re pervasive. They define modern life as much as they chronicle it; he agrees that Marshall McLuhan's famous declaration, "The medium is the message," is often true. Super media chronicle the culture of the society in which they exist but they also create and define that culture at the same time. He points out, "Without money, super media do not happen" (p. 62), observing that financial gain is most often the motivating force behind large scale uses of super media. He contends that super media thrive best within "the system of capitalism in which [they] operate so successfully and self-servingly. [They] oppose communism because that system would eliminate precisely the institutional arrangements, incentives, and profits" which make the super media operate effectively (p. 177).
Real notes that he uses the word "culture" in his discussion to define the entire way of life within a society. Super media transmit examples of a society's culture to its members, thereby reinforcing shared values,
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