Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair
Much of the world we live in is artificial and there are forces in the world that take advantage of our psychological / emotional vulnerability. AI is a perfect example, but it’s not the only artificial intelligence out there that is out to exploit and control us. There is the media, with its invasive advertising of products that we buy but that we need like we need a hole in the head. You might think that capitalism is behind advertising but it is more sinister than that. It is the zeitgeist that serves the entrenched self-centeredness of Western civilization. (zeitgeist = from the German “Zeitgeist”, meaning “spirit of the times”)
Think of how often you hear the word “consumer” used to refer to a generic you or me or our neighbor. It is now being used instead of “the public” which originally meant “people” or “adults”. Consumer in current usage means “those who consume goods and services”. When we are just consumers we aren’t even human, or at least our humanity isn’t relevant. Consumer, definition 2: “A person or thing that eats or uses something.” I find that insulting, demeaning and provocative. That’s the zeitgeist insinuating itself.
The way you know if some aspect of your culture is coming at you via the zeitgeist is if it begins to shed its legitimacy when you look at it even a little out of context. It might seem acceptable if it ushers from the lips of someone you respect, like Terry Gross on NPR. You might forgive her for the lapse (or journalistic laziness in not finding a better word) , but if you just consider where that word has been, so to speak, i.e., bandied about by amoral, economic strategists, political opportunists and dime dozen suck-ups of the rank and file, that word begins to stink like a rotten piece of meat. You want some more words from the zeitgeist? Here they are: “Move the needle” (the image behind this phrase refers to the pointer on an analog measuring device for measuring, for example) , “project performance”. Here’s more: “Target” buyer or user (the key word here is “target”). There is “low-hanging fruit”, “working class”, “competitive advantage”, “core competencies”, even “zero-sum”.
Do you know what zero-sum means? It means when “what is gained by one side is lost from the other”. That about sums up what has been making the global economy tick, right? To survive as a business I have to try to get the “competitive edge”, and expand my “customer base”. How do I do that (oh Zeitgeist)? By advertising my product or services. How do I do that? I hire an expert. Probably someone who doesn’t even know me. You see what I am saying? Are we thinking for ourselves? Does our business reflect who we really are?
The zeitgeist doesn’t care about that. It actually doesn’t care about us! I once wrote, “the global economy doesn’t actually need consumers. In the long run, it just needs consumption”. Yes, the bitter truth is, consumption is an end in itself. That is the edge of the abyss that we are walking toward blind-folded by our subservience to the current zeitgeist.
You might ask: “How do I know if I am being subservient to the whims and will of the zeitgeist?” If you share a few of your dreams with me I can tell you!
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