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The Irresistible Rise of Mediocre Man: The War On Excellence

Book by Joe Dixon · 4 quotes · Mediocrity, Capitalism, Commodification

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The Irresistible Rise of Mediocre Man: The War On Excellence Quotes

“People are trained – brainwashed – to believe that material well-being stands for psychological well-being. If you have a house, a job, a car, lots of commodities, a partner and family then you ought to be happy. But where is the real you in all of that? Of course, psychological well-being, not material well-being, should be the benchmark. But we live in a materialist world thanks to economic materialism (predatory capitalism) and philosophical materialism (scientism). Science more or less denies that we have minds and free will, hence are just machines, while predatory capitalism treats us as material objects. Mind – the psyche, psychology – is exactly what is absent from the materialist hegemony, and that’s why the world is so anxious, depressed and alienated. It comes with the territory. It’s an inevitable aspect of materialism. Materialism shapes us as matter. Consumerism shapes us as consumers. The class system locks us into artificial class identities. In a world of commodities, we ourselves are commodified. All of our values start to revolve around objects, things, commodities, consumption, matter. The human has disappeared. We need to revalue all values in terms of idealism rather than materialism, and rationalism instead of empiricism.”

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Book:The Irresistible Rise of Mediocre Man: The War On Excellence
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“In the Middle Ages, anyone who tried to escape their duties to society - negative libertarians, in other words, with which today's world is full - were not deemed worthy of consideration. They were pathetic. They were Last Men. Today's world produces them by the legions. They are the primary output of modernity.”

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Book:The Irresistible Rise of Mediocre Man: The War On Excellence
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