"Culture is not your friend..." - Terence McKenna

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[–]HopeThatHalps 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (14 children)

tl,dr; "false happiness". It's not an accident that humans are cultural, we're social creatures. Our evolution to this point is built on being cogs in a machine. We have leaders, followers, planners, implementers, thinkers, doers, etc. This argument is telling people to go against their own nature, and nobody has a right to tell anybody else whether their happiness is true or false.

[–]magnora7[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (13 children)

I think you're missing the humongous fact, and his main point, that culture isn't organic anymore. It's organized top-down by people looking it exploit the masses. And is thus ultimately unhelpful and is manipulative.

[–]HopeThatHalps 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (12 children)

Organized by who? Who is at the top? How might it have ever been helpful to begin with? What aspects of it are manipulative - are you saying that culture is inherently deceptive?

[–]magnora7[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (11 children)

By the media, it's 95% owned by only 6 companies.

It might've been helpful when it was genuine information transmission.

It's manipulative because it coerces you to buy things, and act certain ways, that benefit the owners of this country.

Have you really never thought about this stuff? No offense, but these come across as very naive questions

[–]HopeThatHalps 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (10 children)

The media makes money fropm advertising, getting eyes and ears. The way to do that is to feed people the trash they want. The trash they want. You have some fantastical ideal that the people are wholesome, and that if not for the big corperations, people would be dutifully getting their news from PBS and C-Span, getting in four healthy meals a day and investing their money wisely. I hate to tell you, the problem starts with us, not with them.

[–]magnora7[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (9 children)

Dude you're asleep. You refuse to see the manipulation right in front of us.

We have a problem too. But what they are doing amplifies it to another level.

The way you talk, it's as if you think propaganda can't exist

[–]HopeThatHalps 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (8 children)

Maybe you're referring to advertising specifically. Culture is much more broadly defined than just advertising. Advertizing has been increasingly regulated due to the fact that it can be harmful, such as targeting ads at children, advertising tobacco products, truth in advertizing laws, to name a few.

[–]magnora7[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (7 children)

Advertising is the worst part of it. But many shows and movies are basically long advertisements in disguise.

[–]HopeThatHalps 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

If that were wholly true, movies would be free. Whether a movie gets the green light depends on whether or not it will sell tickets.

I think you're trying to hold a world view that holds the common folk blameless, and lays blame on the elites, but when it comes to human nature, we're all to blame. We're all responsible for what we watch.

[–]magnora7[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

If that were wholly true, movies would be free.

Why would they want to make less money?

I don't think common folk are blameless. I just think people at the top are more to blame. They create the corporate culture we all consume, which guides our values.

[–]Snow 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Advertising is the worst part of it. But many shows and movies are basically long advertisements in disguise.

It's free, google "torrents".