Neoliberalism and the commodification of opinions
If you&#x27;re looking for a deeper analysis than this article offers, I have some recommendations for the interested reader in considering our modern way of life within capitalism and its relation to our wellbeing and our concepts of &#x27;freedom&#x27;, mainly from a Left perspective though not necessarily so. I hope these are useful:<p>* The Frankfurt School on the &quot;culture indutsry&quot;[0], which is the effect of capitalist mode of production on our culture (specifically art and within that, most focus is on the literary arts though it easily applies to music too).<p>* Guy Debord&#x27;s <i>Society of the Spectacle</i>[1], describing the world at a deeper level to as Marx put it, or rather, a deeper analysis of our society from a situationist point of view.<p>* Marx&#x27;s concepts of <i>commodity fetishism</i>[2] and <i>alienation</i>[3], describing the effects which the capitalist mode of production has on the psychological well being of the working class.<p>* The extensions from this, again I must refer to the Frankfurt School, I&#x27;m in the middle of a book called <i>Escape from Freedom</i>[4] by Erich Fromm. He wrote a foreword to the second edition 25 years after its first publication, in which he claims that the conditions he describes of the freedom of man in capitalist society have become even more important to analyse for our wellbeing overall. It is a psycho-sociological work, and I haven&#x27;t read it in full, I&#x27;m slowly making my way through it, however from what I&#x27;ve read I would recommend it for its interesting point of view.<p>* For a critique of the notions of tolerance in society and pluralistic democracy (which is supportive of &quot;true&quot; democracy, of power of the people as individuals rather than religious, ethnic or social interest groups), I recommend in particular the first and third essays (the third by Marcuse, the first by Richard Wolff) from <i>A Critique of Pure Tolerance</i>[5]<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.marxists.org&#x2F;reference&#x2F;archive&#x2F;adorno&#x2F;1944&#x2F;culture-industry.htm" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.marxists.org&#x2F;reference&#x2F;archive&#x2F;adorno&#x2F;1944&#x2F;cultu...</a><p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.marxists.org&#x2F;reference&#x2F;archive&#x2F;debord&#x2F;society.htm" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.marxists.org&#x2F;reference&#x2F;archive&#x2F;debord&#x2F;society.ht...</a><p>[2] I must first note that &quot;commodity fetishism&quot; is absolutely <i>not</i> about how people are materialistic and value material wealth over spiritual or moral action. It is about how through the market, the interactions between people themselves are hidden and proxied such that the commodity itself is fetishised, to use that term in the sense of meaning &quot;of unnatural excessive focus&quot; <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.marxists.org&#x2F;glossary&#x2F;terms&#x2F;f&#x2F;e.htm#fetishism" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.marxists.org&#x2F;glossary&#x2F;terms&#x2F;f&#x2F;e.htm#fetishism</a><p>[3] Alienation is a concept that Marx borrowed from 18th century philosopher G.W.F Hegel, it&#x27;s one which is generally deeper than how Marx uses it, and there are others who interpret it differently to Marx. Here is the Marxian view, though there are others you can find. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.marxists.org&#x2F;glossary&#x2F;terms&#x2F;a&#x2F;l.htm#alienation" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.marxists.org&#x2F;glossary&#x2F;terms&#x2F;a&#x2F;l.htm#alienation</a><p>[4] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Escape_from_Freedom" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Escape_from_Freedom</a> and there are links to download mobile-friendly versions of the work here: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;libcom.org&#x2F;library&#x2F;escape-freedom" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;libcom.org&#x2F;library&#x2F;escape-freedom</a><p>[5] PDF version here: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;monoskop.org&#x2F;images&#x2F;5&#x2F;55&#x2F;Wolff_Moore_Marcuse_A_Critique_of_Pure_Tolerance.pdf" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;monoskop.org&#x2F;images&#x2F;5&#x2F;55&#x2F;Wolff_Moore_Marcuse_A_Criti...</a>