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Nice article, thanks for posting. Money quote: The more we buy into consumerism as a lifestyle, the less we are able to see clearly and become independent, as
by macavity23 15y ago
Nice article, thanks for posting. Money quote:
The more we buy into consumerism as a lifestyle, the less we are able to see clearly and become independent, as our social stature begins to depend on our consumerist successes.
The slavemasters here are ourselves, or more accurately our subconscious desires (to be popular, sexy and powerful) as interpreted and channeled by the market.
On this subject, I would strongly recommend Adam Curtis' BBC documentary series 'The Century of the Self' which documents the rise of consumerism and the psychoanalytical theories underpinning it. It really opened my eyes to the many parts of our culture that I'd considered eternal that are in fact entirely C20th creations.
I don't think it's actually available legally, but your favourite torrent site can certainly find it. 'The Power of Nightmares' is another of his masterworks. There's a complete Curtis archive torrent out there, which is probably among the most informative single downloads in existence.
- Charlie_B 15y agoThose both sound very interesting. I'll see if there are any BBC archives available, but you're probably right that they no longer exist legally except at absurd price points. There is a lot of literature around how consumerism and debt driven lifestyles detract from our ability to live life in a more meaningful way, but I find solutions lacking. It is my goal to eventually discover better ways of structuring our lives and perhaps society to improve the quality of life in the modern world, without eliminating the positive aspects of a competitive culture and technological progress.
- macavity23 15y agoI just discovered it is available in full on archive.org: http://www.archive.org/details/AdaCurtisCenturyoftheSelf_0 http://www.archive.org/details/AdaCurtisCenturyoftheSelf_0 Kudos to the beeb and archive.org for making it available!
- powertower 15y agohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyPzGUsYyKM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyPzGUsYyKM