3 ms·

What is the gist of this article?

bobwaycott 11y ago
If you're referring to The Society of the Spectacle, it's a book of 221 roughly paragraph-length theses. It really ought to be read/experienced first-hand. However, in briefest and roughest form: Relationships among commodities has replaced relationships among people, and authentic social life has been replaced by its representation—a spectacle. Where Tyler Durden reminds you that you are not your car, your job, the contents of your wallet, or your fucking khakis, the Spectacle reminds you that is, in fact, exactly who you are, where you find and express your authentic self—and provides a mass of imagery to help you find your true self in having instead of being. Social life has declined from being into having, then further into merely appearing. Quality of life is impoverished, as people participating in the spectacle degrade knowledge, and impede and deteriorate critical thought. It is an indictment of consumer culture, and the destructive nature of commodity fetishism, especially as it is celebrated and depicted in the imagery that surrounds us—assuring us that nothing is wrong, that we are at our most free when we have some thing (or appear to have it).
- lcall 11y ago
  Thanks for that summary. I have been thinking about this. I wonder if part of the problem is that mass culture has largely displaced other means of cultural transmission (extended family, traditions, churches) with the vacuous culture we see. Short of a real eternal perspective and its aspirations (I'm a Mormon fwiw, aka member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), I wonder if in some scenarios this could be addressed by replacing the vacuous money-driven consumer culture with a better kind of humanism, based on 1) very high expectation of honesty, 2) the Golden Rule, and 3) a plan for balanced personal growth/learning/service/mentoring as a substitute for extreme narrow pursuits (fitness or pleasure above all, for instance), as I briefly discuss at http://www.onemodel.org http://www.onemodel.org (under "About OM", then "Future...", then "Maturity ...".
  - bobwaycott 11y ago
    Well, Debord would likely specify that the root problem is not a displacement of cultural transmission, but a replacement of the authentic self. This replacement happens by the means of cultural transmission diverting one's self from being and living toward pursuing having and appearing. Moreover, he indicts religion as an equivalent of mass marketing; their images of cultural desire and individual/social aspiration are the vehicles through which one is alienated from an authentic self.
    - lcall 11y ago
      I agree that religion can do that. Mine doesn't. :) The aspiration I referred to is one of being and living in happiness that continues w/o end, very much over having and appearing. Or at least as individuals we can do our best, and try to help others also but never compel. It works very well.

If you're referring to The Society of the Spectacle, it's a book of 221 roughly paragraph-length theses. It really ought to be read/experienced first-hand. However, in briefest and roughest form: Relationships among commodities has replaced relationships among people, and authentic social life has been replaced by its representation—a spectacle. Where Tyler Durden reminds you that you are not your car, your job, the contents of your wallet, or your fucking khakis, the Spectacle reminds you that is, in fact, exactly who you are, where you find and express your authentic self—and provides a mass of imagery to help you find your true self in having instead of being. Social life has declined from being into having, then further into merely appearing. Quality of life is impoverished, as people participating in the spectacle degrade knowledge, and impede and deteriorate critical thought. It is an indictment of consumer culture, and the destructive nature of commodity fetishism, especially as it is celebrated and depicted in the imagery that surrounds us—assuring us that nothing is wrong, that we are at our most free when we have some thing (or appear to have it).

lcall 11y ago
Thanks for that summary. I have been thinking about this. I wonder if part of the problem is that mass culture has largely displaced other means of cultural transmission (extended family, traditions, churches) with the vacuous culture we see. Short of a real eternal perspective and its aspirations (I'm a Mormon fwiw, aka member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), I wonder if in some scenarios this could be addressed by replacing the vacuous money-driven consumer culture with a better kind of humanism, based on 1) very high expectation of honesty, 2) the Golden Rule, and 3) a plan for balanced personal growth/learning/service/mentoring as a substitute for extreme narrow pursuits (fitness or pleasure above all, for instance), as I briefly discuss at http://www.onemodel.org http://www.onemodel.org (under "About OM", then "Future...", then "Maturity ...".
- bobwaycott 11y ago
  Well, Debord would likely specify that the root problem is not a displacement of cultural transmission, but a replacement of the authentic self. This replacement happens by the means of cultural transmission diverting one's self from being and living toward pursuing having and appearing. Moreover, he indicts religion as an equivalent of mass marketing; their images of cultural desire and individual/social aspiration are the vehicles through which one is alienated from an authentic self.
  - lcall 11y ago
    I agree that religion can do that. Mine doesn't. :) The aspiration I referred to is one of being and living in happiness that continues w/o end, very much over having and appearing. Or at least as individuals we can do our best, and try to help others also but never compel. It works very well.