| About the Book
Since the book is not
exclusively on economics, I need to say a few words about the title.
The title reflects the theme of the book - which is an analysis of
pathology in American culture and education. My book might be called
an expose, but I don't like to think of it that way. The chapters on
celebrities and CEOs don't reveal their secret lives. They are
exposes in the sense that the book reveals the confusion of image
with reality in the hero worship of actors, anchors, athletes, and
CEOs. The chapter on economics addresses the legitimizing myths
economists endorse to justify inequalities in income. There is a
concern with American education, and I touch on that. But what I say
about graduate schools would really be a revelation. Most people
know nothing about it. I think they would be fascinated to learn.
From a graduate student's point of view, graduate schools are the
most totalitarian institutions in the country and the social
consequences for everyone are considerable, but never realized,
never faced. If Sammy Sosa hits a home run that means he hit a ball
hard with a bat. So what? It almost seems like sacrilege to say
that. The media not only indoctrinates, it intimidates. I think I
never heard anyone say that. Don't agree with me? But could I say,
"So what?" on TV? There would be no more chance of saying that on TV
than there would be of criticizing Saddam Hussein on Iraqi TV when
he was in power. That is censorship. Millions of people are fans,
but millions of people are not. "The Media is the Censor" is one
chapter, and there is more on censorship, lawyers, Congress, and
justice as fairness.
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