Name: The cultural contradictions of capitalism
ISBN: 9780465014996

The cultural contradictions of capitalism

Since its original publication in 1976, The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism has been hailed as an intellectual tour de force that redefines how we think about the relationship among econmomics, culture, and social change. Daniel Bell, the author of such other modern classics as The End of Ideology and The Coming of Post-Industrial Society, argues that the unbounded drive of modern capitalism undermines the moral foundations of the original Protestant ethic that ushered in capitalism itself. In a major new afterword, Bell offers a bracing perspective on contemporary Western society, from the end of the Cold War to the rise and fall of postmodernism, revealing the crucial cultural fault lines we face as the twenty-first century approaches.

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marnettMay 2020

Hmmm. Great question. What was the most "mind bending" moment in cinema? The ending to The Sixth Sense or the trial and conviction of Harvey Weinstein? When I think of mind bending I think of the thoughts and ideas that break one out of a previous believed framework of thinking. Things that have a lasting impact on how they see and view the world.

"The Bible" (New International Version)

“Capitalism and Freedom” by Milton Friedman

“Imperial Ambitions” by Noam Chomsky

“Evolution and Religion: A Dialogue Book" by Michael Ruse

“The Value of Free Thought” an essay by Bertrand Russel

“The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism” by Daniel Bell

“Stalking the billion-footed beast” an essay by Tom Wolfe

“Propaganda” by Edward Bernays

“Bonfire of the Vanities” by Tom Wolfe

“Walden” by Henry David Thoreau

“30 Satires” by Lewis H. Lapham

“Cat’s Cradle” by Kurt Vonnegut

Above, in chronological order, are the books that changed my life. It is weird looking at that list, as each book is tied to such a fundamental shift in my life. They each taught me about something fundamentally new and different. Faith, spirituality, economics, thought, power, society, nature, technology. It should appear obvious by looking at the list, there are plenty of opposite pairs, dipole books if you will, present. Bending one’s mind has multiple phases, first when one goes from knowing nothing to knowing something. Depending on what was learned, this can definitely be mind bending. But not everyone rides the second phase, going from knowing something to learning that it wasn’t the whole thing, or wasn’t the only way to interpret such a thing, or wasn’t entirely correct, or perhaps, in our largely subjective world, is not true at all.

Certain books can only speak to certain people at certain times of their life. It’s just the beauty of the whole thing. And to the core of this thread, one actually has to believe something, truly and passionately, in order for them to then have their world view bent and turned on its head. This is the hardest lesson that many won’t really ever opt to face. The core of truth, learning, and wisdom comes when you finally read (and thus think) something that takes a belief you previously held as passionately true, unalterably true, core-to-identity true, and made you wrestle with the reality that it may, perhaps, not be. That’s the biggest mind f* of them all.

One’s entire worldview is constructed of things they believe. But those things you believe come, for some more than others, from what one read, purposefully or not. Seek books that challenge what you believe and enjoy the ride.

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fibersMay 2019

Just copped a copy of Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism last month after Zizek namedropped his book on that debate.

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marnettMar 2018

Much of what you said, discussions on post-industrial, post-modern societies with capitalistic incentives driving more-and-more societal aspects, echoes the sentiment from Daniel Bell's The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism.

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ArcticUnicornFeb 2018

"It’s been several decades since Daniel Bell wrote The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism, but his insights have proven prescient. Ever-more-powerful market forces actually undermine the foundations of social stability, wreaking havoc on tradition, religion, and robust civil associations, destroying what conservatives value the most. They create a less human world. They make us less happy. They generate pain."

This articulates the feelings/observations I've been mulling over recently. Also the idea of opiate abusers being a self-selecting group of the "failed" areas of society was something I hadn't thoroughly considered. Very interesting. If opiates caused a more distinct rise in violet crime, would public policy be forced to respond similar to the other drug epidemics? (Though I might argue that those epidemics were just replaced with this one, yielding quieter and more easily ignored victims.)

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