We're All Socialists Sometimes

Like most western democracies, for many decades the US government has been operating with some socialist programs – within an undeniably capitalist economic system. But what are we really talking about? We clearly don’t have the state running the economy. It can barely manage itself. But we have adopted programs designed to increase economic equality – and sometimes programs that have done the opposite. 

In other words, we’ve had redistribution of wealth. As Bernie Sander has been arguing in his presidential campaign, during the last few decades it’s largely been redistribution toward the top.

What do socialists believe? Most would probably agree that capitalism unfairly concentrates power and wealth, creating an unequal society. Basically, a no brainer so far. Where they disagree is about how much and what type of government intervention will work. A few advocate complete nationalization of production. But more prefer some state control of capital within a market economy, while democratic socialists often talk about selective nationalization of key elements in a mixed economy, along with tax-funded social programs. On the other hand, libertarian socialists don’t favor state control and prefer direct collective ownership – workers coops, workers councils, basically workplace democracy.

Libertarian socialists, like libertarians in general, weren’t happy about the 2008-2009 financial bailouts. Democratic socialists, in contrast, felt they didn’t go far enough. And most capitalists? Well, many decried the situation but went along. Some even chirped that “we are all socialists now” – at least as far as losses are concerned.

The truth is, Americans have been adopting socialist ideas – although not living in a socialist society – for many years, and the sky hasn’t fallen. But this doesn’t matter to the politicians and talking heads who hawk “out of control” government and a hostile takeover of the country. 

The attempt to stir up fears about socialism, and link it to xenophobia and un-American activity, is a cheap but tried-and-true political ploy. That's probably why it appeals to Donald Trump. It’s also the latest incarnation of an ongoing culture war based on resentment, ignorance, and selfishness. The subtext is that we are not equal, that being "truly American" includes a very narrow set of values, and that the government shouldn’t be a force for equality. How Sanders defines the issue -- and handles the topic from here on -- may determine whether voters decide he's electable or ultimately just a protest candidate. 

But let’s give a conservative the last word. During the 2008 presidential campaign, George Will put it this way: “Ninety-five percent of what the government does is redistribute wealth. It operates on the principle of concentrated benefits and dispersed costs. Case in point: we have sugar subsidies. Costs the American people billions of dollars but they don’t notice it it’s in such small increments. But the few sugar growers get very rich out of this. Now we have socialism for the strong – that is the well-represented and organized in Washington like the sugar growers. But it’s socialism none the less and it’s not new.”

PlanBTV: Going for Competitive Advantage

One rendering shows a new waterfront hotel.

At first the master plan for Burlington’s urban core sounds and looks like a new airport designation – planBTV. The logo-style name, like other decisions made since the project began in early 2011, point to an emphasis on image and messaging.

Dozens of beautifully rendered diagrams, illustrations and charts combine to create a seductive vision of Vermont’s largest city in the not-too-distant future. An online version released in 2012 allowed for comments on almost every paragraph. This and much of the process was designed and directed by a consulting firm, Town Planning and Urban Design Collaborative, with funding from HUD’s Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities.

The result is a long-term blueprint for downtown Burlington and the waterfront that attempts  to balance growing concerns about sustainability with continued growth and pressing Burlington’s competitive edge. Since its development, it has become the basis for a variety of ordinance and zoning changes to implement the overall vision and smooth the path for projects that survive public scrutiny.

On page 84 of the print version, the desire to keep Burlington a vital and desirable place to live is linked to competition for “market share” with surrounding communities and the suburbs.

“For years the City has struggled to agree on how to move forward with the development of the waterfront and the core has struggled to match the vitality seen on Church Street,” it explains. “While the city is a desirable place to live, a lack of high quality affordable housing limits the number of people who can find housing downtown. This deficiency of downtown housing also potentially deters businesses who fear they cannot find a needed employee base. Traffic, challenges with parking, and shortfalls in the quality of the public realm further deter potential residents and visits. Complex and unpredictable regulatory framework also suppress the potential for investment by the private sector.”

The plan itself, presented without the traditional references to goals, objectives, and benchmarks, is more like a PowerPoint presentation, full of intriguing statistics and perceptions but also a series of frequently reinforced themes and arguments. In the 114-page magazine version, most specific recommendations do not emerge until page 90. The rest of the elaborately-designed publication covers local history, how the plan was developed, a set of “values we celebrate,” and nine “themes” that combine to create the rationale for various proposals.

Making the case for change

The decision to present the proposed master plan in print as a colorful, high-end magazine was supposed to “make this document as accessible as possible to the public.” A note on page three said you could order a print edition or download it from the city’s website.

Study area shown by blue line.

An initial hundred copies of the magazine version were printed at a cost of $1,800. and a second edition was made available after the public comments period. Officials and members of the city council received copies.  But only a limited number were available at the Planning and Zoning office, with a cover sticker indicating that they could be borrowed on a three-day loan basis. Some pages and recommended ordinance changes in the print edition were not featured on the website, but the entire magazine was available in PDF form.

On Page 5 of the magazine Comprehensive Planners Sandrine Thibault encouraged the plan’s adoption with the argument that it “represents a social contract bringing citizens together around common goals for their future.” This assertion is followed by an orientation section under the headline “How to love the plan.” Step one, it suggests, is to support it “even if you don’t like all the ideas.” 

The basic idea: have residents focus on the big picture rather than controversial details like a new waterfront hotel or more parking structures, and ultimately to consider whether the overall plan basically takes the city in the right direction. Readers were also encouraged to become part of the planning team and to recognize that some ideas likely to “bring about transformative change” could take years to implement.

The magazine’s review section features historical photos, a selected timeline of past planning milestones, a description of the process and photo spreads that show participants huddled around charts and maps. Little of this made it to the online version.

