I see your point I think though. Media, facts, debates, they all don't do much good when you're removed from your fellow man in a post-modern world that confuses the important things in life?
I personally think we'll all be much better off after the oil crash, once the initial adjustment is made.
As far as rational discourse -- I think you would have a hard time finding a point in history where it actually was a collective value. During the renaissance, enlightenment, any other time period, I believe rational discourse has always been considered a luxury of the affluent. The working class "red-staters" of history (to make a generalization) have usually focused on the simpler things in life. Of course they also had rational discourse about things they were experienced in, but once you start letting a far-away group of strangers make decisions that affect your life, your discourse in that arena is going to become a lot less rational, and based on your limited experiences in your limited world.