This article is important for several reasons. The focus on Charles Reich illustrates the evolution of political thinking of US activists in the 1970s with more recent times, it shows how his earlier thesis that "consciousness plays the key role in the shaping of society" was clearly wrong, and the different reaction by ruling class media to his earlier thesis versus his new thesis in the mid-nineties. My interest is mainly with the latter.
His earlier book, Greening of America, which espoused the consciousness thesis was widely praised by ruling class media such as The New Yorker magazine, then mainstream media followed dutifully by echoing these opinions. As a result it became a widely read best seller.
Fast forward a quarter century.This more recent book was either totally ignored or trashed as it was in the New York Times. This is the way that the ruling class manages mainstream media content and the political consciousness of American workers.
In 1995, the same Charles Reich was out with another book -- “Opposing the System” -- his first in two decades. Gone were the claims that meaningful structural change would come only as a final step after people got their heads and culture together. Instead, the book focused on the melded power of huge corporations and the U.S. government.
I've found the same discriminatory treatment in relation to another author, John Le Carré. He was the darling of the literary establishment back in the Cold War days when his novels were about spy themes in the Soviet bloc countries, but since then he has been focusing his novels on Western spy agencies. As a result, I haven't seen any mention of him in any media. And I think his novels are better than ever.
I referred to the same ruling class supervision of media coverage with regard to the appearance of the Tea Party. See this and this.
