Self-consumerism

The generation that fought in WWII was pre-consumerist; their kids (baby boomers) were the first consumers, for example they decorate their homes with little trinkets and symbols of their values (the whole Martha Stewart thing, religious crosses on the walls, that sort of thing); today young people don't do that anymore, they are more fully self-consumers now, they literally consume their values directly rather than populate their spaces with them.

This is how I see this whole "postmodern" phenomenon of young people today, their nihilistic cynicism, technological fetishism, and sexual liberation-perversion all of which is common to young people today, is all a process of the collapse into itself of the self-consuming impulse that subtly governed American life since Bernays. The modern consumerist society has since WWII been a society of self-consumption, but indirectly so, thus preserving something of natural attachment to the forms of the past (those before WWII were not "consumers" at all, even in the gilded age and the roaring 20s, for example, these were still a pure overflow-excess of culture and wealth in the old sense); now, the consumption of our values becomes more direct (think technological fetishism, pornography, nihilistic cynical capitalism, etc.).

What will happen as this model continues to collapse into itself? It is possible that the logic will break open those truths and values which have thus-far been shepherded into existence only unconsciously and indirectly as consumable objects, namely a kind of return to authenticity is possible. Basically the way I see it is, we will continue to get sick on self-consumption but this sickness will force us to expel self-consumptive logic and will leave behind the values and truths which we have objectified and been consuming. Another possibility is that the values and truths themselves will be expelled and replaced with something else, so that the logic of self-consuming can continue; but I see this as a remote possibility, because it would effectively mean that human beings would no longer be human beings... this is basically the transhumanist model that we can expel our truths and values and keep the technical method-logic of "postmodern" consumerist self-consumption without the old objects.. what would the new objects be? But more importantly, what would it mean to consume something that has no nutritional content at all? This is why I am skeptical that humanity will be absorbed into the Singularity. Rather I think that the Singularity will be absorbed into us... we will make it human.

Namely and to be clear: the very extent to which postmodern self-consumption logic of consumer hyper-capitalist society is able to function psychologically and sociologically at all, is also the extent to which this logic must continue to propel real values and truths forward in time and deeper into the human heart. We can only desire to consume what has some nutritive value for us, psychologically and philosophically speaking, and this is why these weapons of consumption today are so effective, because they make use of truths and try to turn those truths against us. But in the end, the self will simply reappropriate its own truths back to itself and on its own terms. Either that or the weapons will simply stop working.

Yep, consumerism and "throw-away" mentality is what America has become.

When I was young we fixed things. The manufacturers produced replacement and repair parts for most products. It is almost impossible to get repair parts for anything any more. Throw it away and buy a new one.

We don't even try to repair broken friendships, we just throw them away and hopefully find new ones.

I don't see this as a good trend but it seems to be reality.

Thankfully the friendship called Philosophy enforces loyalty. This is my task, to bind philosophers to the possibility and necessity of their conquest - as philosophers, fully independent spirits -- a command that only invites to the highest self-creation.

I am leader of the Philosophers Clan precisely because I do not feel pain in placing philosophers different than me above me from time to time - when their current work serves as fire and fuel.

All of us have different humans to teach - yet we are only understood by each other.

Our Clans politic aim is Mastership of the Earth. It is the only worldly Aim fit for a philosopher of the shifting Aeon. Were moving into the Aeon of science, and I have disclosed its leading principle.

Absurd, but it wouldnt be the first truth to be that. In fact all truths come as absurdities. Naturally - as they came from a field that was viewed without expectations of truth emerging from it.

A newly perceived truth is a newly discerned or forged coherence, identfying and disclosing a new arena of Being to Dasein.

Heidegger speaks of the Epoch of Truth in which facts are being disclosed (in)to Being.

Truth is a wonderful thing. It's not always pretty but not always ugly and depressing either.

A philosopher should never be a politician. The philosopher's students should be the politicians. The philosopher must remain with the truth else his/her philosophy is corrupted.

"The philosopher's students should be the politicians."

This is wisdom.


However, with value ontology a new risk-taking is born; the philosopher will go down once more, but this time he will stand is ground.


It is impossible to explicate VO without having a worldly effect on the values at play. Therefore, to carry (-out) VO, I have had to strengthen my constitution tremendously. And I am still far from the state that can reflect the Value I have set, which is the 'state of philosophy' that must be created to give the world a center, rather than an overarching overbearing over-erring god-government.

As Woman As Such, and Beauty As Truth, is muse to Philosophy, so Philosophy itself, as the throbbing heart of culture is the Muse of Civilization -
and there are no philosophies, only philosophers.

Fixed Cross wrote:

... so Philosophy itself, as the throbbing heart of culture is the Muse of Civilization

I like that.

Capable wrote:

The generation that fought in WWII was pre-consumerist; their kids (baby boomers) were the first consumers, for example they decorate their homes with little trinkets and symbols of their values (the whole Martha Stewart thing, religious crosses on the walls, that sort of thing); today young people don't do that anymore, they are more fully self-consumers now, they literally consume their values directly rather than populate their spaces with them.

This is how I see this whole "postmodern" phenomenon of young people today, their nihilistic cynicism, technological fetishism, and sexual liberation-perversion all of which is common to young people today, is all a process of the collapse into itself of the self-consuming impulse that subtly governed American life since Bernays. The modern consumerist society has since WWII been a society of self-consumption, but indirectly so, thus preserving something of natural attachment to the forms of the past (those before WWII were not "consumers" at all, even in the gilded age and the roaring 20s, for example, these were still a pure overflow-excess of culture and wealth in the old sense); now, the consumption of our values becomes more direct (think technological fetishism, pornography, nihilistic cynical capitalism, etc.).

What will happen as this model continues to collapse into itself? It is possible that the logic will break open those truths and values which have thus-far been shepherded into existence only unconsciously and indirectly as consumable objects, namely a kind of return to authenticity is possible. Basically the way I see it is, we will continue to get sick on self-consumption but this sickness will force us to expel self-consumptive logic and will leave behind the values and truths which we have objectified and been consuming. Another possibility is that the values and truths themselves will be expelled and replaced with something else, so that the logic of self-consuming can continue; but I see this as a remote possibility, because it would effectively mean that human beings would no longer be human beings... this is basically the transhumanist model that we can expel our truths and values and keep the technical method-logic of "postmodern" consumerist self-consumption without the old objects.. what would the new objects be? But more importantly, what would it mean to consume something that has no nutritional content at all? This is why I am skeptical that humanity will be absorbed into the Singularity. Rather I think that the Singularity will be absorbed into us... we will make it human.

Bump.

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