A highlight of the public process was a series of community meetings. These design “charettes” -- a chic planning term from the French words for cart or chariot -- were attended by about 500 people who considered needs and looked over various proposals.

“Feeding off this buzz of activity, the team entered production mode, synthesizing ideas, collaborating over design challenges, preparing renderings, compiling precedent images, and drawing up the final master plan,” the text explains.

Phase 1 also featured a study of local demographics, transportation, parking, housing and economics. Among the economic “insights” that emerged was that downtown Burlington, which currently has nearly one million square feet of retail space, could accommodate up to 200,000 more. Another is the assertion that French Canadians account for only 3 percent of downtown shoppers. Some officials have questioned this. The problem is that no documentation is provided for much of the data presented in the plan, and some statistics are based on short-term or limited samples.

A section on housing states that single-person households account for 55 percent of the total in the downtown and waterfront area, while 88 percent are renters, 63 percent are under 35 year old, and the average rental price is $1,250.

“Wow,” the plan comments – but not about the cost of housing. “Only 12 percent of homes in Burlington’s downtown and waterfront area are owner occupied. Though not always the case, rental properties are often times unkempt – especially when there is a high concentration of transient residents such as students – compared to homeowners who put down roots and make a long-term investment in their home and neighborhood,” it states.

On transportation, the statistical bottom line is that 74 percent of Burlingtonians drive to work regularly, but the majority “would like to be less auto dependent” and 20 percent already walk to work. A factoid under the heading “Myth Busting” asserts that the city actually does not have a shortage of parking spaces. At peak times, it notes, 35 percent of the spaces are empty. However, a mitigating factor is that a third of the area’s parking is private.

Although the impact of the proposed Champlain Parkway is not discussed – in part because it extends beyond the downtown area – four high-relief aerial maps show the potential for more park and civic space beyond the core, opportunities “to extend the street grid” in the south end, and “a lack of buildings to enclose and activate the park space” on the waterfront. In other words, more development is needed to attract additional visitors.

The fourth map in this section shows “underutilized sites.” The plan concludes that downtown could handled an additional 18.2 million square feet of mixed-use development and more than 500 residential units.

Lists and themes

Some sections are difficult of categorize, even for the plan’s editors. In the magazine’s table of contents one section is titled, “Some Commentary.” However, the title on the page referenced is actually “Timeless Principles” while the content covers what has worked in other communities. The list includes walkability, destination, distance, design, connectivity, density, scale, diversity and mixed-use.

“The creative class, entrepreneurs, and baby boomers are moving into cities, sacrificing privacy, personal space, and their automobiles, in exchange for convenience, entertainment and social interaction,” the plan offers. In the sub-section on distance, the dynamic is quantified this way: the average pedestrian will walk 1320 feet, or five minutes, to reach a destination but Burlingtonians will go a bit farther.

Under mixed-use, planBTV recommends that neighborhoods combine commercial, residential, recreational and civic uses. “This mix of uses is optimized when commercial establishments have residential dwelling units above to help promote active streets,” it explains.

Another section defines a set of Burlington values, based on 250 responses to a survey conducted from October 2011 to January 2012. Asked their impressions of downtown and the waterfront, the word people apparently used most often was” vibrant.” They were also asked about their level of satisfaction with specific features of the area. The highest scores went to shopping and dining downtown, how the Marketplace is maintained, amenities for pedestrians and cyclists, and the scale of buildings.

Asked to rank the five most important subjects that should be addressed by the plan those who responded listed promotion of a local economy sustained by a diverse mixture of business at the top.  Other popular choices were strengthening the city’s role as an economic center, an integrated transportation system, a wide range of housing options, and new urban development.

Based on the various surveys and sources, the planners generated another list – “values we celebrate.” This one includes respect and tolerance, diversity, access, localism, creativity, ability to walk and bike, social interaction and civic engagement, a sense of place, conserving energy, self-sufficiency, and life-long learning.  

By page 44, planBTV the magazine has not quite reached the point of presenting specific proposals. Instead, a final background section describes seven “placed-based themes” that supposedly underlie the choices, goals and objectives “embedded in the hearts and minds of the citizens.” These themes include a vibrant economy, housing and transportation choice, active and healthy living, environmental and cultural stewardship, a sense of place, and creativity and innovation.

Implementing the vision

PlanBTV eventually gets around to specifics, beginning with the need to expand the retail market share in competition with the suburbs. A major proposal in this area is expansion of the current four-block business improvement district (BID) downtown, currently known as the Church Street Marketplace.

In the future the BID’s role could include unified management of public infrastructure, advocating for redevelopment incentives, retail recruitment services handled by a specialist, and creation of a waterfront enhancement and redevelopment program. Setting up a downtown development revolving fund – a potential source of loans for promising projects – is mentioned as “a means to leverage private investment” and make sure that design and material standards are met.

Subsequent sections cover the need to reduce barriers to housing development and open up more units downtown. One recommendation is to improve vacant upper floors along Church Street for use as student housing. Another is to develop an under-utilized parcel at the corner of Main and South Winooski, ironically known as the Superblock, to create a high density project that attracts “several demographic groups interested in urban living who may want an alternative to fatigued single-family homes.”

Absent from the website is a related section in the magazine listing the specific zoning changes that will be needed. They include dropping the 50 percent limit on residential use in downtown projects, eliminating off-street parking requirements, simplifying the public approvals process, increasing the threshold that triggers the need for inclusionary units, and revising the size limits to allow for smaller units.

Another section deals with the innovative potential of Burlington’s creative class, described as “anyone willing to think like an artist” or who is striving to “create a window to view the world in an altogether different way.” This element of the plan is a departure from the past, explicitly acknowledging that arts and culture have become key factors in Burlington’s identity and economy that need to be nurtured.

Recommendations for how to do that include combined public and private funding for non-for-profit enterprises, a commitment to development that “actively enables” creative endeavors, and "incentivizing" the use of upper story properties. 

