Universe”) are the new robber barons in
a context Reich describes very well. Fund
managers recently showed their power at the
federal level by killing the tax on their excess
profits and obliterating any threat to their off
shore tax havens.
New Super Institutions are
moving to take more and more control of the
Third Estate. Bill
and Melinda Gates’ foundation will, with Warren
Buffet’s money, eclipse Ford, the Rockefeller
brothers, Howard Hughes and others who now play
a huge role in determining the shape of the
future.
New
technology will also have an impact. Some
inventions and innovations will solve problems;
some will only fuel Mass OverConsumption. Those
goods and services that make the most money in
the shortest period of time will be the ones on
the front burner. Again Reich puts this reality
in perspective. The bottom line is that in the
current trajectory, the future is what
“they” will pay for. The questions are: Who
are “they”? and are “they” the majority
or only those at the top of the economic food
chain?
If
“they” are not the majority (and if
the “not-theys” are a large enough minority
and / or are so aggrieved that they become
terrorists) we are back to the case of Agency,
Enterprise or Institution dominance and the
dominance by one of those Estates means there
will not be a sustainable trajectory for
civilization: Conditions that favor and
serve a few (a few “theys”) at the top of
the economic food chain is not a formula for
prosperity, stability or sustainability. A
majority of the citizens being happy and safe is
a precondition for democracy, market economies
and open institutions.
One
Last Question
Our
friend Fahmah Jim Mello asks: What of “The New
Alchemists?”
Most
of the discussion of potential Estate changing
forces on the horizon are ideas and innovations
that address inorganic relationships: new energy
sources (mini nuclear energy plants, fuel cells,
cold fusion, cold fission, etc.), robots, nano
tools, jet packs, flying cars, weather control
– the list has been about the same since the
1939 World Fair.
Fahmah
Jim is concerned about those who can make
changes in the organic structure of cells,
organs and organisms. He calls these scientists
“the New Alchemists.” Old Alchemists focused
on inorganic elements – turning base metals to
gold. (See End
Note Thirty-nine.)
The
New Alchemists are the masters of the organic:
Manipulating DNA and RNA, catalyzing genetic
modifications, cloning animals and most recently
creating new organisms. Where do these New
Alchemists fit in and how will they use their
powers? (See End
Note Forty.)
Many
of the New Alchemists are now employed by
Institutions concerned with health care. That is
logical because humans fear death, so there is
money to be made in solving health problems.
However, the primary problem facing humans is not
creating more people or even helping more people
live longer.
The
core issue is enhancing citizen safety and
happiness, and that means less people and less
consumption per capita.
If
the New Alchemists are the only ones who can
find a new anti-virus that prevents the Black
Death squared, who will decide who gets the
anti-virus?
Will the Alchemists follow a
different tradition of Institutions in the
footsteps of the shamans and priests? Will they
work for the Enterprise that is the highest
bidder?
Citizens
need to establish a sustainable trajectory for
civilization before these questions must be
answered.
Four
Legs Better Than Three
“Four
legs is better than three” is not a slogan
from George Orwell’s Animal Farm – it is the
final reality that can be derived from THE
ESTATES MATRIX. This Backgrounder has
referred often to a “Four Legged Stool.”
Over hundreds of thousands, in fact millions, of
years three Estates evolved to their status in
1302. In the ensuing 535 years Modern Science,
the Reformation, the Renaissance, the
Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution transformed
human civilization to the point that a fourth
Estate emerged.
When
the three Estates became four Estates, Balance
became more important as illustrated by the
analogy of the stability of a three-legged
stool vs the stability of a four-legged stool.
When
MainStream Media abandoned the Fourth Estate and
decamped to the Second Estate, a vacuum was
created. Profitability of the Enterprises that
own MainStream Media now requires more
people and more consumption of goods and
services.
The
goal of citizens should be happiness and
safety, not ever-increasing consumption.
The
future of civilization depends on fewer people,
less consumption per capita and thus a smaller
ecological footprint. Many still have the
mindset of the pre first Millennium Church –
the faith with the most souls wins.
