Alienation in the Post Cold War Era
Chapter 8
The Market Personality Today:
The Further Transformation of Human Beings Into Things
(page 10)
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The incredible level of stress experienced by women, particularly middle-class working women with some disposable income, is especially cynically exploited. When the anxiety level gets to be unbearable, our sick society can only offer expensive, pretty-looking items that make women “feel” more attractive and desired. Many women, who tend to be more aware than men about their stress and unhappiness, are lured into websites and shopping malls designed to soothe their inner pain and conflict temporarily — until the next shopping spree. In the long run, this dulls their humanity. These women must work longer and longer hours, and when they come home they have very little time left to take care of their children (not to mention themselves!) and experience joy. They have no time to experience their humanity, and they feel that the little energy left in them can be used only to soothe their stress. Thus the price that they must pay for their middle class comfort is very high.
Society robs these women of the ability to resolve their emotional conflicts in a progressive way, that is, through genuine connection to themselves and others. Instead, society makes them feel “good” through the dead social image associated with “sex appeal” and consumerism: “I am an attractive woman because I use Opium perfume and wear a beautiful Prada dress,” etc. Business Week, in an article on a prototypical website of capitalism, Indulge.com, illustrates the point quite bluntly. As long as people experience growing apathy and helplessness about their lives, the voice of Wall Street does not need to be diplomatic about this:
“Go ahead, women. Shop unapologetically, and let emotion be your guide. Buy a whole bunch of stuff online that you don’t really need—from pink pashmina shawls to $300 Swarovski crystal bracelets. Will this make your stressed-out brain feel pampered? Relaxed? More in control? Cathy Taylor [the CEO of Indulge.com] certainly hopes so.”[13]
Websites like Indulge.com, as well as similar conventional brick-and-mortar shops, clearly illustrate the inhumanity behind today’s commodity fetishism. Starting from childhood, capitalist society conditions women to feel good about themselves only when they look pretty and attractive, not because they are genuine loving persons. Then this society and the owners of the beauty industry cynically exploit these induced insecurities to maximize profit.
Artificial “Fun” Replaces Genuine Human Interaction
People with the market personality need the constant excitement of “fun” sights, sounds, and in fact anything that can help them to forget the pain of their stifled humanity and the anxious cry for the dearest thing of all — the lost self. Sometimes it is mind-boggling to witness the extent to which people are willing to integrate themselves into the acceptable, prevailing norms, which give them the sense of belonging to the conformist majority.
A typical example of this is illustrated in a 1998 article from the San Francisco Chronicle. The article noted that the noise level in many restaurants has become intolerable, to the point that people cannot hear themselves and others speak. The article explains that restaurant owners deliberately increase the noise to such high levels because it gives the customers a feeling of “energy” and of “belonging” to the crowd. Quotations from some owners and customers illustrate the point:
“Our surveys show that the people who tend to be our best customers are the type that enjoy food but want all of their senses pleased. . . . That means they like the noise level a little high and a sense of energy. Food is just part of the overall experience. They want to be part of the action or watch the action. They come in for the buzz of what’s happening. . . . A place that has a lot of people and loud music feels like a hip place to me. . . . Noise draws people. It’s energy, and the magic combination is food, energy and excitement.”[14]
So deep are the insecurities of the average market personality that he/she must consume “fun” in noisy places where two people cannot hear each other speak. Sensible animals would stay miles away from any such place, because animals still retain a sense of real communication within their own species — if they’re going to be with each other, they want to be in touch with each other. But the modern market personality achieves a sense of “belonging to the herd” in situations where the possibilities of communication are cut off. To avoid the inner self, today’s market personality needs deafening noise and constant activity (including eating) to interact with other people. The level of human interaction in such situations is dull, shallow and basically non-existent.
The energy of constant eating, and of the noise and excitement of loud music, is not the energy of life that promotes human connection. It is an artificial “fun” energy, an energy created by our culture, which denigrates human interactions. The fact that many people need constant loud noise to feel that they are alive only illustrates that an atmosphere of quietness — in which we can hear, feel, and sense the people around us as well as ourselves — is associated in the mind of the market personality with being low-energy and boring. The entertainment industry has conditioned people to believe that fun is associated with the energetic level of loud voices and insistent entertainment. That which is spontaneous and truly alive — the energy that is obvious in real and deep human interactions — is blasted right out of the room. To feel “okay,” the market personality needs constant artificial energy to deaden his/her aliveness. Indeed, the lack of that aliveness which comes from within is a key feature of the modern alienated person.
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[13] Business Week Online, Nov. 30, 1999.
[14] San Francisco Chronicle, March 11, 1998.