Among the most detailed sections in planBTV are those dealing with streets, transportation, pedestrians, cycling, and parking. “Now people want to be in urban areas so they can choose to not use a car,” the plan asserts. The proposals for these areas are numerous and ambitious, including a downtown transit mall; a passenger train station that will be part of a new waterfront civic square; and enhancing Burlington’s reputation as a bike-friendly destination through functional parking, end-of-trip facilities, secure storage, bike sharing, and a variety of bikeway types.  

The section titled “Park It! Burlington” provides a granular look at demand, the rationale to change some parking requirements, a tiered time limit approach, use of smart technology,  and various pricing proposals. “We already know that there is a surplus of parking that should be filled before new parking infrastructure is constructed,” the publication says in a sub-section on supply. “Building additional parking facilities will be the last step for Burlington to grow in a smart and efficient way.”

Reimagining the waterfront

Plan BTV sees the Waterfront’s potential “to be a year-round activity center that attracts both city residents and visitors.” Future possibilities include an ice skating facility, even a sled run down Depot Street when the area is “less than ideal” for typical warn weather options. Reinforcing previous municipal plans it also foresees the physical linking of the waterfront area with downtown at several points. 

The text often mentions minimizing the use of automobiles. But in the section on parking innovations it also recommends eliminating parking requirements for future development. “Each new development can determine exactly how much parking is needed without wasting land and resources on parking spaces that will not be utilized,” it argues. 

Thirty pages later, among the many proposals in a key section under the jaunty title, “Around the Burlington Plan,” it discusses two possible new parking structures on the waterfront. The idea is to keep most of the additional parking hidden from view, preferably in buildings with other retail, housing or office uses.

One possibility is below Battery Street, potentially with a connection to Pearl Street via elevator, plus a green roof with a commanding waterfront view. Another option is below the southern end of Lake Street, with access to College or Main.  Building them “would allow nearby surface parking lots to be redeveloped into civic spaces and mixed-used buildings to further activate the waterfront,” the plan says.

The new civic Pavilion surrounded by a plaza is expected
to become a "defining icon" on the waterfront

The most informative sections come in the final 25 pages, when specific elements of the plan are physically pinpointed and described.  At the north end of the waterfront, for example, it calls for a redesign of Overlook Park; stairs or even a mechanical conveyance down the escarpment; a new multi-purpose building at the mid-point of Waterfront Park, creating an entrance to the event area where access can be controlled; a “creativity village” of new and existing buildings along Lake Street; a seasonal skating rink; and a large new civic pavilion that could become the site for future crafts and farmers markets, indoor concerts, and exhibits.

Moving south, the plan describes an “active mixed-use area” with retail space, restaurants and a new inn or hotel on land owned by the Pecor family. In planning speak, this is called “adaptive reuse and infill,” an opportunity for development that extends the four-season tourism concept, with uses that reinforce “a vibrant pedestrian environment.”  To accomplish this, the city’s ferry terminal would be moved south to make room for new projects.

Balancing priorities

In a letter to Burlingtonians, Comprehensive Planner Thibault introduces the “limited edition” magazine version of planBTV with a suggestion that it allows residents to “proactively prepare” for inevitable growth.

In June 2012 Mayor Miro Weinberger said that he sees the process underway as the city’s best chance to reach “a meaningful consensus” about what Burlington’s downtown and waterfront should look like.  The approach could work, he told VTDigger, because it is visual and combines talented designers with modern technology.

However, the plan is as much a persuasive prospectus as a planning document. In addition, it does not incorporate some other relevant planning that is also underway, notably the update of Burlington’s Climate Action Plan that will become part of a revised Municipal Development Plan. Future city projects and programs affecting transportation and development will have to conform to the standards in the plan. That includes zoning, subdivision regulation, impact fees and capital improvements.

The Climate Action Plan concludes that Burlington's greenhouse gas emissions increased 7 percent from 2007 to 2010, despite a goal to reduce emissions 20 percent by 2020. Among the approaches mentioned in the plan offering the greatest potential for carbon reductions and cost savings are reducing the number of miles driven by residents by combining trips, telecommuting, carpooling and using alternatives to the automobile; and requiring any new commercial construction to follow performance guidelines that reduce energy use by at least 20 percent. There is no mention of such considerations in planBTV.

The plan includes many relevant suggestions. But its primary focus is economic. As the statement on long-term vision explains, planBTV seeks” to have a positive impact on the economy, business climate, tax base, and the sustainability of the City in to the future.” Whether the proposed plan’s ambitious vision for how to enhance and protect Burlington’s current marketing advantages is consistent with emerging environmental realities, as well as prevailing local attitudes about housing, traffic and the use of remaining land along the waterfront, remains to be seen.

Article first published in 2012 by VTDigger. To request a digital download or a print copy go to www.burlingtonvt.gov/planbtv

Revisiting May Day & the First Red Scare

Concerned about fair pay, civil liberties, economic inequality and the 1 percent? Explore the epic drama... Inquisitions (and Other Un-American Activities), a play dramatizing the struggle for workers rights. Here are the complete audio podcast version, plus a video clip focusing on the infamous Haymarket bombing of 1886, a key moment in the history of the labor movement, excerpted from the play.


Audio recorded at a live performance in Burlington, Vermont.

Dissent and Its Enemies

Inquisitions (and Other Un-American Activities) uses the interrogation of activist Lucy Parsons during the 1919 Palmer raids as a framework. Available for radio and stasge production, the play — featuring more than 20 speaking roles, drama, comedy, and historical recreations — explores timely themes through dramatic recreations of the movement for an eight-hour workday, the Haymarket bombing, and the show trial of four activists. It is based on more than a decade of research, and includes characters like radical organizer Albert Parsons, tycoons Marshall Field and John D. Rockefeller, muckraker Henry Demarest Lloyd and J. Edgar Hoover at the start of his FBI career.

