Cool…not me
In their book The Rebel Sell: Ho the CounterCulture Became Consumer Culture Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter make the argument that being “counterculture” is actually not a strike against capitalism and consumerism. In fact, it feeds directly into capitalisms ultimate goals, to package and resell what they believed to be fighting against it. I have always been amused at those who fight against the system, while wearing Birkenstocks, recording everything on their iphone, and uploading to social media. The introduction is a great commentary on just how strange this can look. They tell of Adbusters, “the flagship publication of the culture-jamming movement.” [1], who in a act of rebellion started selling their own brand of trainers. Think about that, a group who is ardently against the consumer culture, trying to sell you their brand. In fact, they argued they did not “sell out” because they were not using sweatshop labor.
Just like those who wear Che Guevara t-shirts and yet could not tell you who he was and why he should not be on their shirt. In fact Che himself is quoted as saying to Carlos Fanqui “We executed many people by firing squad without knowing if they were fully guilty. At times, the Revolution cannot stop to conduct much investigation” [2]. So for people who want to feel rebellious, here is your rebel leader.
The chapter From status-seeking to coolhunting really caught my interest. It starts off with the story of how most of us find out we are not really that cool, in junior high. How one of them wore “cougars” a type of snow boot to school only to be ridiculed for not wearing deck shoes. It did not matter that those who wore the deck shoes feet were probably freezing and wet while the authors feet were warm and toasty. He felt like an outcast because he was not wearing what was considered cool.[3]
The chapter discusses what the hipster culture and its origins with Norman Mailers list in 1959, The Hip and the Square. They argue that Mailer’s list from over 50 years ago, still to this day, cannot be argued with.[4] The corporate machines will continue to use the cool factor to sell you everything you think you want. My eyes were really opened when I first watched a documentary called “The Merchants of Cool”. Here is the first line of the synopsis, “They spend their days sifting through reams of market research data. They conduct endless surveys and focus groups. They comb the streets, the schools, and the malls, hot on the trail of the “next big thing” that will snare the attention of their prey–a market segment worth an estimated $150 billion a year.”[5] The entire show is about how MTV sets the culture and what is going to be “hot” and you cannot do anything about it. There is one moment when the president of the company looks into the camera and says “we own your children”. It is a chilling moment but one that smacks of reality.
There is a ridiculous side to this as well. I came across an advertisement for, in my opinion, the quintessential hipster/millennial targeted product. The bripe, I will let you watch the following video and let you make your own decision.
When I watch that I see everything they are doing to reach the cool, there is the hippie, the outdoors, the coffee (that’s a given), and something that you just have to have if you want to be edgy. Never mind heating up copper can release toxins, you are cool if you own this.
The discussion on what is seen as prestigious in today’s society was very interesting as well. In the 50’s there were certain jobs that were seen as having the highest prestige according to Packard. They were in order Supreme Court justice, physicians, banker, business executive, minister and university lecturer.[6] The change to today those positions are filled with “the cool, bohemian types” [7] These include musicians, actors, artists, and the like. The other thing that is true of the prestigious is they are going to live in the cool cities. The cities as outlined by the authors are New York, Seattle, San Francisco, London, Prague. [8] So it is not just what you do but where you live that informs your coolness. These things have become the important, not because they are the best, but because those who are in power say so. I see no difference in how the powerful move, from hundreds of years ago. There are few who tell the many what is important and outside of those parameters, you might as well pack it in.
In his discussion of this book Andy Beckett summarizes it this way, “at the end of the book, when Heath and Potter propose that capitalism be tamed by “small, workable proposals” and “collective action” by governments rather than trendy protests, it as if they have forgotten the whole history of postwar European social democracy. But the point of this book is not to be comprehensive or mildly reasonable. It is to provoke and get you thinking. In that it succeeds: the certainties of modern anti-capitalism will not feel as watertight again.” [9] I liked this book and I agree with Beckett, it gets you thinking, and that is one of the best things you can say about a book.
[1] Heath, Joseph, and Potter, Andrew. The Rebel Sell : How the Counterculture Became Consumer Culture. Chichester: Capstone, 2006. 3.
