Beating a Dead "Cogitative" Horse?

I'm not one for regurgitating questions in an evolving sort-of way...okay, maybe I am.  The discussions on a most recent blog posting, took on a very thought-provoking notion of our society's loss of culture however, and I just can't help myself.

I won't reiterate that particular jargon here (please read it), but several well-thought-out theories and comments on our [national] cultural identity over the past decade led me to re-clarify my own interpretation of cultural icons or images.

The argument was three-fold:
1.  There was a noticeable decline of "new" cultural icons created in the last decade when compared to previous decades.

2.  The last decade showed a more varied, less "monolithic culture" than perceived in previous decades.

3.  Our current era, there is less variety in "the powers that be" that end up creating or distributing ideas, images and the like through media.

I say all of these assessments are true, at least to some extent.

What I think we must first distinguish between is culture and image.  Culture is as culture does and what ever is happening or not happening, and however we are reacting or not reacting; that determines what our culture is currently.

Image however, that is the crux of this discussion.

I definitely agree that in this past decade, there is most definitely a perceived loss of "mainstream" images that reflect our current culture (And no...your Obama family poster you bought on the sidewalk of 34th and 8th doesn't count.) And because media is so varied (blogs, Google, Twitter, movies, cable, etc.) that variety of images and icons seem too numerous to catalogue properly.

What is at such juxtaposition with this notion, however, is that the media makers are becoming monolithic.  (I mean, look at ClearChannel or Fox, or Wal Mart...)  Could these image and icon creators may be creating an era of perceived diversity?  Or have these monolithic media giants helped to spur on a counter-culture of image and icon makers?

This circular discussion is made up of many points, for sure.  One thing I think most of us could agree on perhaps is that this past decade's culture might be harder to label or summarize than previous decades.

Of course perception is poised in progress, so I assume that in 2035, our view of 2000-2009 might shake out even further.