Toxic tv culture

The decline of American culture can be seen clearly in the self-absorbed characters in daytime soap operas and the outlandishly excitable contestants in daytime game shows.

The 50-60 year runs of shows like “General Hospital,” “Days of Our Lives,” and “The Young and the Restless” play-out in glittering color the general outline of our own nation’s slide after World War II. Shows like “The Price is Right,” and “Let’s Make a Deal” reveal more than prices and prizes, as well.

We are experiencing a holocaust in learning in our schools, a debt conflagration in households, corporations, and governme...