Liberal has nothing to do with it. Being informed does. Funny how George Bush and the entire US Congress all of a sudden became LIBERAL when everyone at ENRON lost their shirt except GB's close buddies. What choices we have in audio is related to our unquestioning nature as Americans. We soak up whatever marketers can frame as "expanding our individualism". Yet the funny thing is we have far fewer choices after the mega-mergers then ever before (think for a minute of these topics "California Skyrocking Energy Prices and ENRON Making Billions", "Microsoft", "AOL", "Lack of Alternative Fuels"). How much diversity and balance is really in our lifes except work, work for the sake of things. Hi-end audio is being slashed and burned by the successful marketing of planned obsolete Home Theatre and never ending array of formats we did not ask for. If Home Theatre is such a prized possession equal to its increasing price tag and energy consumption why then does the market say it is nearly worthless 6 years after a processor that drives the whole system is made?
No matter how fast a dog chases his tail he will never catch it. Everytime he thinks he has it that darn tail changes direction again. Presumably, eventually the dog realizes this activity is fruitless and gets on to other things. Unfortunately as Americans by the time we get done casing the tails of visions of marketers we destroy community based companies and small but vital niches in our stream of choices that is part of the richness of life.
Almost anything can be framed as an ideal it just depends who has the artillery to shove it down someones throat versus those who have to try to educate themselves and the public about alternative more sustainable, diverse, enlightening, and healthy lifestyles for everyone not just Americans (we are never safe when we piss off the world no matter how much money is spend on bombs and reading of our e-mail by the CIA). Conservative is far too often a proxy for keep "Aggressive, self-interested fat old white guys in power". If there ever was an idea out of step it is the dogma of an "Oil Idealism" way of framing everything. If you create a global map of everywhere oil can be extracted in huge quantities, the military weak, and therefore where we stick our nose you will see our foreign policy and military directed. Let me ask "What is more dangerous: 1. ) questioning our purchase priorities and the affect they have on other related things (that ol' "grim visaged ideology") or 2.) Believing what is best for the Ideals of a handful of executives is the best for us.
What we have for choices in this country is as much about what we do as what we don't do.
Wishing you and yours a very happy new year and spring showers of happiness throughout life everlasting. And may you not get laid off before that second SUV is paid for because you may need it to take all those speakers, wires, stands, processors, and a host of black boxes home when they come up with Dolby 9.2.