[2] Winn, Brooke, Briggs Burton, Ian Johnson, Davey Talbot, Katarina Hall, Lee Edwards, Dissident, Mariza Smajlaj, and Joshua Dill. “5 Reasons Why Che’s Not Cool.” Dissident. March 24, 2015. Accessed February 22, 2018. http://blog.victimsofcommunism.org/5-reasons-why-ches-not-cool/.
[3] Heath, Joseph, and Potter, Andrew. The Rebel Sell : How the Counterculture Became Consumer Culture. Chichester: Capstone, 2006. 193.
[4] Ibid. 197.
[5] https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/etc/synopsis.html
[6] Heath, Joseph, and Potter, Andrew. The Rebel Sell : How the Counterculture Became Consumer Culture. Chichester: Capstone, 2006. 205.
[7] Ibid. 206.
[8] Ibid. 207-208.
[9] Andy Beckett. “Guardian Weekly: Books: Branded for Life: Is the Anti-capitalist Movement Part of the Solution or Part of the Problem, Asks Andy Beckett: The Rebel Sell: How the Counterculture Became Consumer Culture by Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter Capstone 352 pp (Guardian Weekly).” The Guardian (London, England), July 01, 2005.
About the Author
Jason Turbeville
A pastor, husband and father who loves to be around others. These are the things that describe me. I was a youth minister for 15 years but God changed the calling on my life. I love to travel and see where God takes me in my life.8 responses to “Cool…not me”
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Jason,
You said you liked the book, “it gets you thinking”. Knowing you and your sarcastic slant, I guess you are not too impressed, right?
What did this book really get you thinking about? Spiritual things, healthy things, or remembering how your friends struggled to look cool in High School and College? These guys are not theologians, they are philosophers, so they spend a lot of time getting people to question everything from both sides of the isle, and barley touch on their solution to focus on healthy things.
It got me to see how flawed and desperate our society has become as our values, morals, and ethics have eroded in the past few decades. They will write a book someday that talks about the steady climb out of the dark ages towards Christendom, only to fall again into another global scheme of Satan and his demons. Galatians 6:7-9 applies again…we reap what we sow, more than we sow, and later than we sow (paraphrased from Charles Stanley).
Stand firm,
M. Webb
Mike,
You guessed right, was not a fan of this book. It did get me thinking though and I suppose I should appreciate that, it got me thinking about how sad our strivings to be “different” just feeds into the ugliness of this world. I reflected on how much time I wasted on pursuing this worlds things before I found Christ.
Hi Jason,
What a video! His closing line was, “You deserve a good shot of coffee.”
Why do I deserve that? Did I do something amazing that translated to me “deserving” a good shot of coffee?
I looked at all the equipment necessary to have that coffee–lighter, thermometer, coffee grounds, copper dish and stand, cork, test tubes, etc…
That is what strikes me about the whole be “cool” thing, it is all centered around stuff and things, instead of the person of Jesus Christ!
Jay,
Yeah that’s what I thought, another thought that traveled through my mind was man, what a dangerous thing this truly was, lets heat up copper with a blow torch, nothing bad can come of that right?
Jason,
I have seen the film ‘The Merchants of Cool’ and at the time was deeply disturbed by it. Up until that point I had little understanding how ubiquitous was the effort to mold and shape culture in order to extract money from unsuspecting members of humanity. I am not sure how they sleep at night to be honest.
I was never one of the ‘cool’ kids but in their book that seems to be the point. Kurt Cobain didn’t want to be either and yet he too found himself thrust into the middle of corporate, consumer driven fame. Maybe the key is to not be so uncool or countercultural that you set a trend of some sort.
Dan,
You and I shared the same thought, I wonder how one can look at a mirror and be happy being one of those people whose sole goal is to manipulate the masses. If the key is to be uncool or to not have people follow though, how to we lead people to Christ, it is definitely a hard line to toe.
Jason
I’ve never wanted hot coffee after a hike…I wanted something cold. With that said, I’m buying one because I want to be as cool as that guy…and then I’m gonna go hang 10 on my surf board. Oh wait, I don’t surf…or own a surf board. Guess I have to buy one of those too. I believe you made your point Jason. LOL.
I think you nailed it Jason, in terms of exposing the foolishness of the counter-culture folks. I suppose I’m one of those fools! I’m totally buying one of those bripes. haha. I just won’t think I’m jamming any system when I do so 🙂