Since 2003, Inquisitions... has aired on dozens of stations in more than 20 US states. The complete running time is two-hours. It can be abridged, aired in installments, or restaged with permission. The original stage production was written by Greg Guma, directed by Bill Boardman, and co-produced by Toward Freedom and Catalyst Theatre Company

Click here to listen to an audio excerpt in RealAudio (7 min.)
Click here to listen to an audio excerpt in MP3 (7 min.)

Inquisitions... is available as a free download for noncommercial radio stations. Contact Squeaky Wheel Productions to register and download at: betweenthelines@snet.net or call (203) 268-8446. Print copies of the script: $25; email mavmedia@aol.com. 

Podcast Series 

Listen to "Inquisitions — An Audio Drama — Act 1" on Spreaker.

With the FBI interrogation of activist Lucy Parsons in 1919 at its center, Act 1 of the podcast version takes listeners back to the birth of the movement for an eight-hour workday and the resulting violence in May 1886. 

Act 2  recreates the post-Haymarket show trial of eight German activists. The interrogation of Lucy Parsons continues — by a young J. Edgar Hoover — as she defends her controversial life. 

In Act 3, the trial concludes as capitalist oligarchs celebrate on a surrealistic dream train. Before her interrogation ends Lucy Parsons remembers her fight for clemency and the unjust hanging of her husband and comrades. Written by Greg Guma, directed by Bill Boardman, and produced by Catalyst Theatre. 

Theater Review excerpts

Back in 1963, before Greg Guma made his mark as a Vermont journalist and political activist, he was honing his rhetorical skills in high school, winning dramatic interpretative contests with his delivery of Atticus Finch's closing statement to the jury from To Kill a Mockingbird. Something about the speech "resonated" with the young Guma. "It was about civil rights," he says. "Frankly, in my Catholic high school we didn't learn much about that."

Atticus' eloquent defense of a black man wrongly accused of raping a white woman is indeed a resonant piece of writing, one that made an impression first in Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and then, even more indelibly, in the 1962 film version with Gregory Peck, who won an Oscar for his performance as the small-town Alabama lawyer and widowed father of two.

This month, local audiences get the chance to revisit that famous speech and the other charms of Mockingbird in a stage adaptation by Vermont Stage Company. And coincidentally, this past weekend at Burlington City Hall, under the auspices of the Catalyst Theatre Company, Greg Guma premiered a play with its own share of courtroom drama: Inquisitions (and Other Un-American Activities) is an epic examination of labor unrest in late 19th- and early 20th-century America.

VSC's Mockingbird reminds us why Lee's story has remained so beloved, without, however, succeeding completely as a work of theater. Guma's play is clearly a work in progress, but it benefits from an ingenious radio-drama approach that shows how much can be communicated by crafty direction, a versatile cast and a few well-chosen sound effects...

Greg Guma's Inquisitions may send you running back to your history books. Editor of the Burlington-based progressive newsletter Toward Freedom, Guma has spent years researching the events in his historical drama, the Haymarket bombing in 1886 Chicago and the Red Scare of 1919. Not surprisingly, then, one problem with the play in its current stage of development is that there's perhaps too much history and not enough drama, an overload of archival oratory and a multitude of characters and events.

That said, the script has great potential, particularly in its focus on one fascinating character, and director Bill Boardman, known for his work with the Panther Players on radio and CD, found numerous inventive ways to tell the story through the convention of a script-in-hand radio drama.

A brief historical refresher: On May 4, 1886, during a labor protest in Chicago's Haymarket area, someone in the crowd threw a bomb which killed seven police officers. Political radicals were arrested by the dozens as a result, and eight of the most visible were brought to trial and convicted of murder even though there was virtually no evidence of their involvement. Four of those men were hung, and one killed himself in prison.

Bombings alleged to be the work of anarchists were also a key factor in the Red Scare of 1919 and the raids led by Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. Fanning the flames of xenophobia already stirred by WWI, Palmer used the bombings as an excuse to go after "reds" of all stripes, particularly if they were foreign-born, and he deported 249 resident aliens. Palmer's recruitment of a young John Edgar Hoover from the Library of Congress to help with the investigations laid the groundwork for Hoover's FBI.

These summaries don't begin to name all the colorful characters involved, but most of them show up in the Haymarket sections of Guma's play -- everyone from department store mogul Marshall Field to muckraking journalist Henry Demarest Lloyd to the accused anarchists. Guma makes one character the focus of the action, and luckily she's the most interesting: Lucy Parsons, the African-American wife of firebrand anarchist orator Albert Parsons, one of the four men executed. An equal partner of Albert's both in marriage and in activism, Lucy led the unsuccessful fight to free her husband and continued speaking out after his death.

The play begins with a 66-year-old Lucy under interrogation by a federal agent on Nov. 11, 1919, the anniversary of her husband's death. She's been picked up as part of the Palmer Raids. Guma has no hard evidence that she was interrogated at that time, but it's a fair assumption. And the device of the interview allows for segues into Haymarket flashbacks while also providing, in the older Lucy, an enjoyable protagonist.

Two actresses, Sandra Gartner and Sheila Collins, did excellent work portraying Lucy in her older and younger years, respectively, with Gartner particularly effective in capturing both the sass and the sadness of the character.

However, the play returns too often to the interrogation motif, and when J. Edgar himself steps in to harangue Lucy, he's so broadly written that it's like watching two opposing mouthpieces, not an interaction between real human beings. Only when he takes the questioning to uncomfortably personal places -- asking about Lucy's son, a Spanish-American War vet whom she committed to a mental institution -- do we get into more interesting territory. There are still-untapped possibilities to explore in the character of Lucy, and Guma would do well to pull back on some of the political rhetoric and go deeper into the personal details.

