The heart of his argument is that Americans fundamentally misunderstand what is unusual about their communications media, and why.

The Creation of the Media (Review)

The limited introduction of so-called naked DSL is among the signs that the Bells must face the day when local phone service will no longer be the linchpin to their business.

Its about damn time. I think the "phone line requirement" for DSL service ought to be illegal. In any event, people are increasingly opting for cable because it gives them more options. They don't want to pay $40 a month so telemarketers can call them. Your friends and co-workers call your cellphone, and it gets cheaper long distance.

Bells loosen their grip

] Yet two years of dismal job prospects, during a recession
] that cut about 2.7 million jobs from peak to trough, have
] imbued the current crop of seniors with an awareness of
] the economy's inherent instability and prompted them to
] be much more deliberate about their careers. A survey of
] college students conducted by the association earlier
] this year found that only slightly more than 10 percent
] of respondents ticked "don't know what I want to do" as
] their biggest obstacle to finding a job, compared with 22
] percent in 2000.

A generational shift in new graduates.

'04 Graduates Learned Lesson in Practicality

As it happens, several significant new books ... could settle the debate right now -- if people take the trouble to read them.

Most public debates in the US seem to fall into this category.

Those looking for some facts to go along with their "rich people will destroy our future" hypothesis could do worse then to look at this information (and they typically do). The reality that we've accepted a several degree temperature increase over the next 100 years regardless of who is counting, coupled with recent revelations about bifurcations in the equilibrium states of oceanic systems. The worst case realistic scenario is in fact rather troubling. Not "we're all going to die" troubling, but certainly "England is no longer really a hospitable place to live" troubling.

Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.