The Rigged Society

The value of a socialist orientation to contemporary events is demonstrated by the most unlikely people. In the course of his mea culpa in Washington the head of the Columbia Broadcasting System set forth the framework for understanding the quiz show scandal: “The fact of the matter is that the advertiser who picks up the check is entitled to his commercial. Furthermore, our whole economy rests upon mass production, and mass production requires mass distribution, and television plays a key role in mass distribution.” Since television is primarily a business the governing principles which determine how and what shall be produced are the same as those in other areas of the economic structure. And among the most important of these is the “rigging principle” which has reached its best known form in the automobile industry.

There it is known as planned obsolescence. The product is specifically designed to last—and to satisfy the needs of the consumer—f...