One-Dimensional Man - by Herbert Marcuse

The picture of the 'one dimensional man' reflects the image of the man in the advanced industrial societies.. This is not a light reading, but rather a highly philosophical, and a deeply analytical book of the mind control that is imposed by the industrial-capitalistic society..

"The needs that are delivered by the industrial community are imaginary needs made by publicity and advertising and mass communications.. If the society sees to the fulfillment of these made-up needs, its not just because its the condition to its continuity and productivity growth, but mostly because its the best way to create the one dimensional man, who accepts and lives with the one dimensional society.

The one dimensional is the man that exchanges freedom for the illusion of freedom. If this man imagines that he is free simply because he has the freedom to select out of a wide collection of goods and services that this society grants him, how similar is he to the slave that imagines that he is free because he has the freedom to select his masters.

The industrial society not only faked the material needs of man, but also faked his intellectual needs.. thought. Though is originally the enemy to a society of control, because it represents the critical negative power of the mind.. the power that continuously moves towards what should be not what is. This is an ideological power, although the one dimensional society tried to relate ideology to contempt and scorn in the name of technological reason, and also neutralized its power. This doesn't mean that there is no more ideology.. only that technological civilization is the new ideology.. Its most obvious materialization is the commitment to the existing reality, and the rejection of totalistic or critical concepts that threaten unveiling another dimension of reality"

This is a very import criticism of the social/ economic model of the 'first world'. It also contains important criticisms to the soviet implementation of communism, looking at the dimensions of cultural and the importance of intellectual freedom, and freedom from slavery to the economics and material (i.e. consumeristic) needs. Everything in the industrial/technological/advanced/consumeristic society is transformed into a commodity, even music, art and literature... the refusal of arts to the existing reality, has itself become refused!

The writer brilliantly discusses this same concept, and one of the fronts is through the transformation of sexual desire, that the industrial society exchanged its erotic nature into a kind of sexual reality-ness (sorry for that word).. The Shrinking of the concept of pleasure and gratification into the realm of the physical.

The writer starts by considering the disappearance of criticism and the rise of a society without opposition, then looking into the functions and some aspects of the one dimensional society (the new forms of supervision, the closure of the political world, the invasion of sad conscience..), then he moves to a discussion of one dimensional thought, the death of negative, critical and opposing thought, the role of technological rationality and the logic of control and the victory of positive thought.

Marx assured that if the direct producers themselves took charge of organization the productive body and controlling it, then there will be a qualitative change to technological continuity, that will evolve towards the fulfillment of the freely developing individual needs. Refusal of reality is key towards reaching true change!

He also argues that both soviet-communism (marxist-leninist-stalinist) shares with capitalism the same aspect of resistance to a form of life that can evade the basis of control.

Marcuse brilliantly also discusses the cultural-literary-artistic effects of consumerism and the way of technological capitalism through a discussion of the type of the heroes in literature.. The moods and nature of heroes were transformed deeply and fundamentally... they no longer refuse reality and present another way of life but are a validation of the society's values (positive thought as opposed to critical negative thought). Even the great figures of art and literature and philosophy have been removed from their critical transcendental nature.

"Let's take an example: If it was suddenly announced (and at once) that advertising and media adaptation are to be stopped, the individual would initially sink into deep, painful wondering.. Afterwards he will definitely discover the possibility of asking questions and considering himself and the possibility of understanding himself and community. It is true that if he is deprived from his from his fake fathers, politicians, friends and phony representatives.. He will have to learn the ABCs, but the sentences that he makes will come in a new form, and so will his hopes and dreams!!"

A very beautiful and interesting book.. We really need critical, negative thinking... and refusal of the imposed reality!! Amen!