Thanks for all the responses to that last email. What a lot of you seem to be saying is that while we can't ignore threats of fascism, we shouldn't necessarily be bracing for impact, either. 

Most importantly, I should have mentioned the term "The Surround" was actually coined by Fred Turner for his book The Democratic Surround, which chronicles Meade and Bateson's involvement in the development of multimedia and American Liberalism. There's also a great interview with him by Howard Rheingold. I should have mentioned that in my original email, as Turner really is the main scholar and best source of information about this effort. He tends to be a little more forgiving of the pair than I might be, seeing less of an underlying drive for social control than I do. 

Of course, what they were responding to - real nazi fascism and Stalinist communism - were entirely more overt in their repression of human autonomy. But if anything, that just set the stage for an American response. It's just that multimedia is more environmental than didactic. The landscape communicates.  

My work has focused on how agendas get embedded in landscapes. The growth mandate of central currency got embedded into the business landscape to the extent that it's accepted as a condition of nature - even though it was really just an artifact of colonialism. Individualism and personal choice were embedded in American culture by those who thought consumerism could drive a nation's wealth. 

To recognize this, sometimes it's necessary to review the history, recognize how this happened, and de-naturalize the stuff we take for granted. That's what I'm trying to do with my books, documentaries, and comics as well: reveal the Oz-like efforts behind the curtain. 

Aleister & Adolf is starting to get recognized by its intended audience as just such a story. Here's one great analysis, here's another relating it to our moment, and a probing interview. And here's two hours with me and the artist Mike Oeming, on Fade to Black. 

Anyway, sorry Fred. I will try to be as diligent about crediting sources of good ideas as I am about blaming those who came up with bad ones.