Folks: Marc Sobel's rebuttal sounds a bit like a non-sequitur. The fact that there remain some meaningful differences between Republican and Democratic platforms on a number of issues in the U.S. does not at all deny the fact that a certain kind of economic discourse has come to be privileged over other possibilities during the past two decades. That broad and compelling message includes notions such as: all good things come from privatization; the current form of corporate capitalism is the best system we can imagine or put into practice; and a "consumer-driven" economy and society is the ultimate form of democractic expression. Under the umbrella of this ideology, citizens have been transformed into consumers, and "marketization" is all the rage. So compelling are these ideas that comparatively few observers have noted how distant corporate capitalism is from a "free market" such as conceived by Adam Smith. Most alarming in this trend is the fact that with the simple phrase "just business," moral concerns can be pushed out of relevant reach. And, yes, I do believe that Clinton's rhetoric--and some of his policies--have contributed to this trend of unreflective marketization. The pragmatic outcome of many Clinton-era public messages is, in fact, not very different from the effect of Reagan-era policy statements and accompanying spin, despite some real differences in intentions and policy directions. Moreover, neither of these master politicians worked in a vacuum. There have been for two decades now, an array of influences supporting these leaders' efforts and from which they drew their rhetorical energy. While there's nothing monolithic about the trend I describe here--and I am not alone in observing it--"marketization" can be said to be the prevailing mythos of our time. The "market story,'" however oblivious to the anti-democratic tendencies of much of what passes for free enterprise today (e.g., corporate welfare), is the main story we tell about ourselves as a society right now. And, that story deserves competition. To address Marc's conclusion, I would say that the very best thing we can do to "expand Clinton's range of action" is to challenge in creative ways the dominant trend of marketization, exposing its contradictions and limitations. This is precisely what authors and activists such as David Korten (in _The Post-Corporate World_) are doing. And, I have found success in communicating such ideas through the use of provocative cartoons (such as from _The New Yorker_) in the classroom to help students get beyond th taken-for-grantedness of market-speak. --George George Cheney Professor and Director of Graduate Studies Department of Communication Studies The University of Montana-Missoula Missoula, MT 59812 USA tel.: 406-243-4426 fax: 406-243-6136 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
