The Eagle Scout and the Prom Queen

In high school the Eagle Scout vied with the Prom Queen for Class President. Their joint mission was to amuse, entertain and distract us. They left the issues to the class nerds who rarely voted anyway.
The high school remains our single universal social institution. As it goes, so goes the nation. The elitist is the student who achieved a ninth grade reading level.
Print is out. The image is the rage. The traditional facts to form opinion is an outdated process. The first soundbites to reach the ears 24/7 dictate cognition. Talk radio plants the seed during the commuting hours. The only way to lessen the influence is to increase unemployment.
The corporations control the media and the message. The general term for this is information control. In the old days brainwashing was the staple of science fiction. We called it “far out” in those times. It was outlandish to think of nations marching to their doom as unresponsive robots in lock step. The far out has become common place.