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I've been binging Adam Curtis documentaries recently, and the unifying thread has been the rise of individualism and its being coopted by commerce. In a discuss

I've been binging Adam Curtis documentaries recently, and the unifying thread has been the rise of individualism and its being coopted by commerce. In a discussion regarding HyperNormalization [1], he argued that we're beginning to realize how shallow this individualism is, and religion will rear its head at some point to fill this void. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIHC4NNScEI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIHC4NNScEI

oldmanrahul 5y ago
Thanks for the link. Really enjoyed this take on individualism
gambiting 5y ago
Hypernomalization is great, one of my favourite documentaries and I can't recommend it enough to people.
sjtindell 5y ago
Century of the Self is my favorite documentary of all time. Great callout.
userbinator 5y ago
and religion will rear its head at some point to fill this void. It already did --- it's called politics.
- psychomugs 5y ago
  This comment strongly suggests that you didn't watch the video and are not familiar with Curtis' work, considering he discusses politics at great length in essentially all of them. From ~7:00 in the video I linked: "The problem for politics of the rise of individualism is that it can't deal with it. Politics requires you to say to people as a political party, come with me, join with us together and we will use that collective power to change the world. But to do that you have to accept that you are part of something, you have to surrender yourself to something. And for the radical movements, that was a disaster. But more than that, it was a disaster for politics generally. Because political parties fell away. So what then politicians they were then faced by is the fact that they didn't have mass support so they couldn't do the main thing that mass democratic politics rose up to do which is to be your representative, your bridgehead into power." Later on in the video: "I do think that one thing that's going to come back onto the table is religion. Because I think the real weakness of the modern systems of managing us as individuals is that it cannot deal with our own mortality... The sense that when they die something will go on and they will be part of something that's going on... In the modern rational, efficient, utilitarian, technocratic world of managing the individual - [the world] cannot give you any consolation." I don't see how politics could answer that.

oldmanrahul 5y ago

Thanks for the link. Really enjoyed this take on individualism

gambiting 5y ago

Hypernomalization is great, one of my favourite documentaries and I can't recommend it enough to people.

sjtindell 5y ago

Century of the Self is my favorite documentary of all time. Great callout.

userbinator 5y ago

and religion will rear its head at some point to fill this void. It already did --- it's called politics.

psychomugs 5y ago
This comment strongly suggests that you didn't watch the video and are not familiar with Curtis' work, considering he discusses politics at great length in essentially all of them. From ~7:00 in the video I linked: "The problem for politics of the rise of individualism is that it can't deal with it. Politics requires you to say to people as a political party, come with me, join with us together and we will use that collective power to change the world. But to do that you have to accept that you are part of something, you have to surrender yourself to something. And for the radical movements, that was a disaster. But more than that, it was a disaster for politics generally. Because political parties fell away. So what then politicians they were then faced by is the fact that they didn't have mass support so they couldn't do the main thing that mass democratic politics rose up to do which is to be your representative, your bridgehead into power." Later on in the video: "I do think that one thing that's going to come back onto the table is religion. Because I think the real weakness of the modern systems of managing us as individuals is that it cannot deal with our own mortality... The sense that when they die something will go on and they will be part of something that's going on... In the modern rational, efficient, utilitarian, technocratic world of managing the individual - [the world] cannot give you any consolation." I don't see how politics could answer that.