A number of other characters capture our attention because of their particular quirks or multiple dimensions. Socialist newspaper editor and Haymarket defendant August Spies is equally contemptuous of Marxism and capitalism; Ruth Wallman, in a nice example of gender-blind casting, was humorously flinty in the role. Roger Dodge made the most of his moments as the grandstanding prosecutor. Wayne Martens underplayed nicely as both uber-detective Alan Pinkerton and defense attorney "Captain" Black.

Throughout, the ensemble was effective in establishing context, whether as cheering crowds or carousing barflies, and Boardman consistently made astute staging choices. Special credit to light and sound designers Brad Butler and Steve Osterlund, whose contributions made a real case for the potential of the script as a radio drama.

Whatever happens to Inquisitions, it's inarguably timely now, as the contradictory demands of national security and civil liberties are once more at odds. Toward the end of the play Lucy says, "We're all so fragile. How can we make a government that isn't?" I asked Guma the same question in an interview after the performance. His response: "We can try." In recasting historical events in a form that can illuminate these questions, he's making an effort that's worthy of further attention.

—David Warner, May 7, 2003, Seven Days

Background 

Unions are often portrayed as just another corrupt special interest group. But the true, largely ignored history of the labor movement tells a very different story: a long and dedicated effort, despite ruthless opposition, to shorten working hours, obtain a living wage, and win reforms like Social Security. Here is a six part series that puts labor’s historic struggles and contemporary challenges into context.

Crisis & Collective Amnesia

1886: Labor Showdown in Chicago

The Haymarket Bombing

May Day’s Forgotten Martyrs

The Legacy of Injustice

Labor’s Long March Continues

Radio’s Delicate Condition

For at least two generations, public radio has helped people to learn about each other and their problems, and share a common cultural experience. But digital media challenge that relationship. The blogosphere has doubled every six months in recent years, and it’s a multilingual, multicultural environment. Social networks have also exploded. By 2006, traffic on MySpace had already outstripped traffic to traditional news platforms such as the New York Times and CNN.
     The question is whether broadcasting operations can catch up. To survive and remain relevant, they must adapt.

     Technology slowly seems to be turning traditional broadcasting into a dinosaur. And it’s not just radio. In 2008 NBC formally declared itself an “Internet company,” and the end of analog TV broadcasting came in February 2009, another step in the most sweeping overhaul of TV viewing since its inception. After Mega-media mogul Rupert Murdoch bought MySpace in 2005, there were rumblings that he might dump his satellite assets in favor of wireless digital TV. At the same time, the audience and credibility of public broadcasting has been undermined. Most bloggers and iPod users don’t watch much TV, read newspapers, or wait for their favorite radio program.   
     The music industry has made a painful transformation, the movie business has resisted, and cable television has developed niche marketed, sometimes high-quality programming. But to a large extent, network TV hasn't figured out what to do. Viewers are leaving -- or "aging out," but the reaction of the networks has largely been to reduce not only the cost but also the quality of programs through reality-TV and tabloid formulas. Those are just ways of denying the inevitable.

     In commercial radio, the reaction has been mainly to rely on two models – talk and formulaic music. But this is just competing for a limited audience with undifferentiated products. Even though the broadcast spectrum is a scarce resource, those with licenses are in many cases writing their own death warrants by using it inefficiently. 

     Public radio’s problems are compounded by the fact that the Bush administration tried to rip the guts out of it. Before the election of a Democratic president, George W. Bush's 2009 budget proposed cutting the allocation to public broadcasting by half over two years. Had it been approved, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting would have lost $420 million of the $820 million in federal funds it was set to receive.

     Beyond that, NPR and its local stations – much like Pacifica Radio – have continued to fight over money and control. But the real problem is that more and more listeners prefer "on-demand" content. They want programs that are more meaningful to them, and they want to listen at their convenience. So far most of community and public radio, with its current distribution model, hasn't responding fast or seriously enough.

     Talented people are doing the best they can, but it’s not just a management issue. The problem is systemic. Podcasting is to public radio what apps like Garage Band and Pro Tools have been to the music industry. Large recording outfits have closed because musicians can produce appealing new music in small project studios -- or even in their apartments. The traditional music industry has been forced to embrace new forms of production and distribution. The same is true for public radio.

     Traditional radio broadcasters need to acknowledge that the era of being a music jukebox is coming to an end. New media technologies like file sharing, online music clearinghouses, portable players, and smart phones provide much more flexibility for the user. Remaining a “jukebox" – even with a lovable, knowledgeable host – is a losing battle. Kids born today aren’t likely to listen to radio over accessing a playlist, a personalized streaming radio station via the Internet, or whatever comes next.

     Some stations are attempting to become facilitators of open public media spaces. For instance, Minnesota Public Radio turned its listeners into sources and generators of news stories with what they called Public Insight Journalism. StoryCorps began generating grassroots oral histories. These are promising ideas, but radio has to go farther. It needs to become a leader in training, participation, and developing new platforms, apps and formats.

 

Originally posted on March 24, 2008. Third of four parts. Material in this series was first presented in January 2008 at a KPFT strategic planning retreat.

 

Next: The Future of Radio

REBEL NEWS 4/19/13:Drone Wars: Privacy vs Profit

Maverick Media’s Rebel News airs 9-10 a.m. (more or less) Friday on WOMM, 105.9-FM/LP – The Radiator in Burlington on The Howie Rose Variety Show and streaming worldwide.

TOP STORY: Welcome to the Drones Wars

States Debate Limits as Business Eyes $89 Billion

Idaho took the lead in protecting people from drone surveillance last week when Gov. Butch Otter became the first state leader to sign legislation.  Known as the “Preserving Freedom from Unwanted Surveillance Act,” the law restricts the use of drones by government or law enforcement, particularly when it involves gathering of evidence and surveillance on private property.

