Democracy, Raced = Dysfunction

(This despotism is what The Wire creates the justifying mythology for.)

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In 2009, The University of Michigan held a conference on The Wire "as both a topic and a model of critique."

PBS radio in Michigan discussed the academic organisers' ideas of the importance of the series for real-world policy making:

"You know," says Tillet, "The Wire is one of those shows that, regardless of one's academic discipline, one can find a common language or a common interest to talk about the show. You can have sociologists coming together, or economists, or literary critics, or historians, all trying to wrestle with the questions that the Wire posed to its audience members."

That's exactly what Paul Farber is banking on. He's a grad student at the University of Michigan and one of the guys behind the Wire themed conference, which they're calling "Heart of the City." He thinks there's something in The Wire for everyone to talk about: from inner city students to scholars. Even a big time politician like President Barack Obama has gone on the record saying it's his favorite TV show.

"The show is unique," says Farber. "It offers not just compelling story lines, but also really focused and keen ideas about policy making. When we think about reform, oftentimes it's around single issues platforms. So you go in and fix the schools, or you go in and fix crime. What the show demonstrates to us is that you can't just intervene in one area without having a really sincere, deep impact in others. The idea is that all areas and sectors of society are intimately connected."

And since Obama has already gone on the record saying how much he likes The Wire, Farber hopes that when it comes time for the administration to talk about new policies or reform, Obama takes into account what he learned from watching the TV show.

Current fascistic praxis in Michigan reflects the significant success the show's producers, it's academic fans and the propagandists of their world-view across the culture industry have had in their anti-democratic, racist ideological assault.