My current class at National University, Communications 360: Representation and Diversity in the Media, is bit different as classes go, but even with the first section I am struck by information that takes more than a little digestion. Take this snippet from my text book:
Lipstiz shows how the needs of the postwar U.S. economy facilitated the development of mass television production. He explores how the increase in the sale of televisions and the development of a group of situation comedies (sitcoms) were used to transform a traditional, ethnic immigrant ideology, which stressed values of community, thrift, and commitment to labor unions, into an American Dream ideology, which stressed individualism, consumerism, and suburban domesticity—values consistent with the needs of the expanding postwar capitalist economy.
The change in ideology between the immigrant to consumer capitalism happened after WWII. For me, at least, that begs he question of what were we before? Growing up in the late 50’s early 60’s, I saw this idea of a nation more of immigrants than consumers. I did not realize that by becoming a consumer culture we shifted paradigms to a different sort of nation.
In the 60’s the youth exploded over the issue of Vietnam. Now, the youth explode over their Blackberries and IPODs, but, for the most part, can’t be bothered to wake up and see what issues will affect their lives. If I look around my house, I see stuff…way to much stuff. It’s sort of like a social disease I caught and never realized it. My mother and grandmother never had a house so cluttered, but they never had so many things that they thought they needed.
A how about that Media Ownership. In 2006, just 8 media companies owned and controled most of what we, and eveyrone on earth, hear, see, experience, and feel. Just these 8:
Disney (market value: $72.8 billion)
AOL-Time Warner (market value: $90.7 billion)
Viacom (market value: $53.9 billion)
General Electric (owner of NBC, market value: $390.6 billion)
News Corporation (market value: $56.7 billion)
Yahoo! (market value: $40.1 billion)
Microsoft (market value: $306.8 billion)
Google (market value: $154.6 billion)
Now that wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t that these 8 media companies craft and formulate everything we see in order to create consumers. Descartes said,
I think, therefore I am.
Is that true anymore? Was it ever true. Wouldn’t it be better in the modern Capitalist Consumer culture to say…
“I consume, therefore I am.
Wouldn’t old Rene get a chuckle out of that. Homo Sapiens Sapiens evolved to Homo consumerenses. We have changed and going out to buy duck tape when told is more important that standing up for the rights of man. Perhaps we no longer have any right, except that to consume when told.
It isn’t all bad. Not everyone is part of the dominant culture. Some of us decode text, all that media we are exposed to, in ways that those big eight would like. It is sort of like a social DNA. Some strands, those rare few, do morph and change to something else. They are more than the sum of their parts. Somewhere on the other side, maybe some of us will find a post consume culture.
