by Herbert I. Schiller

About the author: Herbert I. Schiller is a visiting professor at American University in Washington, D.C., and the author of The Mind Managers, Mass Communications, and American Empire and Culture Inc.: The Corporate Takeover of Public Expression.

President Clinton was elected to restore prosperity to the American economy. From the beginning, high tech has been the chosen instrument to achieve this end. Computerization and high-speed telecommunications are the promising routes, in Washington’s view, to economic revitalization. How justified this linkage is, we leave aside for the moment.

What is becoming clear is that in pursuit of the goal of economic stimulation through high-powered information technology, the democratic character of American society is at risk. Well on the way to extinction is the public sector of American...