Fundamental
Change in human settlement patterns and
Fundamental Change in governance structure is
essential but there must also be Balance among
the Estates. A sustainable trajectory for
civilization requires that over time there be:
-
Fewer
citizens
-
Each
consuming less goods and services
-
Achieving
access and mobility with less travel over
shorter distances
-
Achieving
affordable and accessible housing with a
smaller ecological footprint
The
net result will be less impact on the
environment and more freedom to adjust to
changes such as:
There
appear to be two valid choices:
-
A
three-legged stool pitting Agencies,
Enterprises and Institutions against one
another with citizens again becoming pawns. For
the present citizens will have votes,
buying power and memberships but no
Estate, as was the case before 1775, or
-
A
four-legged stool with citizens creating
democratic processes to replace MainStream
Media’s role in the Fourth Estate. These
processes will generate new ways to inform
citizens so citizens (individuals and
Households) can make intelligent decisions
impacting their self-interest.
Where
to from here?
That
is a question that only well informed citizens
can answer.
There
is one haunting question: Will the genes that
got humans to this point prevent them from
obtaining a sustainable trajectory for society?
Did someone say New Alchemists? We will examine
the issue of Genetic Proclivity in the
forthcoming Backgrounder, “THE PROBLEM WITH
CARS.”
--
January 15, 2008
Postscript:
Feedback to Date
The
feedback from readers of PARTs I, II and III of
The Estates Matrix has come in two forms:
generally positive and supportive, and snarky.
The
generally positive and supportive comments point
out areas that require refinement, such as the
insertion of additional columns in THE ESTATES
MATRIX to better illustrate the Estates
Conversions.
One
journalist suggested that much of the problem
with Vocabulary stems from adoption of a
standard dictionary / source that records all
possible meanings of any given word so that, by
design, many words are confusing. This is the
opposite of evolving clearly defined words and
phrases and a listing of Core Confusing Words.
The
snarky comments come in two forms:
-
The
second group is those besotted by the myths
rooted in Geographic Illiteracy and Spacial
Obliviousness. These myths include The
Private Vehicle Mobility Myth, The Big Yard
Myth and three supporting Myths that will be
the subject of a future column: The More
Places Myth, the Changes in Human Settlement
Patterns Take Forever Myth and the Euro
Sprawl Myth.
Postscript:
Some of Our Best Friends
Many
who work for MainStream Media believe they have
an obligation to uphold the mission of Fourth
Estate “journalism,” and that they are doing
the best they can do. That is why we have
explored THE ESTATES MATRIX. We did not come
easily to our current views of MainStream Media.
We can say without fear of contradiction that
“some of our best friends are journalists.”
We have a substantial history of working closely
and productively with print and electronic media
over the past four decades. (See End
Note Forty-one.)
When
EMR started working primarily on human
settlement pattern issues 42 years ago, print
and electronic media were profitable
Enterprises. Many media outlets could still
afford to follow the honorable dictates of
“journalistic standards” and play the role
the Fourth Estate had earned over the past 500
years. As noted in PART I., MainStream Media is
now hemorrhaging money at an increasing rate and
there is no sign that current trends will
change.
Most
print media outlets that claim to provide all
the community and regional news “that is fit
to print” are in deep trouble with owners and
stockholders. Many segments of the Alternative
Media are also in trouble.
Electronic
media is supported by “entertainment.”
“News” is a loss leader or a forum to
advocate an owners political agenda – Moon,
Murdoch, et. al. – in addition to promoting
Mass OverConsumption.
The
only full service print media outlets that are
not in financial trouble are small dailies and
weeklies that serve isolated urban
agglomerations in Urban Support Regions (aka,
small Metropolitan Statistical Areas /
Micropolitan Areas) in places like
Nebraska, South Dakota and Montana.
With
rampant cutthroat competition, special interest
ownership, and claims of “Media Bias” from
all sides, it is not reasonable to expect
Enterprise-owned MainStream Media to act any
differently than they do.
Postscript:
Landcasterization of Media
We
noted the beginning of the end of MainStream
Media almost three decades ago. There is a Blog
post on this topic vis a vis the Rail-to-Dulles
issue titled “Landcasterated
Media” (12 March 2007).
Landcasterated
Media is the phrase used to describe the
practice of starting promising journalists on
the “local” (aka, municipal, Beta Community)
beat and then promoting them to state, national
and international coverage. The practice is
named for John Lancaster whom we recall to be
the first WaPo “metro” writer who was
assigned specifically to “transportation.”
