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Mass Society and
Mass Culture: Reinventing the Nobleman
By Ellen
Marsh
Today’s culture, according to
author Allen Armac in his brilliant and thought-provoking new book,
is a mass culture. We live, breathe, work and often think as a
group. We have mass education, mass entertainment, mass industrial
production and mass religions as well. But where did this kind of
group culture come from?
Armac carefully traces its creation
back to the rise of the middle class, which largely began as a
demographic movement in 1870, when ordinary people took on the world
of the “royals” and rebuilt it to their taste, stripping the
pomp and glory to try to create a braver new world. But in doing so,
Armac argues, these same people impacted every aspect of our lives
from that day forward – and not always for the better.
From education to communication to
public opinion, we live in a global society. Everything we see, say
or do is impacted by the masses. Given this, can any one individual
improve present social conditions and make a better world for
everyone? Can we go beyond our present mass culture to create brand
new societal trends and values that we want to succeed and do away
with those that we don’t? And can we reclaim the beauty of old
artisan traditions instead of mass productions?
Armac answers these intriguing
questions and more as he examines mass cultures through history in
incisive, thorough and absolutely fascinating detail. The essence of
the book reaches its climax in the last chapter that shows us an
ideal way out from the dead-end of our age – ennoblement of the
entire population. Provocative and pointed and simmering with
intelligence, this is one book that should be essential reading for
every thinking person.
About The Author
Article by Ellen Tanner Marsh. Ms
Marsh is one of the most respected New York Times best selling
authors.
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