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March 28, 2004 Issue 
America's Meltdown, The Lowest-Common-Denominator Society By John Boghosian Arden 
The Homogenization of America "America's Meltdown, The Lowest-Common-Denominator Society" by John Boghosian Arden is a revolutionary book. It struck a cord in me because it expanded a personal theory I've had for some time now. While going through the routines of daily life, I frequently feel a sense of déjà vu. So much of what goes on around me reminds me of a certain type of mentality communism tried to force on those of us who once upon a time lived behind the Iron Curtain. We were brainwashed and manipulated into a mentality of uniformity and were discouraged from thinking. We faced reprisals if we dared to display any individualism. In order to achieve the desired bland uniformity and obliterate individualism and thinking, communist philosophy reduced everything in life to the lowest common denominator. Astonishingly, I see more and more of this homogeneous mentality right here in the U.S. We are surrounded by uniformity in thought, expression and taste. Thinking in fact, might have even become a liability after President Bush accused Al Gore of being a "thinker." "We have come to crave gossip over substance, acrimony over harmony, and sensationalism over deep meaning," writes the author. He points out that intellectual curiosity, meaningful conversation, political discussion, civic participation, volunteerism and reading are all on the wane. We are in fact, acquiring "an overly simplistic and often absurd view of reality." According to Arden the reason for this "meltdown in consciousness" is to appeal to the lowest common denominator (LCD). Reducing everything to the lowest common denominator today has become common and ubiquitous. We are confronted by LCD in schools, malls, healthcare clinics, movie theatres, the workplace and on television sets. Take for example the news today. From conversations with friends and acquaintances, I know I am not the only one who has grown weary with "news" about Michael Jackson or Martha Stewart. Yet, information about important events, such as the trials of the Enron and Co. charlatans or the proposed unification of Cyprus, or the acceptance of former Warsaw Pact states into NATO, is at best scant. Reality TV and the media's hype of sensational and gossipy stories propagate what the author calls the three "Vs" - violence, voyeurism and vulgarity - which in turn results in big profits for the corporations that control the media. The Internet's contribution to this is numerous social aberrations such as on-line affairs and virtual psychotherapy, to name just two. Arden believes that a powerful "synergy between mass media, demographic change, and corporate domination of the economy" has created the lowest common denominator. In the rest of the book he analyses in greater detail the factors that have contributed to this. Corporate monopoly of the media and enormous corporate contributions to political campaigns have also reduced to the lowest common denominator the healthy debate on diverse issues that once characterized American democracy. According to Arden this - together with the effects of restaurant, fast food and clothing store chains - constitutes a form of corporate homogenization, i.e., a not-so-subtle manipulation into uniformity of thought in every aspect of life. In the last chapter, entitled "Rebuilding the Future," Arden offers practical solutions to our regression into a society of the lowest common denominator. John Boghosian Arden is director of training in the department of psychiatry of Kaiser Permanente and as such is in the advantageous position not only to observe the destructive impact of these factors on our social psychology but to also offer remedies supported by scientific research. He urges us to wake up and embark on changing our society and elevating it to a higher state of consciousness. The book forces us to confront the corrosion already caused by this meltdown and brings to mind the cautionary tale of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. Ophelia Georgiev Roop Library Director San Bernardino Public Library |
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