Monday, July 20, 1998
Commercialism reduces society to one-dimension
PHILOSOPHY: People lose ability to think critically as advancing
technology commands attention
Reading the written thoughts of dead philosopher-types often
poses a serious threat to one’s mental well-being. Philosophers
seem to enjoy torturing those who attempt to comprehend the
concepts their sadistic minds devise. Their most lethal tools
include wordiness and excessive abstraction. It often seems that
the conception of a philosophical idea burns out so many brain
cells in a person that when writing the thought down, sentences
somehow end up in a tangle of words.
Do these philosophical abstractions have a place in the tangible
world? I think so, therefore I am. What one sees and hears and
understands in this God-forsaken world often depends on what
perspective one uses. For example, there are people out there who
see the world with an over-active libido. Therefore, things that
seem perfectly mundane to you or me become weird phallic images to
those with this world view.
So what sorts of ideas oozed out of my head as I looked up at a
"Got Milk?" poster a few weeks ago? I thought of a dead philosopher
fellow named Herbert Marcuse and his concept of the one-dimensional
man. (A kind, socialist, political science professor introduced me
to Marcuse several years ago. The most shocking thing about this is
that I actually retained some information.)
"Got Milk?" the sign asked.
Why, no, I don’t. What do you expect from a family of
lactose-intolerant individuals? (My apologies to all the lactose in
the world. Lactose is also known as milk sugar and is a perfectly
acceptable treat – if you can digest it.) This ad in and of itself
has no direct connection to Marcuse, but it gave birth to a
multitude of commercials that illustrate Marcuse’s fears that
through advances in technology our society and the people within it
will become one-dimensional.
Marcuse warns us that technology in the form of the media
dictates what clothes we should wear, what food we should eat and
what things we should do. Technology serves as an instrument that
spreads values, norms and beliefs through commercials, movies and
television shows.
This trend of technology gradually decreases the importance of
critical thinking and instead replaces it with quick and easy forms
of half-baked ideas. In a so-called one-dimensional society, the
individual is constantly subjected to messages that say, "Hey, you
should be doing this." It doesn’t matter what you really want to
do. The media convinces you to believe that what they want you to
do is what you want to do.
So the following may be from harmless commercials that we see in
day-to-day life, but these ideas do take a hold in one’s mind. They
offer digestible concepts where all you do is accept the
message.
"I can." "Think different." (Unfortunately, that makes me a
grammatically incorrect thinker.) Should I "hug it? Drive it?"
Because it’s all about having "less flower more power." To hell
with it all, everyone knows that they should "just do it" even
though "Coke is it." (So, just do Coke, but only the carbonated
kind.)
Advertisements flicker across television screens across America,
invading one’s thoughts and subconscious. Sometimes these ads even
grace billboards, newspapers and magazines in hopes of brainwashing
people into foolishly purchasing items such as a $200 pair of
Air-(insert name of overpaid sports star) shoes.
With hopes of tapping into all available sources of revenue, the
priests of the church of money, whom I will call capitalists, often
pander to the lowest common denominator. This explains the
popularity of boxing matches thinly disguised as talk shows and
sporting events where most of the participants wear spandex and
have names like "Ravishing Rick the Super Duck Boy."
According to Marcuse, when society combines elements of art,
politics, religion and philosophy together in the mass media, they
become reduced to their simplest form. By simplifying these
concepts, advertisers often compromise meaning.
Commercials are just an extreme example of the possibility of a
one-dimensional society. With the increased dependency on computers
and other methods of communication, it is possible to see the
one-dimensional society forming in the programs we watch, the ads
we see, the newspapers and books we read, and the music we listen
to. Just watch and let them think for you and entertain you.
We live in a society where scientists will name various rocks on
Mars after old cartoon characters. (Pretty soon we will discover a
new planet and name it "Mickey Mouse.") The "Got Milk?"
advertisements spawned quite a few imitators which include the "Eat
Meat" campaign by a fast-food restaurant chain. There’s no escaping
this one-dimensional trend; everyone is regurgitating everyone
else. Technology continues to advance as we seem more interested in
pop culture and money than in really examining and questioning the
world around us.
So such messages such as "think different" or "I can" are
disseminated around the world in seconds. It’s also equally
disturbing to see what extent advertising executives will go to
just to sell a product. Using a political and spiritual leader such
as Ghandi to advertise a grossly overpriced product sends chills
down my spine. All Ghandi’s work and hardship comes down to two
words and an image. (In a decade, will it come down to kids only
knowing Ghandi as the "think-different-dude"?)
In print media, it is interesting to see examples of
one-dimensional thinking. For example, in the July 12 edition of
the San Francisco Examiner, Ed King IV wrote a letter to the editor
which read: "President Clinton deserves the Nobel Prize for the
promotion of peace in his trip to China. President Nixon must be
smiling from his grave and saying, ‘Well done, son. Well
done.’"
I find it odd that Nixon would be smiling at Clinton from his
grave. (Forget that Clinton ignored the issues of Tibet and Taiwan
with the Chinese government, since he sure did a lot to promote
peace over the last six months with China, as well as smiling at
the cameras.) Throughout King’s letter, he did not mention what
Clinton did to deserve such an honor. He lacked evidence to support
his claim and just left his opinion as is. (Does this look familiar
to you? Who can argue with Nike’s slogan, "I can"?)
Art and music are quite the interesting double-edged swords in
this one-dimensional trend. Some artists attempt to retain the
meaning and beauty of their art while trying to sell it for as much
money as possible. Marcuse once said, "The music of the soul is
also the music of salesmanship."
Do you see a problem here? What becomes of a society that sells
its soul for money? Record companies seek to increase profit
margins by offering what the people want. But what the consumer
wants is secondary to the money that record executives want in the
bank accounts. The goal of increasing profit often sacrifices the
integrity of the music.
One needs to only go as far as the nearest adult contemporary
station to listen to Jewel whine away about the hardships of love
and life. It irked me to hear that she signed a two-book deal for
over $2 million.
This money wasn’t for any old autobiography but for her poetry.
This contract makes Jewel one of the highest paid poets in
history.
Who the hell were Allen Ginsberg, Sylvia Plath, Stephen Crane
and T.S. Eliot? Obviously, people who lacked the talent to convince
a publisher to pay them $2 million.
What a weird way to view the world. I wonder if Marcuse is
turning in his grave right now. What sort of world view do you
subscribe to? Imagine adopting a Freudian perspective of the world.
That would be kind of scary.
But if I really wanted to, I could "just do it."
Sohn is a fifth-year anthropology and political science student
slowly going insane in Los Angeles. She can be reached at
[email protected].