The Public Realm is a vanishing species

Rodential devouring of public value by those who solely see the point of private gain:

Prioritizing Economics is Crippling the U.S. Economy 

- James Allworth

Up until (roughly) the end of World War 2, almost all policy were organized around a central theme: impact on democracy. The question would be asked: what was this going to mean for our democracy? From both sides of the political spectrum, there was a common commitment to strengthening and preserving democratic ideals.

But, starting around the time of the Great Depression in the 1930s, and taking full effect by roughly the end of the 1940s, that changed.

No longer was the focus on democracy. Economic growth pushed it into the background.

There was broad recognition in Congress that if anyone managed to gain complete radio dominance in a town, city, region or country, then they would have a lock on political discourse in that region. Because the policy debate focused on impact on democracy, Congress recognized this could happen. And it feared it. As a result, spectrum was retained under Government control, and was licensed out to private parties.

Click image to enlarge

 Fast forward to the 1960s, and a very different debate was happening on allocation of spectrum. It had the same technical and economic elements as in the 1920s — which, of course, is no bad thing. But the nature of the change was stark. The focus on the impact of democracy had largely disappeared. It had been crowded out entirely by the economic focus.

But, starting around the time of the Great Depression in the 1930s, and taking full effect by roughly the end of the 1940s, that changed. 

No longer was the focus on democracy. Economic growth pushed it into the background.
There was broad recognition in Congress that if anyone managed to gain complete radio dominance in a town, city, region or country, then they would have a lock on political discourse in that region. Because the policy debate focused on impact on democracy, Congress recognized this could happen. And it feared it. As a result, spectrum was retained under Government control, and was licensed out to private parties. 

Fast forward to the 1960s, and a very different debate was happening on allocation of spectrum. It had the same technical and economic elements as in the 1920s — which, of course, is no bad thing. But the nature of the change was stark. The focus on the impact of democracy had largely disappeared. It had been crowded out entirely by the economic focus.