13.
When
before in human history has so much humanity
collectively surrendered
so much of its leisure to one toy, one mass
diversion? When before has virtually an entire
nation surrendered itself wholesale
to a medium for selling? 14.
Some years ago Yale University law professor Charles
L. Black, Jr., wrote: "... forced
feeding on trivialfare
is not itself a trivial matter." I think
this society is being force-fed with trivial fare,
and I fear that the effects on our habits of mind,
our language, our tolerance for effort, and our appetite
for complexity are only dimly perceived.
If I am wrong, we will have done no harm to look at
the issue skeptically and critically, to consider
how we should be resisting it. I hope you will join
with me in doing so.
