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I believe there is no counter culture in the west anymore. It is mainstream to be subversive, and so there is little to no subversiveness left
by shortrounddev 3y ago
I believe there is no counter culture in the west anymore. It is mainstream to be subversive, and so there is little to no subversiveness left
- LudwigNagasena 3y agoThere are so many ways to be subversive. But it’s becoming more and more socially costly to be subversive.
- shortrounddev 3y agoCan you give an example?
- LudwigNagasena 3y agoWell, planting a bomb or misgendering someone surely will get you in trouble in many places.
- thicknavyrain 3y agoThis was already being talked about in the mid-naughties in "The Rebel Sell: How The Counter Culture Became Consumer Culture" by Heath and Potter. Had a big influence on me as a teenager.
- russnes 3y agocounter culture these days is returning to conservative traditions and monotheistic and other long lasting religions
- anthk 3y agoDon Quixote did that first at the Enlightenment era, but as a joke from the author, were people was less idealistic/religious like Sancho Panza.
- andrepd 3y agoUnfortunately, as things like irreligion, tolerance for sexual minorities, or left-wing economics became more mainstream, it is now, among the youth, incredible as it may sound, counter-culture to be reactionary. A reverse 1960s of sorts.
- krapp 3y agoThat happened when the yuppies in the 1980s rebelled against their hippie parents and embraced Reaganomics. They made a whole sitcom about it (Family Ties.) Of course nowadays Alex P. Keaton would be an incel flogging NFTs and MAGA conspiracy theories and collecting Nazi memorabilia. History doesn't repeat but it does spiral.
- hnbad 3y agoLook into the origin of The Sex Pistols some time: the "anti-consumerist" so-called punk band was literally created by a fashion label to sell clothes. The process is called recuperation: under modern capitalism, the capitalist will not just sell you the rope to hang him with, he will also sell you the prop guillotine, the Che Guevara shirt and the music and movies that let you safely live out your fantasy from the comfort of your own home. It's impossible to create truly anti-capitalist media because anti-capitalist media has become just another product to consume. The machine will gleefully support you in raging against it as long as you do it in a way that contributes to it. In the end, this is what killed hipster culture: if you want indie bands, the market will happily provide you with thousands of them, all "unique" but interchangeable. If you want "artisinal" products, the market will happily produce them at scale. By buying a product you directly contribute to its popularity and mass market appeal.
- carlosjobim 3y agoThere's plenty of counter culture, it's just not being promoted by radio and TV anymore. Tell people proudly that you have stopped paying taxes and that they should too, and see how they react. Tell people you didn't take the vaccine or that you home school your children.
- anthk 3y agoThat's not counter culture, that's idiocy. That's like setting up your balls on fire. It will hurt.
- carlosjobim 3y agoCouldn't have asked for a better response to confirm what I said.
- _bkyr 3y agoI think counter-culture would maybe be the right-wing nationalist groups that have popped up everywhere. That's being subversive to the mainstream.