"If that is the case it marks a radical change from what folk music meant to the common people to what passes for common music now."

Well yes, but what does pass for "common music now"? I was never very impressed by the "Yellow Submarine is today's folk music" argument (no-one ever knew any lyrics beyond the chorus, for a start), but today we don't even have 'Top of the Pops' to establish familiar songs across the breadth of the population. My two sons (teens and early 20s) listen to utterly different music from one another. The only popular songs which everyone knows, are those in the ghastly and bizarre Christmas medley we're assaulted with for three months of the year. And I've yet to be convinced that singing of any kind is any longer a widespread participatory activity outside of the folk scene, the football stadia, some churches and various specialised gatherings.

"a fortress mentality which restricts folk to historical enactment"

That depends what you consider "historical enactment" - does an unaccompanied rendition of an old song automatically qualify for that slur, for instance?. To my ears the folk revival has always been about finding new ways to look at old material, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. And sometimes the old way of doing it can actually be the freshest and most exciting.

"My feeling is the music of the tradition is now safeguarded by the very mechanisms which foreclosed it - systematic and standardised reproduction." A good point, but that doesn't make me less enthusiastic about performing it - it's an enthusiasm, not a crusade or a preservation order.