S-Curl Accident

For a while there I stopped reading Time magazine because it was a sensationalist news rag that didn't advance the discourse on politics, but rather added to the superficial nature of politics. On second thought, they are still sensationalist and still write superficial, pseudo-intellectual articles. In fact, I try to avoid Time when I can, but its hard when your parents get a subscription.(Note to self: move out of parents house ASAP). Anyways, I was flipping through the current issue and read an interesting book excerpt from Joe Klein's new book 'Politics Lost'. The excerpt talked about an issue that I've shooting around in my head latetly; that politics (election campaigning in particular) are becoming less and less about ideas and more and more about marketing.
Klein argues that it is the consultants, focus groups and marketing gurus who package the message and tailor it precisely for a target demographic. All of this makerting has ruined politics. Amidst all of this advertising and marketing, the ideas and the message get diluted into a bland 'porridge-like substance' with no real flavour or politically-nutritional value.
This is kinda what I was trying to get at in my first post about democracy. Democracy means that participation through representation, but election campaigns have now become less about ideas and more about advertising a politcal product. That's not democracy. I don't wanna participate in an advertising campaign, and I'm not buying what they are selling me. This is why when I do watch TV, I channel-surf. Advertising is fake, whereas ideas are real. I want to be able to explore ideas. The truth is that democracy means participation through representation, so the best way have your ideas represented is through active participation in civil society. Its one area in the political arena that the marketing gurus haven't taken over yet.