[lbo-talk] Happy slaves

Dennis Redmond metalslorg at gmail.com
Fri May 17 13:48:43 PDT 2013


Oh, conformity in any fully industrialized nation is infinitely worse. Here, large numbers of debt-slaves think, act, and vote exactly like Bill Gates, a fact so depressing that I just try not to think about it. The good news is, Bangladesh has been going through a significant upsurge in union and other progressive anti-neoliberal mobilizations.

-- DRR

On Fri, May 17, 2013 at 1:58 PM, Wojtek S <wsoko52 at gmail.com> wrote:


> Case in point
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=b6zVwl6i1UY
>
> Wojtek
>
>
> On Fri, May 17, 2013 at 2:52 PM, Wojtek S <wsoko52 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I am not sure if they make that distinction. It is quite possible that
> > they see only a brave new world of high technology and want to identify
> > with it. You have the same principle operating here as well - people buy
> > brands with which they identify, e.g. apple. I had a conversation with
> > someone who barely makes ends meet but owns an expensive iphone and
> > service. Argument that you can get the same level of service for less
> than
> > half the price if you go with android fall on deaf ears because android
> > products do not prominently display apple logo.
> >
> > Branding is probably the most important aspect of modern life. You have
> > an army, nay, hundreds of armies of grunts and schmucks who were told by
> > advertisers that they are special and world revolves around them. I was
> on
> > a shuttle today and the driver had the radio on, so I had to listen to
> some
> > commercial station for about 30 minutes. Th tone of commercials - both
> the
> > choice of words and intonation - was like mother talking to a child - you
> > are special, our only goal to care about you blah blah. I hear from my
> > wife that a lot of her student believe they are special - they the next
> > star - pop culture, sports, you name it. Now, the reality is that these
> > schmucks cannot graduate from high school, let alone achieve any
> noticeable
> > success anywhere. So how else are they going show that they are not
> > schmucks if not not by brandishing brands and symbolize status.
> >
> > The commercial culture instilled high expectations into large segments of
> > the population but these expectations cannot be met for most - not even
> > close. The only way they can meet them is vicariously - by branding
> > themselves with popular brands. It is pathetic but that is neoliberalism
> > for you, and it trumped communism by this brand fetishism. Don't you
> > remember people in Eastern Europe paying month's wages for a pair of blue
> > jeans with an American brand sticker on it. Domestic jeans would not do
> > the trick, it had to have the American brand sticker, even if the product
> > was made locally to the order of an American firm.
> >
> > You and I may find it pathetic and contemptible, but millions of schmucks
> > around the world fall for it, because it helps them believe that they are
> > not schmucks. Self-delusion is a very powerful motivator indeed.
> >
> >
> > Wojtek
> >
> >
> >
> > On Fri, May 17, 2013 at 2:23 PM, <123hop at comcast.net> wrote:
> >
> >> There's a difference between consumers and workers doing it.
> >>
> >> I mean, mind-forged manacles both ways, but still.
> >>
> >> Joanna
> >>
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> It could be just aping the West
> >>
> >>
> http://www.billhartzer.com/pages/why-do-customers-tattoo-themselves-with-the-brands-they-love/
> >>
> >> Wojtek
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Fri, May 17, 2013 at 2:14 PM, <123hop at comcast.net> wrote:
> >>
> >> > I dunno. I just dunno.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/10062046/Bangalores-IT-workers-start-tech-tattoo-craze.html
> >> >
> >> > Joanna
> >> > ___________________________________
> >> > http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Wojtek
> >>
> >> "An anarchist is a neoliberal without money."
> >> ___________________________________
> >> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
> >> ___________________________________
> >> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Wojtek
> >
> > "An anarchist is a neoliberal without money."
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Wojtek
>
> "An anarchist is a neoliberal without money."
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
>



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list