Lancaster became conversant with the
transportation / settlement pattern connection
and effectively communicated this understanding
before he was “promoted” to cover Maryland
state government news from Annapolis. When last
heard from Lancaster was reporting from
Timbuktu.
The
Bacon’s Rebellion post about Lancaster
was followed up by a column (“All
Aboard,” 16 April 2007) about issues that
should have been explored by WaPo but
were not because Alec McGillis, the reporter who
had covered this issue, was “promoted” to
national political coverage. Early in the
election cycle, Alec was following Mitt Romney
around as he raised money in Idaho. Most
recently he has been co-authoring stories on New
Hampshire.
The
promotion and redeployment policies of WaPo
and other major news outlets ensures that
stories of Regional – and especially of
Community, Village and Neighborhood –
importance are given second-rate coverage. This
includes most stories related to human
settlement patterns.
Postscript:
Publishers Call the Shots on Coverage
Our
first direct encounter with the impact of the
current reality was in the late 90s when the
Secretary of the Smithsonian asked EMR to
address a seminar that the Secretary hosted on
the future of the National Capital Subregion.
Noting that the publisher of WaPo was in
the audience, EMR outlined areas that the
MainStream Media needed to do more effectively
– like vetting the autonomobile and housing
ads, creating special editions based on Beta
Communities, not on advertiser target areas or
political borders, stopping the Lancasterization
of staff and other specifics. (See End
Note Forty-two.)
As
EMR was wrapping up his presentation, the
publisher made a show of getting up and walking
out, stopping only to whisper to a senior editor
who was also in the audience. From that day
forward EMR saw a sharp decline in his access to
editors and reporters at WaPo. Since then new
reporters have found their way to S/P offices
via recommendations from those outside the WaPo
command and control structure.
Postscript:
Current Reality
Today
with losses mounting at almost every MainStream
Medial outlet, every cub reporter knows if she
files a story critical of the Business-As-Usual
approach to “news” – especially if it
impacts advertisers – she is cutting her own
throat. They do not need to be told by an editor
or a grey-beard reporter to stick to “He Said
/ She Said,” even if the question of where the
general public interest lies is crystal clear.
It should be noted that litigation also plays a
role in this issue and Enterprises do not like
to risk being sued just to get out solid
information.
The
journalistic ideal of a wall between the
business side and the editorial side of
MainStream Media outlets is gone. To pretend the
pre-80s condition exists is to play the fool.
End
Notes
(29).
This list represents a cross section of
important recent trends in governance. Most of
these countries have some tradition of democratic
governance; all have rich resources, strong
economies or enjoy a pivotal geo-political
position. China, India and Indonesia could be
added due to their size. If one wants to include
the really bad apples the list would include
Ethiopia, Eritrea, Burma, Uzbekistan, Belarus,
Syria, Iran, North Korea and others including
emeriti such as Libya, Egypt -- the list goes
on. It is interesting to note that when a bad
apple list is published on the Internet and
opened to additional candidates, the most
frequently added name is George W. Bush, much to
the horror of those who voted for him and even
those who voted against him in 2000 and 2004.
(30).
NB: This list could also go on for pages and
does not include those who partisans of the
Elephant Clan or the Donkey Clan might put at
the top of the list, only those that citizens in
general find unqualified to serve as dog
catchers or meter readers.
(31).
See Feldman, Richard “A Gun Lobbyist’s
Lament: The NRA’s Main Target? Its Members
Checkbooks,” in WaPo, 16 December, 2007,
B-3.
(32).
While rewriting PART IV, we Googled “Citizen
Media” and found that the term is already in
wide use in some circles. There is even an Institution called Center
for Citizen Media, part of the Knight
Citizen News Network (“Helping citizens and
journalists amplify community news”). The
Knight family is one of the First Families of
Journalism. The website lists as “partners”
the Graduate School of Journalism at the
University of California, Berkeley and the
Berkman Center for Internet & Society at the
Harvard Law School. The Center has established
itself as a sophisticated resource for
“Citizen Journalism” aka, Blogging.
A
good place to come to grips with the scope of
the Center’s perspective is “Principles of
Citizen Journalism.” Accuracy, thoroughness,
fairness, transparency and independence are the
Center's key objectives. One cannot go wrong
there.
