The reporting of news has to be understood as propaganda for commodities, and events by images.
Christopher LaschRead
Much of what is euphemistically known as the middle class, merely because it dresses up to go to work, is now reduced to proletarian conditions of existence. Many white-collar jobs require no more skill and pay even less than blue-collar jobs, conferring little status or security.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques the diminishing value and security of middle-class jobs in society.
Christopher Lasch's quote highlights the plight of the middle class, particularly white-collar workers, whose jobs have become comparable to those of the working class in terms of skill requirement and pay. He argues that despite their professional appearance, these workers face insecure conditions akin to the proletariat, illustrating a shift in societal status and economic stability.
Themes
Middle ClassJob SecurityProletarianWhite-CollarWorking Conditions
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about modern employment trends and job security during a seminar.
More from Christopher Lasch
All quotes →It is advertising and the logic of consumerism that governs the depiction of reality in the mass media.
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Even the reporting of news has to be understood not as propaganda for any particular ideology, liberal or conservative, but as propaganda for commodities — for the replacement of things by commodities, use values by exchange values, and events by images.
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The question of the family now divides our society so deeply that the opposing sides cannot even agree on a definition of the institution they are arguing about.
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Propaganda in the ordinary sense of the term plays a less important part in a consumer society, where people greet all official pronouncements with suspicion.
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