Here in Europe, left-leaning people were extremely critical of TV and especially Americam cultural hegemony. Disney was seen as a prime example. No doubt these people were heavily influenced by Adorno, Horkheimer and Marcuse. Their critique certainly was spot-on in some ways. But as so often happens, and as you alluded to as well, they got lost in their own presuppositions and biases (few critical theorists have been able to apply their methods to themselves ever since). I find the forcing of Marxian categories in Marcuse particularly tortured, and Adorno's elitist taste in art and music is notorious even among his fans. Good job getting useful insights out of this tradition, something too few in the political right are willing to do.
TEP, this was a brilliant and timely piece and very thought-provoking. The homogenisation of experience lies at the heart of the challenges we face. Disrupting the construction of experience by industry and social engineers is the defining feature of resistance. Unless we find ways of doing this there is no chance of recovering individual autonomy or preserving anything that might be left of organic association.
The totalising forces of disintegration directed at us by the elites rely on destabilising us via infotainment (the sugar coated bait for indoctrination).
Prioritising real experience for vicarious, let alone virtual is fundamental, so too is prioritising the personal over the impersonal and the local over the global. Self-cultivation is the essential tactic: learning craft and trade skills, learning musical instruments, developing our capacities rather than relying on apps or machines.
I think the so-called Great Resignation is part of that. People are leaving the corporate urban for rural and community. Covid reminded a lot of people what is truly important. There is a lot less appreciation for the expert know it alls after covid, though it may seem like not much has changed because corporate culture has remained the empty vapid exploitative thing it has always been. We need models. We need people to articulate what such an organic change might look like, because they are making such change.
It takes a certain kind of smarty-pants to recognize that the only way ahead is for people to figure things out for themselves, in their own particular ways. Thank you for dedicating your considerable intellect towards generating a narrative that helps us all internalize the reality that there are no one-size-fits-all solutions to be had from our betters.
Here in Europe, left-leaning people were extremely critical of TV and especially Americam cultural hegemony. Disney was seen as a prime example. No doubt these people were heavily influenced by Adorno, Horkheimer and Marcuse. Their critique certainly was spot-on in some ways. But as so often happens, and as you alluded to as well, they got lost in their own presuppositions and biases (few critical theorists have been able to apply their methods to themselves ever since). I find the forcing of Marxian categories in Marcuse particularly tortured, and Adorno's elitist taste in art and music is notorious even among his fans. Good job getting useful insights out of this tradition, something too few in the political right are willing to do.
TEP, this was a brilliant and timely piece and very thought-provoking. The homogenisation of experience lies at the heart of the challenges we face. Disrupting the construction of experience by industry and social engineers is the defining feature of resistance. Unless we find ways of doing this there is no chance of recovering individual autonomy or preserving anything that might be left of organic association.
The totalising forces of disintegration directed at us by the elites rely on destabilising us via infotainment (the sugar coated bait for indoctrination).
Prioritising real experience for vicarious, let alone virtual is fundamental, so too is prioritising the personal over the impersonal and the local over the global. Self-cultivation is the essential tactic: learning craft and trade skills, learning musical instruments, developing our capacities rather than relying on apps or machines.
And of course do not forget how homogenized culture facilitates manufacturing public opinion and consent.
when and who hid behind the Disney name or brand? when did the shift occur?
I think the so-called Great Resignation is part of that. People are leaving the corporate urban for rural and community. Covid reminded a lot of people what is truly important. There is a lot less appreciation for the expert know it alls after covid, though it may seem like not much has changed because corporate culture has remained the empty vapid exploitative thing it has always been. We need models. We need people to articulate what such an organic change might look like, because they are making such change.
It takes a certain kind of smarty-pants to recognize that the only way ahead is for people to figure things out for themselves, in their own particular ways. Thank you for dedicating your considerable intellect towards generating a narrative that helps us all internalize the reality that there are no one-size-fits-all solutions to be had from our betters.