Where
citizens can go wrong is that the Center assumes
that MainStream Journalism is doing its job and
that citizens and journalists can be assisted in “amplifying
community news.” The Center provides no
indication of how citizens' media is supported
because, after all, MainStream Media wants the
circulation and advertising revenue to support
“the professionals.” (More on this topic
later in this Backgrounder.)
The
other weak spot is that there is no guidance for
establishing geographic identity. In other words
Geographic Illiteracy and Spacial Obliviousness
are in control of "citizen media."
(33).
Of course there must be more functional
human settlement patterns so that all citizens are
not RHTCs and have the time to volunteer.
(34).
For example, when a local weekly “covers”
the debate on a new Big Box, they do not
publicize the existence of the Big Box Evaluator
created by the Orton Family Foundation which
allows citizens to plug in the numbers and
calculate the impact of a new Big Box: http://www.bigboxevaluator.org.
(35).
Alm, Kelly. “Christmas creates mountains of
waste: But holiday recycling is growing,” Fauquier
Times Democrat, 19 December, 2007. The
“Weekend” flier by the same paper had a
column titled “Recycle your Holiday cheer”
by Trish Either with a similar message.
(36).
“Pseudo-Science Debunked: How to separate
fact from political fiction,” Interview by
Danielle Maestretti, Utne Reader, Nov -
Dec 2007, page 14.
(37).
We raise this issue in the Backgrounder “A
New Metric for Citizen Well Being,” 10
December 2006. There is a huge overburden of
romanticized fluff with respect to the evolution
and context of adopting the U.S. of A
Constitution. In a book by
Woody Holton (“Unruly Americans and the
Origins of the Constitution”) it is suggested
that a driving force behind the drafting of the
Constitution was an intent to limit democracy
and protect investors. See review by Professor
Pauline Maier in WaPo Book World 18
November 2007, page 5 (“The Framers’ Real
Motives: A provocative claim that the
Constitution was designed to limit democracy and
protect investors.”) In the context of THE
ESTATES MATRIX, one could say the Founding
Fathers were really interested in a weak First
Estate, a strong Second Estate and forget the
Fourth Estate.
(38).
This is another place that the recent book
"Supercapitalism" by Robert Reich
provides important insights. Based on Reich’s
chronological perspective, two columns might be
added to THE ESTATES MATRIX. One for 1870 and
one for 1910. These two additional columns could
provide information that would assist in better
understanding the Estate Conversions.
(39).
Turning straw – organic mater – into to gold
– inorganic matter – was always just a fairy
tale. In recent stages of the Industrial
Revolution, contemporary “Old Alchemists”
have figured out how create new inorganic atoms
but it is still far cheaper to mine gold than to
make it. That is true for most inorganic
elements and compounds except diamonds, and that
is another story.
(40).
Jim Mello should know, he is not just a
knowledgeable organic farmer but father of one
of the New Alchemists. Jim and Sally’s son
Craig won the 2006 Nobel Prize for Medicine for
figuring out how to turn off and on genes in DNA
/ RNA. In addition, Fahmah Jim is an Ivy League-educated
scientist who served as Associate Director of
the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural
History.
(41).
In the 50s EMR’s first paying job was as
local reporter for Pulitzer Prize winning paper.
EMR became a lifelong friend of the publisher
and editor. Long after EMR left Montana, he
helped this publisher explore important
environmental- and energy-related issues
impacting the Flathead Valley and the Northern
Rocky Mountain Urban Support Region.
In
the 60s EMR established a strong planner /
reporter relationship with a crusading
journalist and over the past 40 years they have
helped each other make many changes in the
fields of education, planning and politics.
In
the 70s EMR helped print an electronic media report on
Planned New Communities and the transportation /
human settlement pattern connection. He
established relationships with reporters and
editors in the Washington- Baltimore, Atlanta,
New Orleans, New York and other New Urban
Regions.
In
the 80s EMR became an advisor, investor and
member of the management team of an Enterprise
that grew during his involvement from a single
start-up to a chain of weekly papers serving
Community-scale and Village-scale urban
agglomerations.
(42).
While EMR was an officer in the Fairfax
Committee of 100, we presented WaPo
editors with a long list of ways to improve
media coverage of settlement pattern issues and
this work informed the recommendations at the
Secretary’s seminar.
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