Neoliberalism and the commodification of opinions
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Neoliberalism and the commodification of opinions
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Re: Neoliberalism and the commodification of opinions
#2I'm not saying much is wrong, just that it's neither new or insightful
Re: Neoliberalism and the commodification of opinions
#3* The Frankfurt School on the "culture indutsry"[0], which is the effect of capitalist mode of production on our culture (specifically art and within that, most focus is on the literary arts though it easily applies to music too).
* Guy Debord's Society of the Spectacle[1], describing the world at a deeper level to as Marx put it, or rather, a deeper analysis of our society from a situationist point of view.
* Marx's concepts of commodity fetishism[2] and alienation[3], describing the effects which the capitalist mode of production has on the psychological well being of the working class.
* The extensions from this, again I must refer to the Frankfurt School, I'm in the middle of a book called Escape from Freedom[4] by Erich Fromm. He wrote a foreword to the second edition 25 years after its first publication, in which he claims that the conditions he describes of the freedom of man in capitalist society have become even more important to analyse for our wellbeing overall. It is a psycho-sociological work, and I haven't read it in full, I'm slowly making my way through it, however from what I've read I would recommend it for its interesting point of view.
* For a critique of the notions of tolerance in society and pluralistic democracy (which is supportive of "true" democracy, of power of the people as individuals rather than religious, ethnic or social interest groups), I recommend in particular the first and third essays (the third by Marcuse, the first by Richard Wolff) from A Critique of Pure Tolerance[5]
[0] https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/adorno/1944/cultu...
[1] https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/debord/society.ht...
[2] I must first note that "commodity fetishism" is absolutely not about how people are materialistic and value material wealth over spiritual or moral action. It is about how through the market, the interactions between people themselves are hidden and proxied such that the commodity itself is fetishised, to use that term in the sense of meaning "of unnatural excessive focus" https://www.marxists.org/glossary/terms/f/e.htm#fetishism
[3] Alienation is a concept that Marx borrowed from 18th century philosopher G.W.F Hegel, it's one which is generally deeper than how Marx uses it, and there are others who interpret it differently to Marx. Here is the Marxian view, though there are others you can find. https://www.marxists.org/glossary/terms/a/l.htm#alienation
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_from_Freedom and there are links to download mobile-friendly versions of the work here: https://libcom.org/library/escape-freedom
[5] PDF version here: https://monoskop.org/images/5/55/Wolff_Moore_Marcuse_A_Criti...
Re: Neoliberalism and the commodification of opinions
#4If you're looking for a deeper analysis than this article offers, I have some recommendations for the interested reader in considering our modern way of life within capitalism and its relation to our wellbeing and our concepts of 'freedom', mainly from a Left perspective though not necessarily so. I hope these are useful: * The Frankfurt School on the "culture indutsry"[0], which is the effect of capitalist mode of p…
Re: Neoliberalism and the commodification of opinions
#5This reads like an undergrad has just binged on Adam Curtis and thinks they've reached some meaningful conclusions. I'm not saying much is wrong, just that it's neither new or insightful
And you're probably being downvoted because your criticism is neither specific nor substantiated, and fairly snide besides.
Re: Neoliberalism and the commodification of opinions
#6This reads like an undergrad has just binged on Adam Curtis and thinks they've reached some meaningful conclusions. I'm not saying much is wrong, just that it's neither new or insightful
I'd be curious to know which conclusions you think the author has reached. And you're probably being downvoted because your criticism is neither specific nor substantiated, and fairly snide besides.
But I liked the article overall and think it's a good starting point for discussion.
Re: Neoliberalism and the commodification of opinions
#7If you're looking for a deeper analysis than this article offers, I have some recommendations for the interested reader in considering our modern way of life within capitalism and its relation to our wellbeing and our concepts of 'freedom', mainly from a Left perspective though not necessarily so. I hope these are useful: * The Frankfurt School on the "culture indutsry"[0], which is the effect of capitalist mode of p…
Re: Neoliberalism and the commodification of opinions
#8If you're looking for a deeper analysis than this article offers, I have some recommendations for the interested reader in considering our modern way of life within capitalism and its relation to our wellbeing and our concepts of 'freedom', mainly from a Left perspective though not necessarily so. I hope these are useful: * The Frankfurt School on the "culture indutsry"[0], which is the effect of capitalist mode of p…
Is it possible that neoliberal policy is one means by which the modern day Marxist and their watered down derivates seek to emanticize the eschaton? What's the end game?
I do not consider neoliberalism to be a modern Marxist invention, though I can't claim to know about its history, and of course hitsory is extremely important to reveal a movement's origin and aims. My reasoning is from the idea that neoliberalism supports private property and what Marxists see as a class society. It does not aim for the abolition of these classes, but rather its stated goal is to acheive development within the capitalist system.
In this way, neoliberalism is identical to social democracy in its overall aim - it works within a class society to try and bring better conditions, though people frequently criticise neoliberalism as being uncaring of the poor, the Marxist would say a similar thing about social democracy.
For a read by a thinker inspired by Marx, I've heard good things about David Harvey's A Brief History of Neoliberalism. I have not read it, so I don't know if I should recommend it, but since you mentioned modern Marxists, and he is one, it may be of some use to you.
[0] https://newleftreview.org/II/49/alain-badiou-the-communist-h...
Re: Neoliberalism and the commodification of opinions
#9If you're looking for a deeper analysis than this article offers, I have some recommendations for the interested reader in considering our modern way of life within capitalism and its relation to our wellbeing and our concepts of 'freedom', mainly from a Left perspective though not necessarily so. I hope these are useful: * The Frankfurt School on the "culture indutsry"[0], which is the effect of capitalist mode of p…
Is it possible that neoliberal policy is one means by which the modern day Marxist and their watered down derivates seek to emanticize the eschaton? What's the end game?
Re: Neoliberalism and the commodification of opinions
#10This reads like an undergrad has just binged on Adam Curtis and thinks they've reached some meaningful conclusions. I'm not saying much is wrong, just that it's neither new or insightful