Written by: Telile Fikru Badecha on February 28, 2014

The Rebel Sell: How The Counterculture Became Consumer Culture by Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter, is informative work on the roles that countercultural rebels played in America using very compelling stories to elucidate their points. The countercultural notion that the authors discuss in this book is new to me and I appreciate the opportunity to familiarize myself with the counterculture rebel that encompassed the America’s political, economic and cultural thinking.

First of all, I found the concept of countercultural ideas very fascinating. My initial instinct about the meaning of the word counterculture was something positive. Obviously, after reading Heath and Potter’s analysis, I soon realized the heavily negative influence of the countercultural revolt on American society. In this book, the authors show that countercultural theorists despite their efforts to break the evil of consumerism through consumer revolt their reaction actually became a contributing factor. “ Wouldn’t that be an irony?” the authors ask (p.102). Thus, the authors conclude,“… countercultural rebellion have failed to change anything because the theory of society on which the countercultural idea rests is false. We do not live in the Matrix, nor do we live in the spectacle. The world that we live in is in fact much more prosaic. It consists of billions of human beings, each pursuing some more or less plausible conception of the good, trying to cooperate with one another, and doing so with varying degrees of success. There is no single, overarching system that integrates it all” (p.10). Thus, the authors conclude, “…counterculture rebellion is not just unhelpful, it is positively counterproductive”(p.10).

I understand that these authors are speaking based their own findings and cultural experiences. However, I wonder if there is room for a genuine counterculture voice against oppressive political norms? For instance, for centuries the Amharic language, although it is a mother tongue of a relatively small number of Ethiopians (27 million),was the only official and working language in Ethiopia until 1991. So, when other nations like Oromo, who constitute over 40 milliondemanded the their language to be used in schools and work places, the idea was seen as counterculture. It was even worse in the church, which felt the Oromos quest to worship in their language was not only divisive to the body of Christ but also politically infused. Now to those who are pro Amharic, the Oromos endeavors are seen as the countercultural rebellion, because they went against the oppressive system. The bigger issue for our nations is their desire to have freedom and acceptance just the way they are without being confined to the prevailing autocratic socio-political system.  Unfortunately this is unthinkable at this point.  However, it is possible for a community of believers to be counterculture in a positive way. If Christians are willing to embrace their identity in Christ and others around them just the way God created them, we can let God’s light shine through us to others who do not know Him.

Consumerism and its epidemic nature is another inevitable concept that I became aware of after I began living in the States. In Ethiopia many people live below the poverty level and the majority of our societies have to work hard just to secure their daily bread. So, people in the community I grew up in normally consume what they need.  If someone can afford to build a home in a city or even buy a car that is a blessing. I noted similar tendencies among our emigrant community here in the States.  Similar to any immigrant community, most of our church members work very hard to pay their bills, support their family back home, and may pay for school. If they managed to save money and do something good for themselves it is a blessing! So, I am not trying to say our community does not consume but the idea of consumerism is not common yet. But I can say our churches are consumed with different church politics and have become less consumed with the issues of the kingdom. They like to hold big conferences once or twice a year and spend so many dollars on what seems in my opinion to purely entertainment. This concerns me a lot and I pray for God to open our leaders’ hearts to our higher calling.

About the Author

Telile Fikru Badecha