Nation of Rebels

by Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter

Book Overview

In this wide-ranging and perceptive work of cultural criticism, Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter shatter the most important myth that dominates much of radical political, economic, and cultural thinking. The idea of a counterculture -- a world outside of the consumer-dominated world that encompasses us -- pervades everything from the antiglobalization movement to feminism and environmentalism. And the idea that mocking or simply hoping the system...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 006074586X
• ISBN13: 9780060745868
• Release Date: December 2004
• Publisher: HarperBusiness
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Don't trust anyone over 30 (ish)

I found the book to be quite an interesting stroll down consumerism lane. The authors do an excellent job of providing examples of consumerist interaction in daily life to bolster their argument that trying to remove oneself from "the system" to be different or to avoid participation in what is viewed as a flawed social contract, further promotes capitalism in the end. Of course one can argue the degree of generationally contextual analysis they apply is a criticism, attributable to the generation in which they find themselves, I suppose all the more evident if you are an older person who does not hold with their viewpoint. However, I am a gen exer myself, and found much of the themes expressed in the book refreshingly familiar and evocative. I must confess I have not read Ms. Klein's book, to which the authors make several references as an elucidated opinion worthy of a good intellectual bashing. Then again a good intellectual bashing never hurt anyone...so I think I'll now turn to her book for an amble down anti-globalization avenue & see if its warranted.

Nation of Posers...

Finally, a book that honestly looks at the shallow reasoning that has plagued the American Left (and other so-called 'left-wing' groups in other countries). Both authors use examples from Canada, US, and the western world in general to good effect as to how 'rebels' of society are really just scouts for the new trends and fads of consumer culture, whether they know it or not. Heath and Potter also deconstruct the myth that advertising is made primarily to 'program' people to buy products when in reality producers create more ads for an already-popular brand or product connected with it in order to claim their large stake in the market. If any progressive change that benefits people as a whole is expected, people have to become active participants in the polticial legislative scene. Sure it is tough, work-intensive, and inglamorous. But people really want to clean-up the environment, stop corruption within business and the government, and solve other major problems, they will need to roll up their sleeves and get to work. However most people would rather just do the 'fun' bits of rebellion such as drugs, funky clothing, progressive music, film, art, and other expressive mediums. Rebels are so caught up in just showing off their their avant-garde expressions of individuality they easily lose sight of the cause they were fighting for. This critique can apply to both liberals and Neo-Conservatives within the US political system, mainly because both sides advocate extreme points of view that don't take a middle road that can fix this country up when it needs help the most. Particularly since many Neocons today used to be liberals a couple decades ago and many liberals today used to be yesterday's conservatives. We do not need to overthrow the government to get paradise (radicals) and we do not need to turn the government into a psudeo-totalitarian regime in order to set the country right(conservatives). In regards to capitalism both authors agree the system has merits but it is far from perfect in its current form. Current counter-culture movements do more harm towards institutional efforts that have potential to bring more good to developing nations in the future. The WTO protests are one example that the authors go into detail over the point that the 'keep it or lose it' mentality makes current radical movements counter-productive. The book itself is not only detailed, even, and well-written, but quite humorous as well. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on the exoticization of the east as some sort of anti-materialist wonderland when in reality East Asia is just as materialist and competitive as we are. They also argue that the influence of East Asian pop culture items and goods is just as strong as the spread of American ones. So much for the "Americanization" of the world. It's good to see a well-reasoned analysis like the one in "Nation of Rebels" on the state of modern society, particularly since politics and public discourse in general is so

