Saturday, October 11, 2008
Cultural Iconography versus Cultural Meaning
One of the ways that capitalist democracies succeed is to produce cultural meaning by signifying a vision of the good life, a private fantasy that plays on the human desire to belong. Cultural iconography, a product of corporate branding, drives consumer culture and therefore contributes to both the success and failure of capitalist democracies. However, many are suggesting the financial chaos now threatening capitalist democracies around the world is a reaction to a Darwinian system where so many suffer for the benefit of so few.
Everyone would agree that the connection between k-fed and k-os is not musical talent, but rather in the case of k-fed, media hype to compensate for a lack of it. However, by juxtapositioning this onto the corporate capitalist model of "hype-swindle-bail" and multiplying it exponentially, a valid reason behind the current financial crisis around the world may become clearer. While it is true America merely invited the rest of the world to join in the ultimate party, the current worldwide economic chaos proves there are always some who continue downing shots until they're flat on the floor. A recent speech by George Bush proclaiming "democratic capitalism is the best system ever devised" may be true, but while the party's crashing and bank accounts in Switzerland and the Caymans are mushrooming, the era of laissez-faire capitalism is surely over. Incredibly, with the bar nearly empty, a 700 billion dollar bailout of American financial insitutions is replacing a similar bailout of subprime mortgage lenders six months earlier.
Corporate capitalism is increasingly under fire for everything from wrecking the global environment to bankrupting entire countries. Meanwhile, consumers are reassured with new episodes of Arrested Development and The Simpsons. Paradoxically, the more successful corporations are at convincing consumers that worshipping brands will provide cultural meaning, the less aware individuals are of their duplicity. Clearly, it is impossible to blame k-fed for total financial collapse, but consider for example, k-fed CD's piling up in landfills and how this could have been avoided if only consumer societies had chosen cultural meaning over cultural iconography. More importantly, after decades in a deregulated atmosphere resembling less an Industrialized West and more a Wild West, many consumers were convinced there would never be a last call. Corporate capitalists created a party no one wanted to leave, and by using cultural iconography to acquiese the system, they produced ever more branded products for consumers to worship in a Pavlovian frenzy.
While there is nothing inherently wrong with capitalist democracies portraying idealized versions of reality to create desire in consumer societies, the distortion of wealth now wreaking havoc around the world points directly to monstrous greed and infinite excess. Nevertheless, everyone willingly joined the ultimate party despite the risks because humans have an innate desire to belong.
Everyone would agree that the connection between k-fed and k-os is not musical talent, but rather in the case of k-fed, media hype to compensate for a lack of it. However, by juxtapositioning this onto the corporate capitalist model of "hype-swindle-bail" and multiplying it exponentially, a valid reason behind the current financial crisis around the world may become clearer. While it is true America merely invited the rest of the world to join in the ultimate party, the current worldwide economic chaos proves there are always some who continue downing shots until they're flat on the floor. A recent speech by George Bush proclaiming "democratic capitalism is the best system ever devised" may be true, but while the party's crashing and bank accounts in Switzerland and the Caymans are mushrooming, the era of laissez-faire capitalism is surely over. Incredibly, with the bar nearly empty, a 700 billion dollar bailout of American financial insitutions is replacing a similar bailout of subprime mortgage lenders six months earlier.
Corporate capitalism is increasingly under fire for everything from wrecking the global environment to bankrupting entire countries. Meanwhile, consumers are reassured with new episodes of Arrested Development and The Simpsons. Paradoxically, the more successful corporations are at convincing consumers that worshipping brands will provide cultural meaning, the less aware individuals are of their duplicity. Clearly, it is impossible to blame k-fed for total financial collapse, but consider for example, k-fed CD's piling up in landfills and how this could have been avoided if only consumer societies had chosen cultural meaning over cultural iconography. More importantly, after decades in a deregulated atmosphere resembling less an Industrialized West and more a Wild West, many consumers were convinced there would never be a last call. Corporate capitalists created a party no one wanted to leave, and by using cultural iconography to acquiese the system, they produced ever more branded products for consumers to worship in a Pavlovian frenzy.
While there is nothing inherently wrong with capitalist democracies portraying idealized versions of reality to create desire in consumer societies, the distortion of wealth now wreaking havoc around the world points directly to monstrous greed and infinite excess. Nevertheless, everyone willingly joined the ultimate party despite the risks because humans have an innate desire to belong.
Labels: ultimate party
# posted by Daniel Hartman @ 1:19 PM 
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So, do you see the present economic turmoil as part of a potential resolution of the party problem, or just a reaction?
The only upside is that Russia may soon own Iceland, and we all know what happens when mixing Vodka and Ice.
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