588
ROBERT BRUSTEIN
selling books, broadcasts, and public pronouncements that
dis–
regard what he says and give the official way of looking at
things." This species 'of censorship embodies a new and subtle
menace which is extremely difficult to combat-instead of the
suppression of ideas, rigid control over the free dissemination
of ideas. At present, there is no way for unofficial or unpopular
expressions to reach a substantial public without first being pro–
cessed.by the media.
s
A wall
is
descending in front of the intelli–
gentsia, as thick and impenetrable as a wall of steel, which soon
may ghettoize all thought that cannot promise quick profits.
-In Soviet Russia, this impediment was built under government
supervision. In democratic America, it is being fumblingly con–
,structed not through conspiracy but through financial expediency.
,Despite its recurrent affirmations about freedom of speech, our
system is inexorably reducing the avenues of choice until the
future might ,be little more than an endless, unwinding road of
uniformity and carefully engineered consent.
What, then, is the true nature of the Madison Avenue
vil–
lain? We must conclude that he is no villain at all. He is
an
'agent of this system, not its founder, and thougb he profits
by
it, he caimot be held ultimately respOnsible for it.
If
we condemn
him, then his ranks must be expanded to include not just the
'adman and the broadcaster but anyone who collaborates with the
,
,
media for the sake of personal reward, anyone who accommo-
dates for the sake of media status.
If
we regard him as the hired
middleman between the profiteer and the masses, then he
is
all ,
the bought intellects of our society, and all the salesmen, even
those marketing art, culture, and thought. He is, in fact, most
of us at some time in our lives, some of us at all times;
as
we
I
'6. This is another problem peculiar to mass society. In a tiny country
like Ireland, where an unpublished student paper by Joyce was within
a week being discussed all over Dublin, oral communication
is
atiD
effective. In a country the size of America, the loudest and mOlt •
barbaric yawp remains unheard unless it is of interest to public
relations groups.
