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asher_deepg's review against another edition
4.0
First, let me confess that this is the first philosophy book I've finished, and that this is my first Baudrillard. Yes, the prose is at times quite dense and Baudrillard will come across as cynical at times--well, because he somewhat is. He does take quite a few jabs at economists and advertising. The book attempts at diagnosing the problems with the consumer culture, and does not provide many solutions--if a book like this should.
But beyond all the jabs and dense prose and cynicism, when you read stuff like:
"Happiness has to be measurable; it has to be a 'well-being' in terms of objects and signs. Happiness as (on the ideology and myth of happiness) total or inner enjoyment --that happiness independent of the signs which could manifest it to others and to those around us, the happiness which has no need of evidence--is therefore excluded from the outset of the customer ideal in which happiness must always signify with 'regard' to visible criteria"
"You never consume the object in itself (in its use-value); you are always manipulating object (in the broadest sense) as signs which distinguish you either by affiliating you to your own group taken as an ideal reference or by marking you off from your group by reference to a group of higher status."
Or things like:
"The consumerist man sees to it that all his potentialities , all his customer capacities are mobilized. And if he forgets to do so, he will be gently and persistently reminded that he has no right not to be happy. It is not, then, that he is passive. He is engaged in--has to engage in--continual activity. If not, he would run the risk of being content with what he has and becoming asocial."
"You have to try 'everything,' for the consumerist man is haunted by the fear of 'missing' something, some form of enjoyment or other. You never know whether a particular encounter, a particular experience will not elicit some 'sensation.' It is no longer desire or even 'taste,' or a specific inclination that are at stake, but a generalized curiosity, driven by a vague sense of unease--that it is the 'fun morality' or the imperative to enjoy oneself, to exploit to the full one's potential for thrills, pleasure or gratification."
Baudrillard's book is precise and mind-bogglingly relevant 45 years later.
Being a millennial and belonging to a generation that's annoyingly hubristic about its ostensible affluence and smugness, its hegemony over previous generations, and its notions of happiness . . . I can't help but relate to Baudrillard and love him, if he's a little cynical.
The Consumer Society also perfectly nails part of why I read books; why--regardless of all the distractions and "cool" things around--I think books are gems can't be paralleled.
But beyond all the jabs and dense prose and cynicism, when you read stuff like:
"Happiness has to be measurable; it has to be a 'well-being' in terms of objects and signs. Happiness as (on the ideology and myth of happiness) total or inner enjoyment --that happiness independent of the signs which could manifest it to others and to those around us, the happiness which has no need of evidence--is therefore excluded from the outset of the customer ideal in which happiness must always signify with 'regard' to visible criteria"
"You never consume the object in itself (in its use-value); you are always manipulating object (in the broadest sense) as signs which distinguish you either by affiliating you to your own group taken as an ideal reference or by marking you off from your group by reference to a group of higher status."
Or things like:
"The consumerist man sees to it that all his potentialities , all his customer capacities are mobilized. And if he forgets to do so, he will be gently and persistently reminded that he has no right not to be happy. It is not, then, that he is passive. He is engaged in--has to engage in--continual activity. If not, he would run the risk of being content with what he has and becoming asocial."
"You have to try 'everything,' for the consumerist man is haunted by the fear of 'missing' something, some form of enjoyment or other. You never know whether a particular encounter, a particular experience will not elicit some 'sensation.' It is no longer desire or even 'taste,' or a specific inclination that are at stake, but a generalized curiosity, driven by a vague sense of unease--that it is the 'fun morality' or the imperative to enjoy oneself, to exploit to the full one's potential for thrills, pleasure or gratification."
Baudrillard's book is precise and mind-bogglingly relevant 45 years later.
Being a millennial and belonging to a generation that's annoyingly hubristic about its ostensible affluence and smugness, its hegemony over previous generations, and its notions of happiness . . . I can't help but relate to Baudrillard and love him, if he's a little cynical.
The Consumer Society also perfectly nails part of why I read books; why--regardless of all the distractions and "cool" things around--I think books are gems can't be paralleled.
underseer's review against another edition
Really enjoyed this. I wanted to read this book after going on TikTok (my first mistake!) and wondering how so many young early-career women like myself were being drawn to an identical constellation of seemingly useless products and accessories, most of which I had never heard of. There is certainly great food for thought here for those similarly interested. However, the most interesting concept in this book for me was Baudrillard's investigation into how "rebellions" against consumerism (destructive violence, anti-consumerism, somatic/psychosomatic physical revolts) are prefigured by mass media and consumerist models and templates of behavior just as much as is "obedience." I found this book to be very readable and engaging, although I would recommend getting some basic semiotics terminology in your system beforehand. It is written with considerable flair, and I will be thinking about it for some time.
gabbuz's review
3.0
Let’s buy things and activities to signal the happiness and uniqueness we don’t have! And so we do, because…what else?
“So we live, sheltered by signs, in the denial of the real.”
After reading this book, I feel disturbed. Disturbed not in a challenging, perspective-changing way. But in a way that makes me think “oh, so we are doomed-doomed”.
Baudrillard philosophises how society makes us naive consumerists and manipulates us by inducing fear (of missing out on joy, pleasure, sensation). If it sounds radical, it’s because it is. The author has no time for ifs or maybes. Deceived marionettes we are. No exceptions. Case closed.
“The successful advertiser is the master of a new art: the art of making things true by saying they are so. He is a devotee of the technique of the self-fulfilling prophecy.”
Why did I take away two stars?
Difficult language. The author tries to sound trustworthy, I guess, so he complicates his wording. It’s the lamest trick in the book. If you’re assured of your ideas, you can explain them simply. What’s there to hide under complex language and long, boresome sentences?
Politically biased. Karl Marx, the father of communism, influenced Baudrillard a lot. So, some of author’s points, despite being strong, are unthinkingly one-sided. For example, while many of his capitalism's critiques are fair and deserved, his general view on it seems predisposed rather than well-thought-of.
Overall, it’s worth reading. Despite the flaws, the author offers a deep analysis of the matter.
“So we live, sheltered by signs, in the denial of the real.”
After reading this book, I feel disturbed. Disturbed not in a challenging, perspective-changing way. But in a way that makes me think “oh, so we are doomed-doomed”.
Baudrillard philosophises how society makes us naive consumerists and manipulates us by inducing fear (of missing out on joy, pleasure, sensation). If it sounds radical, it’s because it is. The author has no time for ifs or maybes. Deceived marionettes we are. No exceptions. Case closed.
“The successful advertiser is the master of a new art: the art of making things true by saying they are so. He is a devotee of the technique of the self-fulfilling prophecy.”
Why did I take away two stars?
Difficult language. The author tries to sound trustworthy, I guess, so he complicates his wording. It’s the lamest trick in the book. If you’re assured of your ideas, you can explain them simply. What’s there to hide under complex language and long, boresome sentences?
Politically biased. Karl Marx, the father of communism, influenced Baudrillard a lot. So, some of author’s points, despite being strong, are unthinkingly one-sided. For example, while many of his capitalism's critiques are fair and deserved, his general view on it seems predisposed rather than well-thought-of.
Overall, it’s worth reading. Despite the flaws, the author offers a deep analysis of the matter.
ajmcwhinney's review against another edition
4.0
The introduction to this text (not the one by Baudrillard) is pretty bad, but this is an excellent text if one wants to get acquainted with Baudrillard's early thought. Pretty clearly written and polemic