Comments on: Crest, Colgate, Autonomy, Alienation, Not Voting, Etc.

By: . . . muttered the ogre » no guru, no method, no logo

. . . muttered the ogre » no guru, no method, no logo — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 03:08:02 +0000

[...] The Fly Bottle: Crest, Colgate, Autonomy, Alienation, Not Voting, Etc. The traditional Marxish theory of consumer culture is that the dark arts of marketing and advertising germinate within us ‘false’ desires. A false desire is one whose satisfaction serves not one’s own ‘interests,’ but the interests of those in the business of servicing (for a pretty penny!) the psychic ‘needs’ that they themselves have planted. So we are supposed to be wary of Nike, Starbucks, etc. lest we surrender our autonomy to the cigar-chomping moneybags. No Logo! [...]

By: Peter James Bond

Peter James Bond — Tue, 20 Jul 2004 13:53:00 +0000

Will isn’t suffering from “false consciousness” as much as a “false sortie.” I believe Derrida came up with the latter term to describe someone who thought they could deconstruct their way out of the overdetermined parameters of perception – which can’t be done. Sorry to quote a French guy, I know that’s anathema to many.

Libertarians have an orthodoxy too. For example, why not support a party (either D or R) that can make progress on certain issues than support a party that has never, and probably will never, win a major election? Because the Libertarian orthodoxy values independence and ideological purity and states that the two parties are nearly identical. The opinions you stated in your post could be classified as knee-jerk libertarian just as much as a MoveOn member’s could be called knee-jerk liberal. Your preferences are neither “organic” nor from the “angels.” Sorry.

By: Joanna

Joanna — Tue, 20 Jul 2004 09:38:00 +0000

Rob-
That’s what I figured. But in case you are curious, I’ll certainly vouch for the effectiveness of Will’s strategy.

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 20 Jul 2004 00:14:00 +0000

Will,

I believe that Dems are more likely to do things like increasing the EITC and minimum wage, making the tax system more progressive, and creating policies that decrease the number of people without healthcare. I think that both history and the current proposals of the parties support my position (on the whole).

I also firmly believe that Kerry (or Gore) would not have declared war on Iraq had he been President. Certainly, the position that Kerry took on the war as a Senator is open to criticism, but I find it hard to believe that he would have chosen to fight that war if he were setting the agenda instead of just voting yes or no on it.

I don’t think that a Kerry presidency will whiten my teeth or help me sleep, but I think that it will have a significant benefit for the American populace (and many people outside America), especially compared with another Bush term.

By: Rob

Rob — Mon, 19 Jul 2004 18:06:00 +0000

Joanna–also, nothing interests me more in life than sex, working-out, and political philosophy.

By: Rob

Rob — Mon, 19 Jul 2004 18:04:00 +0000

Joanna — it’s quite the latter.

By: Joanna

Joanna — Mon, 19 Jul 2004 13:41:00 +0000

Rob seems to have a consistent curiousity about what contributes to Will’s sex life. Blogging, running…
Are you trying to crack his particular formula or do you have a general tendency to (jokingly?) attribute all motivations to those of the sexual nature?

By: Joanna

Joanna — Mon, 19 Jul 2004 13:35:00 +0000

Great post, Will. I especially love the “Deibold taps” paragraph.
I’m not particularly interested in the false consciousness argument, but I was laugh-out-loud glad that Gene made the astute sticker connection between dentistry and voting.
Here’s my proposal for election day–let’s all get our teeth cleaned, give a pint of blood, and vote for whomever we believe will wreak the least havoc on our lives. Then we’ll have THREE stickers and sense of hygenic, charitable, and civic satisfaction. It doesn’t get any better than that.

By: Alina

Alina — Mon, 19 Jul 2004 12:07:00 +0000

The false consciousness is PRECISELY the problem Will. It is why democracy, or the illusion of choice, is failing to create an engaged political citizenry. Would parliamentary democracy be more effective? Probably not– but at least it would be less cynical and stylistically stupefying. “What Party are you in?” should be “What game are you playing? And what bets are you hedging?”.

By: Will Wilkinson

Will Wilkinson — Mon, 19 Jul 2004 01:35:00 +0000

Dan, I really don’t agree that the party in power makes as much difference as you seem to think. There are differences upon which one might base an authentic choice (ala whitening action vs. cavity protection), but most of it really is just rhetoric, positioning, marketing, etc. Now, I feel particularly strongly about the issues surrounding equal legal rights for gays, and I think party affiliation makes a real difference there. But I just don’t believe that the democrats, say, have any intention or ability to make people better off financially, or improve health care. I know what they say, but it’s pretty naive to just believe it. Anyway, if I made a list of D dream policy and R dream policy, the things I consider bad on one list would more or less cancel everything good on the other. There are things the Rs do that I prefer over the Ds, and vice versa, but taken as a whole, it’s a Hobson’s choice. I think that the fact that people are unable to see how awful the choice really is, and that they truly buy the story fed to them by the party to which they’ve developed some kind of contingent commitment, is the evidence for false consciousness. (Really, it’s just fun to accuse people of false consciousness; I think I really would have enjoyed the intellectual game of Marxism.) About Iraq, I certainly don’t see any material difference in Kerry, who approved of the war, voted for the Patriot Act, and can differentiate himself from Bush only by mouthing bromides about international cooperation. That said, you’ll vote for Kerry, and you’ll sleep perfectly well. So, whatever.