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Tag Archives: Arena
Compulsory happiness and the shiny happy people
Arena, the Australian magazine of left cultural and political commentary, has published a couple of pieces by a writer called Mark Furlong. In “Keeping it light” he laments that “Once it was right to be thoughtfully troubled when something was … Continue reading
Posted in a little self-knowledge, economics, fear, framing, narcissism
Tagged Arena, compulsory happiness, flawed consumers, Mark Furlong, Rapture, REM, Shiny Happy People, Zygmunt Bauman
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On the rapture of consumerism
On all those adverts (billboards, tv, where them young folks are having just So Much Fun…) This image references vitality and excitement – life taken, fully and exuberantly. One is high, in the moment,. For the secular, it seems , … Continue reading
Posted in economics, fear, narcissism
Tagged Arena, enforced jollity, Mark Furlong, Rapture, The Fun Police
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Imaginary all the people…
As in Social Imaginary… I find the ideas of political philosopher Charles Taylor good to think with. Writing of liberal multicultural societies, Taylor takes the notion of recognition and suggests it has two possible manifestations – society can recognise cultural … Continue reading
Fordlandia – another Capitalist Utopia goes kersplatt!
This from an article (“Charter Cities” by Gillian Terzis) in Arena 109 is fascinating. In 1927 Henry Ford had designs on society. Determined to shatter the Dutch and British cartels’ duopoly on rubber, Ford decided to import the value system … Continue reading
Posted in bureaucracy, competence, economics, natural world, politics, technoscience
Tagged Arena, Fordlandia, Henry Ford, mastery versus control
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