Followers of this blog know that I am thinking hard about the subject of the body politic. First, I know that the term body politic is wrong. The subject we are discussing operates at many levels (city, state, national) and has different mechanisms in each domain. The correct term will convey the hierarchy of the subject.
Second, there is a communication mechanism built into the body politic and I can only faintly see the outline of this communication mechanism. The three parts I know are: * there are local city networks, with key nodes. San Francisco has about 30 key nodes (people) who can convey the relevant information that directs the body politic. * There are gatekeepers at every level of the body politic, people who have jobs that require paying attention to the concerns of the body politic and acting on it. Gatekeepers choose commencement speakers, for instance. After Vice Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro did a TV spot for Pepsi, she was never invited to give a commencement speech at a respectable university. She had violated a body politic taboo of running for high office and using it for personal and commercial gain.
The third communication mechanism is interesting. Lefty Fundamentalists hold the views of the Nation magazine, but less than 1% read the Nation magazine. Not all Lefty Fundamentalists even read. Some get their opinion clues just from conversation. * But the bulk of Lefty Fundamentalists get their political ideological updates from Doonesbury.
Other people than Lefty Fundamentalists read and enjoy Doonesbury, but others don't make Doonesbury's politics into religious orthodoxy.
Interesting isn't it?
I know many of my readers are offended by the term Lefty Fundamentalist. It is the most neutral term I can find. The alternative, less precise but also less accurate, is Nattering Nabobs of Negativity.
My term Commercial Luddite™ is too broad to apply to Lefty Fundamentalists.