     

Mosquito MAV

In Florida, the state senate has passed a similar bill, The Freedom from Unwanted Surveillance Act, which prevents police from using drones for routine surveillance. However, it would allow unmanned aircraft if there’s a threat of terrorist attack. 
     Massachusetts and Rhode Island are considering legislation that would prevent police from identifying anyone or anything not related to a warrant.

     According to the ACLU, at least 35 states have considered drone bills so far this year, and 30 states have legislation pending. Most bills require a “probable-cause” warrant for drone use by law enforcement, while a handful seek to ban weaponized drones.

     They come in all sizes, from the Predator drones used in Pakistan and other countries to tiny mosquito drones that can be used covertly in urban neighborhoods and indoors. In the next few years police will increasingly turn to them for surveillance. But groups like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals also see their potential for tracking poachers, while farmers want aerial vehicles to measure crop growth.

     The ACLU is urging state lawmakers to require that police obtain a warrant before using any drone to conduct a search. But the Virginia-based Rutherford Institute argues that governments should go further and ban any information obtained by drones from use in court. In January, Rutherford submitted model legislation to lawmakers in all 50 states.

     In Maine, a Joint Judiciary Committee had a work session last week on LD 236, officially known as “An Act to Protect the Privacy of Citizens from Domestic Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Use.” After a debate between the Attorney General and an ACLU spokesperson, committee members voted unanimously to postpone a decision for two weeks.

     In a nearby hearing room, where a debate on gun control was underway, one gun-rights supporter displayed a bumper sticker with a drone on it – and the words "Protect our 2nd amendment rights to shoot down drones."

     Maine’s Attorney General has proposed a temporary moratorium until July 1, 2014. The official rationale is to allow time for law enforcement agencies to come up with "minimum standards," including prior authorization by "some official" before drones could be used for surveillance. But the AG also argues that the drone bill should not impede the possibility of a drone test center in northern Maine. 

     At least 37 states are competing for six drone testing centers that are expected eventually to launch 30,000 drones into the skies. For Maine, one lure could be the promise that the state won’t require operators to get a warrant before launching a spy-bot.

     Democrats, who control Maine’s legislature but not the governorship, hope to win back the top spot again.  Thus, they want backing from the police, aerospace industry interests, new drone manufacturing firms, and citizens living near the closed Loring AFB who believe a drone test center and missile defense base would bring back jobs.

     A variety of activist groups are staging protests in an attempt to stop the use of domestic drones in US airspace.  Events are expected in at least 18 states at research facilities, drone command centers, manufacturing plants, universities that have drone programs and the White House, according to Nick Mottern, founder of Known Drones, a website that tracks unmanned aircraft activity in the US and abroad.

     The protests are being organized by more than 15 anti-drone groups, including Codepink, Veterans for Peace, No Drones Network, and the American Friends Service Committee. The groups oppose both domestic drone use and targeted drone killings overseas.

     On February 7, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released an updated list of communities, states, law enforcement agencies, and universities that have requested and received licenses to deploy drones. The Electronic Freedom Foundation obtained the list via a Freedom of Information Act disclosure and learned that more than 81 public entities have so far applied to the FAA for permission to launch drones.

     

Lethal Ornithopter

Why the rapid push for domestic deployment ?  According to the Center for Responsive Politics, drone makers hope to speed their entry into a domestic market valued in the billions.  The US House actually has a 60-member “drone caucus” — officially known as the House Unmanned Systems Caucus. In the last four years, it members received nearly $8 million in drone-related campaign contributions. Drone Caucus members from California, Texas, Virginia, and New York received the lion’s share, channeled from firms in the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.

     In a recent study, the Teal Group estimates that spending on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will increase over the next decade from current worldwide expenditures of $6.6 billion annually to $11.4 billion. That’s more than $89 billion in the next 10 years. "The UAV market will continue to be strong despite cuts in defense spending," claims Philip Finnegan, Teal’s director of corporate analysis. "UAVs have proved their value in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan," he said, "and will continue to be a high priority for militaries in the United States and worldwide."
     On  April 23, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights will hold a hearing Drone Wars: The Constitutional and Counterterrorism Implications of Targeted Killing. If you can't attend, you can submit a statement for the record. Chairman Durbin has invited advocates and stakeholders to offer their perspectives and experiences by submitting written testimony.
     Submissions are limited to 10 pages, submitted in PDF or Word Document form to Stephanie Trifone at Stephanie_Trifone@Judiciary-dem.Senate.gov  no later than Monday, April 22, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. Statements can be addressed to Chairman Durbin, Ranking Member Cruz, and Members of the Subcommittee. For some reason they can’t accept previously published information as a statement.
     The FAA is currently writing regulations for domestic drone use. According to Defending Dissent, the federal agency's jurisdiction is limited. But it could provide safeguards such as compliance with Fair Information Practices for all licensees, creation of a public database of drone operators – with information about the surveillance equipment used and the operator's data minimization procedure. Operation of drones could also be restricted to only licensees, ruling out wildcat rental operators. Otherwise, it’s going to be crazy up there.

Related Story: How Are Drones Used in the US? PBS Newshour

THIS WEEK ON REBEL NEWS:  Drone laws  vs. drone business, Patrick Leahy and the F-35s, Django unseen in China, the politics of explosion, economic warnings, and a new leak at Fukushima. VERMONT: Marathon security, no pipeline reversals, and considering online gambling. Here are highlights:

Another Time, Another Bomb

ROUND UP

Django Unseen… in China

Quentin Tarantino’s irreverent film about slavery in America, Django Unchained, had China’s street and media buzzing last week after the film was banned from Chinese theaters. The move, beginning with a dramatic plug pulling in a Beijing cinema less than a minute into a screening, came despite major promotion, including telephone interviews with Leonardo DiCaprio. Notices halting all screenings quickly appeared at other cinemas.
     No reason was given for the ban, but the theory is that the full-frontal shots of male slaves and brief female nudity, together with the violence and profanity, could have triggered the censorship. Some media outlets tied to human rights groups have connected the ban and depictions of torture in the film, suggesting that the scenes bothered Chinese officials concerned that audiences might see a parallel with the state’s own alleged torture of dissidents. New ad brag: Banned in Beijing!

