I was just listening to Maintenance Phase, which today addressed Jamie Oliver and a form of foodie activism that would note systemic problems, then try to offer individual solutions that often failed because they were short-term stopgaps at best.
But the episode raised an excellent point. What if such TV shows weren't about saviours coming in teach people we're supposed to view as ignorant, but to distribute budget increases and film how local groups expand social outreach programs to match?
We could VERY EASILY have a reality-TV economy that trains viewers to see local communities less as helpless, hopeless rubes, and more as untapped bodies of regional expertise: people who know their distinct communities' needs better than anyone else, and who usually just need more everyday capital to be able to mobilize for effective and lasting change.
What a nicer world we'd have, if so many folks didn't turn on the telly just to gawk at content edited to make everyone else look like fools.
@MLClark
A reality McGuyver is something I'd even watch