Australians = BUNCH OF LOSERS
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dedicated to my wee wee fans
Consumed
How markets corrupt children, infantilise adults and swallow citizens whole
Benjamin R. Barber, W.W. Norton & Company, London
The destructive nature of the capitalist system, based upon production for profit and not social need, is spelt out, sometimes extremely brutally, and very wittily.
Peter Taaffe, Socialist Party General Secretary
What the author describes as the "consumerist society" is indicted for progressively demolishing "the life cycle's traditional stages, shortening childhood and following it with a few murky passages. Adolescence... begins before puberty and, for some, lasts forever... age denial is everywhere."
The "infantilist ethos" has replaced the so-called "Protestant work ethic" which, according to some philosophers of the system such as Max Weber, marked out capitalism, particularly Anglo-American capitalism. Spelt out are the "Peter Pan tendencies" of the US in particular.
Barber argues that "consumer capitalism... [is seeking] to encourage adult regression, hoping to rekindle in grown-ups the tastes and habits of children so that they can sell globally the relatively useless cornucopia of games, gadgets and myriad consumer goods for which there is no discernible 'need market' other than the one created by capitalism's own frantic imperative to sell." Child development scholars are quoted on "the hostile takeover of childhood" by corporations vying "more and more aggressively for young consumers".
Even The Economist admitted a few years ago: "Once, when you grew up you put away childish things. Today, the 35-year-old Wall Street analyst who zips to work on his push-scooter, listening to Moby on his headphones and carrying annual reports in his backpack, has far more in common with a 20-year-old than he would have done a generation ago."
At the same time, four million "not-so-young adults" between 25 and 34 in the United States still live with their parents. The same trend is shown in Europe, in Italy, for instance, and increasingly in Britain. A major factor is that wages are too low to buy or rent separate accommodation, as well as the chronic housing shortage.
The author contrasts previous eras of capitalism, which he describes as "productivist", that allegedly met the "real needs of real people": basic goods, food, housing, tools, etc.
His argument is that capitalism today only progresses through "consumerism" because "essential needs have already been satisfied".
But this is not true of the majority of the world's population, particularly in the neo-colonial world, who live in grinding poverty. Poverty also exists and is growing in the advanced countries.
2 or 3 joints
DAMN!
Consumed
How markets corrupt children, infantilise adults and swallow citizens whole
Benjamin R. Barber, W.W. Norton & Company, London
The destructive nature of the capitalist system, based upon production for profit and not social need, is spelt out, sometimes extremely brutally, and very wittily.
Peter Taaffe, Socialist Party General Secretary
What the author describes as the "consumerist society" is indicted for progressively demolishing "the life cycle's traditional stages, shortening childhood and following it with a few murky passages. Adolescence... begins before puberty and, for some, lasts forever... age denial is everywhere."
The "infantilist ethos" has replaced the so-called "Protestant work ethic" which, according to some philosophers of the system such as Max Weber, marked out capitalism, particularly Anglo-American capitalism. Spelt out are the "Peter Pan tendencies" of the US in particular.
Barber argues that "consumer capitalism... [is seeking] to encourage adult regression, hoping to rekindle in grown-ups the tastes and habits of children so that they can sell globally the relatively useless cornucopia of games, gadgets and myriad consumer goods for which there is no discernible 'need market' other than the one created by capitalism's own frantic imperative to sell." Child development scholars are quoted on "the hostile takeover of childhood" by corporations vying "more and more aggressively for young consumers".
Even The Economist admitted a few years ago: "Once, when you grew up you put away childish things. Today, the 35-year-old Wall Street analyst who zips to work on his push-scooter, listening to Moby on his headphones and carrying annual reports in his backpack, has far more in common with a 20-year-old than he would have done a generation ago."
At the same time, four million "not-so-young adults" between 25 and 34 in the United States still live with their parents. The same trend is shown in Europe, in Italy, for instance, and increasingly in Britain. A major factor is that wages are too low to buy or rent separate accommodation, as well as the chronic housing shortage.
The author contrasts previous eras of capitalism, which he describes as "productivist", that allegedly met the "real needs of real people": basic goods, food, housing, tools, etc.
His argument is that capitalism today only progresses through "consumerism" because "essential needs have already been satisfied".
But this is not true of the majority of the world's population, particularly in the neo-colonial world, who live in grinding poverty. Poverty also exists and is growing in the advanced countries.
2 or 3 joints
DAMN!