good on the left and right

Brilliant critique of counterculture ideology and how it actually feeds, strengthens, and most importantly, lies at the heart of capitalism rather than subverts it. The two philosophy professors use theories from Thorstein Veblen's Theory of the Leisure Class and Peirre Bordeau's notion of aesthetic value and taste as well as citing a variety of contemporary media examples such as Fight Club, American Beauty, and Naomi Klein's NO Logo. Their main argument is that the values of counterculture that were and still are seen as subversive to the evils of capitalism and that see capitalism as evil in itself are really the cause of so many of the evils in the market system. By automatically seeing anything mainstream as coercive, conformist, and just for the "masses," anti-consumerism is nothing more than a reworking of anti-mass society. Thus counter culture is nothing more than anti-mass society, where sub-cultures continually emerge and get taken into the mainstream, only to be "thrown away" by those who cannot stand to like anything many other people like. New genre's and "groundbreaking" work is continually occuring as this counterculture ideology drives this prisoner's dilemma in a race to the bottom. Wealthy capitalist nations reach a stage where basic, necessary goods are provided and what becomes important is positional goods that provide status. The problem with positional goods, of which status is one (based upon different criteria, e.g. the city you live in, sartorial tastes, restaruants, employment, etc) is that they are a zero sum game. Food can be produced to feed everyone, but what gives one thing status, or cool, proportionally makes something else, not cool. The fact that one restaurant is hot makes another one not, precisely because people are seeking diferentiation. And for a moment they have it, whether it be new music or cars, its confers a status of cool upon the consumer because they have "gotten it" whereas others are just conforming with the masses. They use music as a perfect example of non-mainstream conferring status upon the listener. Hal Niedzviecki searches for the ultimate "unco-optable" music, which he finds in Braino, with "staccato blasts that unnerve the scattered chattering poseurs and scare the unprepared," and later he admits it to be just "awkward, painful noise." This critique seems so far left it is right. It attacked many of the ideas I have become to unknowingly embrace just because they were leftist and a bit rebellious. The counterculture values make it easy to seem rebellious to the wrongs of the system while at the same time having fun. But this book takes a very practical approach, and while I disagree with some of their arguments about the ills of advertising, I agree with their take on countercultre theory. While they do address the pharmaceautical industry and some of its problems, I don't think they consider the impact advertising has had on the drugs they sell. I think the enormous rise in the sale

A Tonic for Thoughtful Progressives

Nietzsche once said there is nothing worse for your position than to have someone argue for it poorly. As a progressive, I felt that way for a long time about the counter-culture wing of the leftist movement and their strident railing against "the omnivorous System." Fortunately, this book nicely defangs one of the most wrong-headed and unhelpful political movements in the last 50 years.Rebel Sell starts by destroying the sociological and moral psychological underpinnings of the counterculter movement which are generally housed upon Marx and Freud respectively. The authors point out (and Chris W seems to have missed this point), that both Marx and Freud have been largely chased out of the world of philosophers and theorists, even though the ghosts of these thinkers still haunt the minds of the amateur intellectuals that make up the ranks of the counterculture.After that, the rest of the book is a lively and often very amusing discussion of the silliness of the counterculture ideology (thank you, India!) combined with a complete debunking of most of its claims, and a damning critique of any real substantive solutions to legitimate problems. For liberals such as myself who are tired of being embarrassed by the pseudo-rebels in Nike shoes, this book is a welcome relief.

Worthy of your time and consideration

This book does say that there is a system. It says that the system exists to regulate the rules and realities around us. It argues that instead of wasting time by fighting the establishment through countercultural behaviour, we should make the effort to reform and improve the structures that exist.It goes on to further show how counterculture behaviour cannot only arrest development, but that its antisocial ideas and actions can harm us. Instead of behaving like adolescents, pointing fingers at the corporations that only sell us what we demand, we should be building a better society through real political process. This distinguishes thoughts and actions between dissent and deviance.Perhaps you're like me, having already read "No Logo" & "Fast Food Nation". You were a punk in high school and are still seeking ways to "smash the system". Instead of trying to destroy 2000 years of culture, as Atari Teenage Riot would have us do, we should follow the conclusions that the authors reach. This book actually offers sound advice, rather than simply complain. Their ideas are practical and realistic.Anyone interested in evolutionary psychology will feel at home with terms like "competitive consumption". The authors recognize that our quest for status affects those around us. What they object to is when your aspirations begin to harm society, when it is threatened by zero-sum games. Your attempts at distinguishing yourself from the masses could not only be pointless, but damaging. See their sections on the prisoner's dilemma, where they expand on that borrowed concept.The authors rarely self-identify during the book, and I found this single voice to facilitate the reading experience. It was a wise decision. Overall, the writing is excellent, especially considering the critical nature of the topic. They also include the word "smacktard", which should be added to your everyday conversation.