FF (simon)

[sidekick]

heeeeeeeeeey!

i just finished that book (The Rebel Sell) and thought i would shared my...um...thoughts.

okay:

i did agree with a lot of what they had to say on the whole idea of counterculture and how it's sort of counter-productive to its own cause. i can see their point that there is no 'system' and that their rebellious ways are just co-opted into new fashion trends. at least, i can see evidence of this happening all the time.

i also agree that it is individualism that drives the capitalist economy and not conformity. yeah, things are massed produced and a lot of the look alike, but no one likes walking around and seeing someone wearing the same thing as them. everyone is always trying to find something different, something that no one else has, and that is something that keeps the capitalist economy going. if we were all actually brainwashed into conformity then we would buy the exact same clothes and be happy (which doesn't happen).

i don't agree with their views on technology. i think technology really CAN be more harm than good sometimes. i think that they gloss over a lot of things in their arguments about technology and ignore some of the negative outcomes that could happen.

i also don't really agree with some of the things they say about the environment. i can't exactly remember everything that they said, but i don't really think that we should install laws that tell corporations "Okay, you can pollute, but ONLY THIS MUCH" i think we need more radical laws than that, because corporations will just keep pushing the bar higher and higher.

they also give globalization too much glamour. they talk about the WTO being a good thing beacuse smaller countries have their say as well in what happens, but they seem to ignore that these smaller countries are just going to be bullied by larger countries into terminating trade laws, environmental laws, and social programs in order to facilitate free trade more for the larger country.

annnnyway. it was a nice break from the normal counterculture-we-must-rebel-completely view that most books written on this subject have these days. it definitly made me re-evaluate some of my thinking about the subject.

[sidekick]

bump.