"Television is American politics."
—Theodore White
Among the questions raised by Al Gore in this mindful book on the Bush Administration’s assault on reason, truth, civil liberties, the separation of powers, the environment, and world order is this: Should TV be abolished? We can have television or we can have democracy. The evidence Gore adduces suggests that we cannot have both. Democracy depends on reason and a well-informed citizenry; television on the sub-rational manipulation of wants. TV not only treats citizens as consumers; it corrupts politics. Politicians sell out to organized money to pay for TV ads.
Americans watch television four hours and 30 minutes a day—90 minutes more than the world average. According to a study in this month’s Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, the habit starts at birth: 40% of three-month-olds are regular TV viewers, and 90% of two-year-olds watch an average of 90 minutes a day. As the "empire of television" has colonized more and more of our waking hours, so has civic ignorance. One survey found that after a recent election only 4% could name both candidates in their congressional district. Only 43% of Americans can name a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. A 2006 poll revealed that "more than a third of the respondents believed the executive branch has the final say on all issues and can override the legislative and judicial branches." If you ask a college student where the line "we hold these truths to be self-evident…" comes from, odds are he or she won’t know. A terrifying 35% of high school students believe the First Amendment "goes too far in the rights it guarantees." Television is not the only cause of civic ignorance, just the greatest one.