ECONOMIC WARNINGS

Are we headed for another crash?

A bubble is biggest before it bursts.  Keep it in mind If you listen to talking heads these days, whose happy talk suggests the current stock market boom is set to continue indefinitely. According to CNN, Americans are more optimistic than they’ve been in six years.
     But as CNBC analyst Marc Faber also explains, "If we continue to move up, the probability of a crash becomes higher."  As to when it might happen, he predicts "sometime in the second half of this year."
     How? After all, the stock market isn’t crashing. But there are signs of trouble. As in 2008, it could take stocks extra time to catch up with other economic realities. 
     What realities? One is the demand for energy. Similar to 2008, overall US demand is falling.  Obviously, it’s good for people to consumer less energy. But it’s also an indication that economic activity is starting to slow down. Beyond that, gold and silver are falling, the price of oil continues to decline, markets in Europe are collapsing, and consumer confidence lags in the US.
     Let’s start with gold. The price was down by about 4 percent last week and has fallen below $1500 an ounce for the first time since July 2011. Overall, the price has dropped 10 percent since the beginning of the year, and is about 22 percent below a record high in September 2011. The rapid fall in recent days—some call it the biggest plunge in more than 30 years -- indicates that deflationary tendencies are strengthening worldwide. Nevertheless, gold remains a safe investment for the long-term. (Imagine Jim Cramer sound effect here)
     So does silver, although the price fell by about 5 percent last week.  If it falls much more it will present an even more favorable buying opportunity. Like gold, there are times when the price swings dramatically. But it could be an even better long-term investment.
     The price of oil was down about 3 percent last week. Many also see this as a positive thing. But remember 2008, a price drop came just before the crash. If the price goes below $80, that could be a signal that a major economic crisis is about to happen.
     According to Wells Fargo, the number of Americans taking loans from retirement accounts rose 28 percent over the past year. Of those taking out loans, about a third were in their 50s, followed by those in their 60s (29%) and those in their 40s (27%). The increase in the 50s group was nearly double the rise among those under 30.
     As the same time, casino spending is declining. Positive, right? But casino spending is one of the most reliable indicators about the overall health of the economy. Lean times in Vegas. 
     Turning to Europe, the unemployment rate in Greece had topped 27.2 percent, up from 25.7 percent last month. This isn’t a depression, it’s an avalanche. European financial stocks have been hit particularly hard -- and for a reason:  many Europe’s major banks are close to insolvent.  Last week, European financial stocks fell to seven month lows.
     According to Reuters, the number of Spanish companies going bankrupt is up 45 percent over the past year. A record number went bust in the first quarter. Companies are under intense pressure from tight credit and low demand. The 2,564 firms filing for insolvency was a 10 percent rise from the last quarter, and a 45 percent increase from the same period last year.
    So, does all this mean another crash is coming? The real question seems to be when.

HEALTH SCARES

New Leak Delays Fukushima Repairs

Efforts to remove highly contaminated water from a leaking underground storage pool at the Fukushima nuclear plant were delayed this week when the plant’s operator found another leak, this time in pipes that would be used to move water to above-ground storage containers.
     Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) discovered that six gallons of water had leaked from a junction in the pipes used to move water between other storage pools. The company is having trouble  finding space to store the huge amounts of toxic water created by makeshift efforts to cool reactors at the Fukushima -plant, which was damaged two years ago by an earthquake and tsunami. Since then, Tepco has been pouring water onto the melted reactors and fuel storage pools to keep them from overheating again.
     The newest leak will force Tepco to postpone removal of water from the No. 2 storage pool while the the faulty pipe is repaired. The pool has spilled 32,000 gallons of radioactive water and may still be leaking. Another recent mishap involved the temporary loss of power for the vital cooling systems last month. A rat had short-circuited part of the electrical system.

VERMONT SCENE

City Marathon Looks at Security

On Sunday May 26, thousands of runners converged in Burlington to take part in the 25th annual Vermont City Marathon, with thousands more cheering them on. "I'd like to think we're safe in Vermont, but I'm sure people in Boston thought that too," said Kasey Flynn, a spectator last year who plans to run this time. But what happened last week at the Boston Marathon “is definitely going to be on all our minds.”
    To help ease public fears race organizers and emergency responders met Tuesday to talk about safety. Burlington police say there will most likely be increased security, which could include bomb sweeps, more cops and asking people to leave any bags behind. If so, they'll get the word out soon. "Nothing is off the table," said Burlington Police Deputy Chief Andi Higbee.

PIPELINE POLITICS:  No Flow Reversal

Environmental regulators say that Act 250, the state’s land use law, applies to any proposal to reverse the flow in an oil pipeline that crosses Vermont. It’s a victory for environmentalists during the fierce debate over another pipeline, the proposed Keystone XL, which would move tar sands oil from Alberta to Texas.
     The Vermont Natural Resources Council says the pipeline that carries oil from Portland, Maine to Montreal could have its flow reversed and carry Canadian tar sands oil through Vermont, New Hampshire and western Maine. The Portland-Montreal Pipe Line Corp. claims to have no “active plan” to do that. But the ruling quotes its CEO telling Vermont Public Radio that the company has been "aggressively looking at every opportunity to use these excellent assets in a way that will continue to provide for the North American energy infrastructure needs." The ruling says that statement means the possibility of such a pipeline reversal is "not hypothetical."
     Monday's decision cited a July 2010 spill of more than 1 million gallons of tar sands oil from a pipeline near the Kalamazoo River in Michigan. Kirsten Sultan, coordinator of the District 7 Environmental Commission, noted that the tar sands oil sank to the river bottom, coating wildlife, rocks, and sediment. “Cleanup from this spill is incomplete, with costs at $800 million and rising," she wrote.

