(May 17, 2023 at 9:57 pm)Belacqua Wrote: [...]
Sad to say, I think that modern US values come largely from capitalism and bourgeois neoliberalism. We are propagandized through every news broadcast, TV show, movie, and pop-culture book to want and value certain things. No one is immune to this. But it's so much the water that we fish swim in that we may be unaware of it.
If I may interject my thoughts on this? Though I see where you're coming from, I'd say that propaganda only goes so far. For instance think this modern digital age, where we are being conditioned to accept that we will no longer own anything, only licence it, and where it's often right in the T&C's that that they can whip it out from under you at any time for any or no reason. Then if that wasn't enough, further conditioned to accept we'll less and less be able to pay for anything outright either, instead having to rent or subscribe to it. The point being that since these big tech companies are actual or pseudo-monopolies, they can get away with this, but as much as they attempt to propangandize us to not only lump this but also like it, all it does in reality, at least for many people including me, is create resentment at being exploited... ie it does not succeed in making us want and/or value this state of affairs, just realise how powerless we are against it.
