After reading the quotes from Bill Holm and Chris Hedges, we have to understand what role mass culture is playing in our society. Hedges took this to the extreme, devoting a chapter to explaining how the subjegation of culture is necessary to precipitate war, but its everyday purpose is much more subversive and sinister than that. It serves to make us complacent.
Without something to fill the loss of real culture and real human interactions, life would be pretty empty. People have fewer connections and the connections we do have have to bear more stress. Often these connections are more facile than we would like. But to rectify that requires two things, both of which are discouraged by mass culture: the creation and sharing of real culture, and the sharing of our hopes, fears, and expectations with those that are close to us.
Real friendships:
• See the beauty in others.
• Foster human growth.
• Are compassionate.
• Have the desire for others to be happy.
• Make others feel safe.
• Are thankful for what others provide.
These are what create real connections and prevent us from feeling alone. Mass culture often has more insidious goals:
• Develop complacency and lack of initiative in the consumer
• Foster a low image of society and human nature
• Foster a low image of oneself
• Celebrate itself
• Guilt the consumer into feeling fortunate for his/her conditions
Obviously not all mass culture pursues these aims but on the whole it does, and it is as a whole that counts.
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