Adorno, culture industry and what it means...

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Peter Kropotkin
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Joined: Wed Jun 22, 2022 5:11 am

Adorno, culture industry and what it means...

Post by Peter Kropotkin »

Wondering about Wiki as I am wont to do, I came across this
statement by Theodor Adorno, about Standardization:

''A concept used to characterize the formulaic products of capitalism-
driven mass media and mass culture that appeals to the lowest common
denominator in pursuit of maximum profits"

("Key themes in Media theory" by Dan Loughey 2007
and for more information, see Wike article "Culture industry")

and as one looks about mass media and mass culture, we see
standardization in every aspect of the media and culture...
but what we don't see is any type of counter narrative..
in other words, we see problematic points of existence being used
as plot points, not as an examination of those problems...
for example, poverty is written into culture as a plot point, but
not as a serious matter to be considered... "he was poor" and thus
may have committed the TV plot point of murder.. but is this poverty,
his being poor, ever actually addressed as a systematic issue within society/state?

No, of course not... why is there poverty and what solutions are there to solve
this problem of poverty? That problem is never addressed in mass culture or
very rarely within mass media.... or the question of income inequality
never appears in mass culture or in mass media and why? Because those
who own the mass media or the mass culture don't want the public/society
at large, to be reminded of the very real problems of income inequality..
if it isn't brought up, who knows it exists?

Or the question of the inherent problems that exists within capitalism, is never,
but never brought up... it is an unspoken truism that capitalism and democracy
is the ONLY possible political/economic system when the reality is that
capitalism is actively engaged in destroying the earth and in a large part,
responsible for the climate change that is quite evident on planet earth...
and that we no longer have a democracy, because it has been bought by
big business.. the U.S congress is a subdivision of Mobil-Exxon..

( given that oil companies make billions in profits and still get enough
tax breaks to the point of paying no taxes at all.. doesn't seem to be
a problem for mass media and mass culture.. that an TV evil corporation
is evil due to the individual actions of one or two people in that corporation,
is just a plot point and not within the reality that the corporation is evil due
to its inherent actions and positions.. a company that inherently takes
advantage of its customers, like the Bank "Well Fargo", which is routinely
in trouble for one sort of scam or another to defraud its
customers)

That there is no attempt of any kind to understand the massive social/political/
economic problems that exist today, with any understanding within/from the mass media/
mass culture is not surprising.. because the finger pointing would begin with
mass media or mass culture itself.. for its failure to point out or address these
issues of great concern, that the mass media or mass culture has hidden from us
is part of the problem.. there is no honest attempt to engage in the real social/
political issues of today....

one example used is the books/movies, "Harry Potter" that take as common denominator
a "plucky" child who overcomes.. but that is fiction meant to entertain,
not as a serious issue... his disabilities of his childhood become plot points
to ''magic'' which is the real subject of "Harry Potter"....

The fiction of the 19th century, of Dickens and Hugo, was to present
social issues that were present in both England and France.. today mass
media/culture avoids such problems, not only preventing us from knowing
but preventing us from even guessing such social problems even exists
in modern day America...

Which is the point of mass media/mass culture, which is to deny any type of
social/political/economic problem and leave people with one option, which
is to be workers, producers, consumers... to engage in the one socially approved
role within mass media/mass culture, which is to make money/profits for
our corporate masters.. anything that suggest any other possibility other than
as workers meant to make profits, is denied, not even shown... the point
of mass media/mass culture is to present one role and one role only for
the people of America, and that is the goal of existence is to make profits..
ask yourself, have I seen any other role being presented by mass media/mass
culture other than as worker, producer, consumer?
And if you are honest, the answer is no...

Ask yourself, when asked, "Who are you?" as with most people, you will
answer with your job description, your job title, I am a lawyer, I am a
farmer, I am a architect, I am a student.. all simple descriptions of
what you do on a daily basis and do as some form of earning a living or
learning how to earn a living...or as one CEO once said,

''The business of America is business""

and the mass media and mass culture don't present us with any other
viewpoint other than the business of America is business....

Now I can't speak for England or France or Japan or any other country,
I can only speak for America....

Kropotkin
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