Machan's Musings - Commercial Free, Babble Full
by Tibor R. Machan
My favorite radio station is a local so-called "public" radio FM broadcaster with only jazz and blues for its programming fare. It raises support by way of two- or three-week long appeals to listeners, and from some government grants. Each time some announcement pitches the virtues of the station to listener, he or she makes a big deal about how it doesn’t broadcast any commercials. This, it seems, the managers consider a great plus, since the amount of babble on the station is apparently no less than on one with commercials.
Yes, there is endless talk, mostly about the talent being showcased, jazz and blues events around town, interviews with musicians, etc., etc. For those of us who would just as soon simply listen, all this chatter is no better than a lot of ads that do not interest us. Once you add the righteousness, however, about how the station eschews advertising, all this comes off as quite offensive. Why on earth would not having ads on make the station so much better when the percentage of non-commercial—well not really quite non-commercial—chatter consumes as much time as commercials do on other stations?
I suppose the culprit is the general hostility toward commerce among those who are attracted to "public" broadcasting. But why are they so convinced that there is something underhanded, lowly, and suspect about commerce, whereas "public" undertakings, including broadcasting, are all virtuous? The facts do not support this. After all, within the public realm—i.e., government affairs—there is ample vice. Every day some local, state or federal politician or bureaucrat gets arrested and convicted for some kind of malpractice. Non-commercial outfits like universities and hospitals reek of malfeasance such as plagiarism and trading in body parts, to name only two rather prominent examples in my region. (And these never prompt any of the pundits to advocate massive government regulation, as comparable malpractice at Enron tends to!)
So, the evidence doesn’t support the position implicit in the self-promotion of the non-commercial radio station, either in my region, or anywhere else. (And there is much of this going on elsewhere, as when PBS advocates air their pleas to keep that institution on the air via government support.) Instead, the anti-commercialism theme goes back centuries, at least to Plato, who in his most famous dialogue, The Republic, consigned merchants to the lowest rung in his ideal society, declaring them incapable of even a shred of nobility. Then, also, many religions and secular philosophies, Christianity and Marxism among them, took a dim view of profit seeking.
The main reason striving for prosperity is at least tolerated in much of the Western world is that economists have succeeded in making it appear that the profit motive is something inbred, innate, or instinctual; so, being motivated to seek profit cannot be something for which someone can be blamed. As the late George Stigler, a Nobel Laureate in the discipline, put it, "man is eternally a utility-maximizer—in his home, in his office (be it public or private), in his church, in his scientific work—in short, everywhere." If so, then we cannot help ourselves and all must be forgiven when we seek utility, wealth, or prosperity.
Since, however, many do not buy into this view—and since in morality, seeking riches is still mostly considered a sign of the unforgivable sin of greed—commerce just cannot gain respect. The views of such rebels as Ayn Rand—who maintain that self-dealing is perfectly okay and even admirable—have too great an obstacle to overcome to be received with understanding and support.
Thus we have the spectacle of non-commercial radio and TV broadcasters running fundraising promotional sessions two or three times a year, all of which seek money while denouncing money-seeking via commerce, where both sides get what they want and no charity is involved.
Too bad. Because how on earth do all those listeners get the funds they will send to these non-commercial stations unless they themselves carry out some successful commercial undertakings? As Rand used to say, "Blank out!"
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