VT LOTTERY: Going Online?

Online lottery sales may be coming to Vermont. The Vermont Lottery Commission is currently looking at ways to expand its base, according to Lottery Commission Chair Martha O’Connor. A recent survey suggests that 45.4 percent of Vermonters play, slightly more women than men, with an average age of 49.
     Lotteries are operated by most US states, and generate major revenues as other sources are decreasing. But they are regressive. In other words, the percentage spent on lottery tickets rises as a person’s income falls. A famous study from Cornell University concluded that people “with lower incomes substitute lottery play for other entertainment.” Sales and poverty are strongly related. The poor appear to see lotteries as “a convenient and otherwise rare opportunity for radically improving their standard of living,” said the study.
     In another study, Duke University researchers found that the more education someone has the less one spends on lottery tickets: dropouts averaged $700 annually, compared to college graduate’s at $178. Those from households with annual incomes below $25,000 spent an average of nearly $600 a year on lottery tickets; those from households earning over $100,000 averaged $289. Blacks spent an average of $998, while whites spent $210.
     In other words, lotteries take the most from those who can least afford it, essentially redistributing wealth from the poor to the batter-heeled.  They escape what is really a disguised taxation simply by not buying tickets. Why not? They’re already “winners.” Retail merchants meanwhile get commissions on a virtually cost-free product -- lottery tickets. And politicians boast that they haven’t raised taxes.
     The recent Vermont survey tested interest playing games online and found that 10.5 percent of the 1,000 people polled — both players and non-players — would more likely play if offered the chance on the Internet. Thirteen percent said they can see themselves using a smart phone to buy tickets.
     Supporters of bringing online lottery sales to Vermont dismiss worries that it would make it even easier for people with gambling problems to lose big.
     Since its creation in 1977, the Vermont Lottery has attempted to balance two competing goals — “produce the maximum amount of net revenue consonant with the dignity of the state and the general welfare of the people.” This tension – between profit and public welfare – will play out next year once the commission makes its official recommendations to the House Ways and Means Committee.
     Jim Condon, a key member of Ways and Means, has already telegraphed support for at least considering online sales. He thinks the lottery is just a form of benign entertainment that produces revenues and helps lower property taxes. The money people drop on tickets is state revenue they are “voluntarily giving up,” he argues.
     However, Ways and Means Chair Janet Ancel and House Speaker Shap Smith are skeptical. “If I had been in the Legislature I wouldn’t have supported Powerball,” Ancel told the Burlington Free Press last week. But she wants to revisit “how much we want to depend on the lottery for essential services.”
     If selling tickets online is needed to keep the lottery alive, Smith claims to be persuadable. But If it’s “a nose under the tent to expanded gambling, I have real concerns.”

*

POSTSCRIPT

“What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.”

- Garcia Marquez

It’s been a week of explosions, first in Boston at the Marathon and then at a fertilizer plant in Texas.  Intense emotions and hot words. Cowardice in the US Senate –and by another maniac or deranged group.

     But that doesn’t explain the music MSNBC has been running under news footage. Kind of a militant dirge, the kind of theme you might hear just before Bruce Willis arrives to bring some villain "to justice.” But somehow I don’t get the sense that the public is in a really forgiving mood at the moment. They’re kind of discontented, even riled up.

     Maybe it’s the music.

DRUG NEWS

VT House Passes Pot Decriminalization

On April 16, in a 92-49 vote, the Vermont House passed a bill decriminalizing possession of limited amounts of marijuana. It now moves to the Senate, where chances of passage are good. At House and Senate hearings Attorney Gen. William Sorrell and Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn testified in favor, and Gov. Peter Shumlin has expressed support. It’s one of the upsides of having a one-party state.

     Progressive Chris Pearson introduced H. 200 with a tri-partisan group of 38 co-sponsors. It removes criminal penalties for possession of up to one ounce of marijuana and replaces them with a civil fine, similar to a traffic ticket. However, those under age 21 would have to undergo substance abuse screening. Under current state law, possession of up to two ounces of marijuana is a misdemeanor with a possible six months jail sentence for the first offense and up to two years for getting caught twice.

     Nearly two-thirds of Vermont voters (63 percent) support removing criminal penalties for possession of small amounts and replacing them with a fine, according to a survey by Public Policy Polling.

The Feds vs. the Job Creators

Will Vermont also let farmers grow hemp? And if they do, will the DEA round them all up? Farmers Behind Bars: new reality TV concept. Anyway, that’s the worst case scenario as the Vermont House Agriculture Committee basically announces support for the idea.  In March, a proposal to let Vermont farmers grow the “same” plant that produces marijuana passed the Senate.

     As most people know, it’s not really the same. Plants grown for hemp are raised differently and contain much lower levels of marijuana’s active ingredient. Basically, no buzz.  Yet it’s illegal under federal law, supposedly because it can somehow be diverted for the drug trade.

     ‘I think all we’re up against is that the DEA feels this is a dangerous crop, which we’ve discovered as a committee it just is not,’’ says Rep. Carolyn ­Partridge, Committee chair and supporter of hemp legalization.

     It’s the archetypical multi-purpose crop. Hemp can be used as a heating ­fuel, as fabric for cloth and rope (the Navy used to love it), as construction material, paint, and more. And they say it grows pretty well in Vermont’s tough climate.

     In 2008, Vermont passed a law calling on the Agency of Agriculture (AoA) to begin issuing hemp growing permits to farmers -- as soon as the federal government gets serious about creating jobs and raising revenue.

     After all, hemp growers are J creators. And the J is for jobs.