1.) I think the gap refers to the idea that the American public is generally unaware of the lucrative aspect of war. DoD contracts are numerous and the ways in which they are secured would concern the average citizen despite their patriotism or nationalism.
2.) I believe this piece does fill the gap, as long as the reader recognizes the irony. Stein utilizes irony and his cynicism to nail in his point.
3.) I was absent 9/5 but I believe Stein is writing to people who share his view. His irony and cynicism help to portray his possible anger or disgust with the issue and helps galvanize others who share his views.
4.) I believe the danger of this type of essay would be a reader who is not a regular subscriber to Time and thus not a member of the discourse community necessary to understand Steins writing style.
5.) Stein beautifully lays out the ugly truths to wartime profiteering disguised as patriotism.
1.) Speech communities are not at central to our lives then discourse communities?
2.) Clear defined goals, ways of interacting with each other, provides feedback, genres, lexis, threshold.
3.) Closed off to outside ideas. Running out of time, apologies.
Jeffs Blog 2.0 