I'm going to completely disagree (surprise!) about hope not being the most important thing. I think it's a uniquely defining human factor. It's the basis for even drawing attention to the problems we are mired in. Hopelessness is the source of much depression and paralyzing inaction. Why would anyone "cease to cooperate" or protest? Because of even the tiniest spark of hope that things can be different. It is what people are clinging to when all else is lost. It is not the same thing as optimism. Among prisoners of war it is the optimists who fare the worst. They believe the illusion that rescue is imminent, for example, only to be continually disappointed. The hopeful realist however, handles hardship much better.
“You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end - which you can never afford to lose – with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”
~Admiral Jim Stockdale
So instead of sappy affirmations and false positivity, a hopeful realism is something to embrace. Yes, things are bad. Darkness is closing in. But are we going to retreat into the darkness and mourn, or are we going to keep fighting the encroaching night? The fight requires hope. "Protest without hope" seems like an oxymoron to me. What else would the purpose be? Even if all hope is lost for one's immediate future, the very action implies a belief that for others at some point in the future things can be better. If you are talking about a false hope (used as a control tactic) or the illusion of hope to manipulate, then we'll agree on those.
Your explanation of the cost involved in unhealthy behaviors and how taxation can be used to reflect the true cost to society is a convincing one. In case our readers have missed the news swirling around this topic this week, sugar is likely to join tobacco and alcohol on the "if you want to do that you are going to have to pay" list. Here's an article explaining the details:
Tax sugar like alcohol and tobacco in order to combat obesity? Some health experts think its a good idea.
Nearly all of the things that Hedges points out in this chapter that are shrouded in the stench of manipulation are techniques used by corporations. The coercion, indoctrination, and peer pressure are similar to approaches used by cults. Only not the "cult of self" that Hedges spoke of early in the book, but religious cults and totalitarian regimes who have a great stake in being able to manipulate individuals to acquiesce their individuality for the good of the group. In this chapter the author outlines how far we've fallen away from thinking of relationships (especially business ones) in any terms of morality. On page 134 the action (group leaders learning the "birthday, marital status, anniversary, number of children and hobbies" of underlings) isn't in and of itself, disturbing. We regularly seek to learn these things about people we care about, even in the work place. It is the motivation of control that separates it from genuine concern. It might even be considered a perfectly appropriate leadership tool, provided there is a basis of authentic concern for the well being of employees.
The heavy handed style he describes being used in plants in Japan and Mexico are probably much more damaging (some of them seemed potentially emotionally scarring) than some of the pep rally techniques used on mainstream corporate America. Generally what I've seen is that over time the illusion of the company or management caring is disclosed and employees may learn to say the right things in meetings, but out of the earshot of management it's a different story. New employees or people buying into the cult of positivity are likely to be referred to as "true believers" and seasoned employees make illusion shattering a daily goal. Yes, these folks are recognized as not being "team players" or having attitude problems. Few companies ever realize that they'd have more creative and efficient employees if they'd stop micro-managing and browbeating.
I thought his point on p.138 was the real problem behind the chapter and corporate America's need for all these little tricks and instances of mock friendliness: "The corporate teaching that we can find happiness through conformity to corporate culture is a cruel trick, for it is corporate culture that stokes and feeds the great malaise and disconnect of the culture of illusion." It is the system itself, the disconnection, the networking he's previously mentioned, and the further erosion of true relationship that is eating away the mental and emotional health of so many.
And no smiley face or motivational speaker is going to fix that.
I HOPE ;) the Paragraph Police aren't visiting our site. ;)
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