n the New History, nothing was judged—only counted. The power of judging was then subtracted from what it was necessary for a man to learn to do. In the New History, the preferences of a child carried as much weight as the preferences of an adult, so the refining of preferences was subtracted from what it was necessary for a man to learn to do. In the New History, the ideal became agreement rather than well-judged action, so men learned to be competent only in those modes which embraced the possibility of agreement. The world of power changed. What was powerful grew more powerful in ways that could be easily measured, grew less powerful in every way that could not be measured.

TELEVISION

Television has a scale. It has other properties, but what television has to a dominant degree is a certain scale and the power to enforce it. No one has been able to describe the scale as it is experienced. We know some of its properties, though.

Television does not vary. The trivial is raised up to power. The powerful is lowered toward the trivial.

The power behind it resembles the power of no-action, the powerful passive.

It is bewitching.

It interferes with growth, conflict, and destruction, and these forces are different in its presence

“Entertainment” is an unsatisfactory word for what it encloses or projects or makes possible.

No good has come of it.

FALSE HISTORY

For a while, a certain voice continued. Booming. As though history were still a thing done by certain men in a certain place. It was embarrassing. To a person growing up in the power of demography, this voice was foolish.

THE AESTHETIC OF THE HIT

To a person growing up in the power of demography, it was clear that history had to do not with the powerful actions of certain men but with the processes of choice and preference.

THE AESTHETIC OF THE HIT

The power shifted. In the phrase “I Like Ike,” the power shifted. It shifted from General Eisenhower to someone called Ike, who embodied certain aspects of General Eisenhower and certain aspects of affection for General Eisenhower. Then it shifted again. From “Ike,” you could see certain aspects of General Eisenhower. From “like,” all you could see was other Americans engaged in a process resembling the processes of intimacy. This was a comfort.

https://rolux.org/tmp/no_context.pdf