It is the demand in a democracy for ever greater stimulants. This means that the quiet arts have no hope for success in these overdosed times. We are made so hyper by one crisis after another that it is very difficult to obtain the attention of anybody for any purpose. There is a big fight going on, a war of attention being waged in the consciousness of every human being. Everybody wants attention.
Television wants it in order to sell commodities.
Politicians want it in order to get votes. Partisans of this, that or the other special interest group want it for their own purposes. Lobbyists want it. Ideologists want it. Everybody wants it.