Culture 16

Consumer society has the strongest colonising power… This is the culture that subjugates us, tyrannises us, dominates our organisation of time… A few centuries of capitalism have given us technology, individualism and progress, but we have lost our sociable, social condition. We are at a crossroads. The only fight we can put up is cultural: more contemplation of nature and less time shopping!

The quote was composed from two sources: an interview on Telesur from 2014 and an article from 2018. The translation comes from Füllgraf 2020.

Pepe Mujica (b. 1935) was a member of the left-wing Tupamaro guerrillas and was tortured and imprisoned for 14 years during the military dictatorship in Uruguay. He was President of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015. During his tenure, he donated 90% of his income and was considered the world's most humble president.

Mujica criticises what is referred to as Western culture for its view of economic success and consumer goods as life’s ultimate goals. Since our economic system is based on the maximisation of profits, within our societies, a desire to consume must be created and promoted, e.g. through advertising. Thus people strive for the satisfaction of this need without the government or any other authority having to cultivate it in them. Western capitalist culture is thus not only based on democratic and liberal values, but also on an individualistic and profit-oriented culture of consumption, in which Mujica sees a colonisation of life itself. In his documentary The Century of the Self (2002), Adam Curtis explores advertising’s psychological tricks as well as political manipulation of the population.

*Emir Kusturica (2018): El Pepe, una vida suprema. Trailer. *Alvaro Brechner (2018): La noche de 12 años. Trailer. *Adam Curtis (2002): The Century of the Self. BBC Documentary.  Full movie.

2014