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i think itās paired with anti-intellectualism - weāre getting to a place where nearly everyone wants immediate gratification so they need a constant stream of consumption. i think this is particularly true in capitalist countries and in the west. i do think superficial interests in culture by the masses are the historical norm, partly bc historically that media was often the most accessible, but i think, combined, the internet and trends changing so rapidly nowadays has exacerbated the issue. everything is cheapened, thereās little respect for craft or appreciation of Doing.
many people want everything fast fast fast, so itās tiktok instead of movies, AI summaries instead of books, chatgpt instead of research (or simply google), fast fashion to keep up with trends, etc. many of us are privileged enough to be able to access an impossible amount of information through the internet and yet so many people are simply using that resource to mindlessly consume whatever content.
also, with the internet i feel weāve lostĀ subculturesā uniquenessĀ because itās easier to find them - you can quickly learn about the symbolic aspects of basically any subculture and adopt those (ie fashions, slang, media) without having a personal relationship with whatever community it is. which basically means (tongue-in-cheek) weāre in aĀ poser renaissance.
i think as living conditions gets worse for most people, thereās a lower ability to think as clearly and increased desire to escape, so most of the people who can live so mindlessly, do it.
plus throw in the American dream (which i think is just the myth of success that exists in all capitalist societies) and thereās this other group of people who prioritize āhustle cultureā or whatever and that takes up time they couldāve used to really engage with art, film, reading, etc (alienation as the other Marx once saidĀ lol). which is its own unique depreciation of art and scholarship!
in hisĀ essay on ur-fascism, umberto eco notes the opposition to most artistic and intellectual pursuits as an aspect of fascism (which we can observe in the right-wing movements of many countries today), in part that, to fascists āthinking is a form of emasculation. Therefore culture is suspect insofar as it is identified with critical attitudes.ā
4d ago
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Do you think this applies to non american or westernized countries? do you think they enjoy culture more? curious about this line of thinking
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We love looking backwards to try to get in touch with ourselves, our history, traditional ways of doing things. I think this is a noble pursuit but the pace of cycling through eras in the trend cycle for example has grown increasingly rapid to the point that it feels like weāre endlessly regurgitating everything all at once, without context.
Rediscovering the past can look like going back to pre-industrial ways of living which is a beautiful thing to strive toward. In a lot of ways, weāve also abandoned a lot of traditional ways of doing things in favor of methods that are easier, faster, and simpler, not necessarily better.
On the other hand, one of the three essential elements to fascism identified by Jason Stanley is invoking a mythic past to manufacture nostalgia for a more traditional, patriarchal, and racially pure past, which is I think what weāre seeing with a lot of people who romanticize 1950s Americana as some kind of utopian traditional society.
Carl Sagan said:
āIn general, human societies are not innovative. They are hierarchical and ritualistic. Suggestions for change are greeted with suspicion: they imply an unpleasant future variation in ritual and hierarchy: an exchange of one set of rituals for another, or perhaps for a less structured society with fewer rituals. And yet there are times when societies must change.ā
āAs a consequence of the enormous social and technological changes of the last few centuries, the world is not working well. We do not live in traditional and static societies. But our government, in resisting change, act as if we did. Unless we destroy ourselves utterly, the future belongs to those societies that, while not ignoring the reptilian and mammalian parts of our being, enable the characteristically human components of our nature to flourish; to those societies that encourage diversity rather than conformity; to those societies willing to invest resources in a variety of social, political, economic and cultural experiments, and prepared to sacrifice short-term advantage for long-term benefit; to those societies that treat new ideas as delicate, fragile and immensely valuable pathways to the future.ā
So I think we need forward-thinking transformational change, though it may not be as comfortable as nostalgiaā¦
Jan 15, 2025
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you know when you read good theory (or good anything really) and then you canāt help but see further examples of whatever is being explored in the book IRL?
This book is giving that to me.
From Van Gogh immersive experience yoga to Uber eats, speed and immersion dominate so much of how things are delivered to us these days- whether thatās food or art.
The intro is really compelling. How Kornbluh connects the dots between immediacy in the sense of NOW! as well as the more hidden meaning of the word as without mediation. I saw a meme recently that showed future generations watching react videos of react videos of react videos which certainly speaks to this mass cultural wasting of the practice of mediating.
The mission this summer is mediation. come at me raw universe, Iām ready to think about ya and spit out feelings or something.
Apr 29, 2024
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We have a very individualistic, survival-of-the-fittest culture that also distrusts authority. In our short history, we have also been given numerous reasons to distrust authority so that even progressives/leftists/whatever can lean towards self-arming even if logically the idea of taking down the U.S. military with a home arsenal is non-sensical.
Just riffing but I feel like countries with longer histories have more developed senses of "community provides safety" than the U.S. and whatever small amount of that we have is continually degraded by our news media, politicians, and advertising. We are more likely to try to augment our individual power than think about collective safety.
Feb 15, 2024
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being traditionally cool is really quite boring and iterative, and itās actually very cool and sexy to geek out about something you like or share bits of knowledge on a topic youāre passionate about
Aug 17, 2024
HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WORKERāS DAY!!!! i love having a union, i love being a union steward and getting to support my unit. when my union won its contract, i got a pay bump, better benefits, and increased protection as a worker. š„³
unions help address racial and gender pay gaps, issues workplaces impose on families and those having kids, addressing unsafe conditions, plus things like better health insurance, wages and overtime, weingarten rights to representation, and more!!!
if you donāt have a union but are thinking about forming one, check out AFL-CIOās page (linked) or Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee. thereās always more power in a union!! āš„š¹
May 1, 2025
a million times cooler than the lackluster āsleekā tech color palette used today
Feb 22, 2025