Chapter 102 one-dimensional person

The West in the 1960s was lively.At that time, China was engaged in the Cultural Revolution, and the "New Left" movement was rising in the West.For a time, anti-colonialism, anti-racism, women's rights, sexual liberation and other movements gathered together.By 1968, the movement reached its peak. Students marched, workers went on strike, and dissatisfaction with the existing system of capitalism pervaded the entire society. Many people believed that the revolution had arrived. In this movement, there are three spiritual leaders worshiped by young people, which are dubbed "3M".Because the first letter of their names in Western languages ​​is M, they are Marx, Mao Zedong, and Marcuse.

The Chinese Cultural Revolution proposed that "rebellion is justified," and at this time the radical young people in the West wanted to rebel against the capitalist world.Many people became followers of Mao Zedong and were called Maoists. Marcuse can be said to be the rebel leader in the West at that time.He was born in Berlin in 1898 into a wealthy Jewish family.Active in politics from an early age, he joined the Social Democratic Party at the age of 19 and quit the party two years later in protest of its betrayal of the proletariat.After the failure of the German Revolution he gave up politics for philosophy and became a student of Husserl and Heidegger.He seems to be more successful in philosophy than he is in politics.Later he joined the Frankfurt School and became its main member.

"One-Dimensional Man" is Marcuse's most famous work, and its core is to criticize the ideology of advanced capitalist society.This work won him a worldwide reputation in the 1960s. He was praised by the media as "the father of the New Left" and became the most influential intellectual in the United States and Europe. One-dimensional people have thus become a popular term. "Dimension" is "dimension" in English, and it can also be translated into "aspect" or "dimension".What is a one-dimensional person?To put it bluntly, it is the kind of person who has no critical spirit towards society and blindly agrees with reality.Such a person will not seek a higher life, or even have the ability to imagine a better life.

Marcuse believed that it was the advanced capitalist society that created one-dimensional people.Such a society is a totalitarian society, which suppresses different opinions and voices, and suppresses people's denial and criticism of the status quo. This view may surprise you.In our impression, those developed capitalist countries are very democratic.Different political parties compete there, there is freedom of the press, there are a lot of opposition to the government and opposing opinions, and people can take to the streets to demonstrate when they are dissatisfied. How could it become a totalitarian society in Marcuse's eyes?

Marcuse believed that totalitarianism in advanced capitalist society was different from previous totalitarianism.The previous totalitarianism used terror and violence, and those who disobeyed the government and those in power would be thrown into prison, persecuted, or even killed. However, the modern totalitarian society lies in the existence of opposing factions and opposing opinions. Marcuse explained that this opposition is only superficial, just like the Republican Party and the Democratic Party in the United States. Although the two factions compete for power, they are capitalist parties after all and do not oppose the capitalist system.Another example is that in Western society, the masses can hold demonstrations, but what they oppose are only some specific measures of the government, not the social system.There are even police "protection" next to it, in case of accidents.

In a developed capitalist society, the masses of the people have lost their revolutionary character. This is the best proof of totalitarianism. But why is this the case?Marcuse analyzed that this is the result of the increase in capitalist productivity, the improvement of the working people's life, and the assimilation of the way of life.In contemporary capitalist society, the working class also has cars, travels, and enjoys various services like a boss.Since you can live comfortably, why would you want to rebel? From a cultural point of view, the dominance of contemporary society is the commercial culture of love and love, which provides entertainment and stimulation to the public, and the purpose is only to make money.These things are of low quality, and people accept them all day long, so how can it inspire a rebellion against society and imagine a higher way of life?Therefore, in a developed capitalist society, people are not free, but they are comfortably unfree!

Marcuse's views ignited the flames of criticism and revolution hidden in many people's hearts.Can you also gain a critical eye from it?