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Life, Inc.
Oct. 11th, 2009 10:17 amI recently finished reading Life, Inc.. I heard Rushkoff on a couple of interview shows (most notably Democracy Now) and liked what he had to say, so put it on my list. When my local bookstore got it in for me, I jumped in with gusto.
Rushkoff is a great popularizer. He takes complicated concepts or histories, breaks them down and connects the dots in ways that are just about impossible to miss. Unfortunately, I was reminded that I'm not Rushkoff's intended demographic, at least in his writing*. In interview he's quick, incisive and totally focused. I think that's because he's trying to pack as much as possible into a small amount of time. In books, he's different.
It bears remembering that he's a popularizer. He's probably not writing for people who are already anti-corporatist, anti-capitalist, who read compulsively about uncomfortable, socio-economically depressing patterns and themes, who lose sleep thinking about unsustainable patterns of consumption and my own inability to integrate with my environment. I agonize over purchases, weighing localism against the length of distribution channels and the business practices of every corporation in the chain. It's like a choir member wandered into the orientation meeting for new parishioners, looking to get something out of a troubling metaphysical dilemma. I don't know, that sort of fell apart badly.
There's good stuff about the bias of central currencies, about the history of corporations, and the (too short) invocation of non-currency based localism is good. Unfortunately, this book wasn't what I guess I was hoping it would be. I think I'd really dig hanging out drinking and talking angrily with Rushkoff, but I'm just not his target audience, at least for his books.
*I'd read Coercion years ago, about how marketing intentionally interferes with rational decision making, and had a similar reaction.
Rushkoff is a great popularizer. He takes complicated concepts or histories, breaks them down and connects the dots in ways that are just about impossible to miss. Unfortunately, I was reminded that I'm not Rushkoff's intended demographic, at least in his writing*. In interview he's quick, incisive and totally focused. I think that's because he's trying to pack as much as possible into a small amount of time. In books, he's different.
It bears remembering that he's a popularizer. He's probably not writing for people who are already anti-corporatist, anti-capitalist, who read compulsively about uncomfortable, socio-economically depressing patterns and themes, who lose sleep thinking about unsustainable patterns of consumption and my own inability to integrate with my environment. I agonize over purchases, weighing localism against the length of distribution channels and the business practices of every corporation in the chain. It's like a choir member wandered into the orientation meeting for new parishioners, looking to get something out of a troubling metaphysical dilemma. I don't know, that sort of fell apart badly.
There's good stuff about the bias of central currencies, about the history of corporations, and the (too short) invocation of non-currency based localism is good. Unfortunately, this book wasn't what I guess I was hoping it would be. I think I'd really dig hanging out drinking and talking angrily with Rushkoff, but I'm just not his target audience, at least for his books.
*I'd read Coercion years ago, about how marketing intentionally interferes with rational decision making, and had a similar reaction.
