There are topics that are not discussed on the public airwaves that really ought to be discussed because they involve issues of public concern.
Why do public television and radio broadcasters not include any reporting on the question of whether the levels of pollution and rates of taking of natural resources are consistent with the will of the people; or whether most people feel that government allows more pollution and faster depletion of resources than what ought to be the case; or whether government is too strict against industry and should allow for more economic growth by relaxing the limits on environmental impacts caused by industry.
Are these not questions that should be raised by and discussed by broadcasters -- public and commercial -- operating in the public interest?
Would a rational and just society adopt the most efficient and fair method of pollution control and resource management -- a fee assessed in proportion to actual environmental impacts caused? (A fee (or auction of a limited number of permits) is the most efficient method of control, according to economists. Sharing of fee proceeds with the people at large ensures that such a policy is fair.)
Would a truly democratic society adjust pollution fees and natural resource user-fees such that industries have the necessary incentives to produce the level of environmental impacts that the largest number of people will endorse? Or would a democratic society allow levels of pollution or rates of resource depletion to exceed what most people say is acceptable? Clearly, a democratic society must bring public policy into line with what the largest number of people feel is most acceptable.
What is the responsibility of those who hold monopoly licenses to use slices of the people's airwaves? They must decide how the airwaves can be used to promote the public interest.
The failure of broadcasters to include any discussion of these kinds of questions in their programming does not serve the public interest.
John Champagne
Biodiversity as a Public Good
1 comment:
The people of this country aren't listening, John. The half that isn't drowning out Earth's cries with iPods is glued to the TV set watching whatever tripe the corporations offer.
This populations operates in a state of suspended thought, where reality is as foreign as those who bear the brunt of supporting ours.
Nature is going to remind mankind about the costs of unrestrained capitalism, and I don't think that we'll realize that it's happening until it's too late.
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