Cultural stagnation can be reversed by choosing new norms and values
Evidence
While this history centers on the misadventures of certain wealthy and famous individuals, we must remember that culture ultimately belongs to all of us. If we dislike what has transpired, it’s within our power to reverse these trends. The pages that follow chart a clear timeline to diagnose the causes of stagnation and map out potential paths toward cultural renewal. Even if a radical transformation of the global economic structure remains unlikely, we still possess the most powerful tool for cultural change: the ability to choose our own norms and values. Above all, we must begin with reviving a collective belief in the necessity of cultural invention. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 38
If we dislike what has transpired, it’s within our power to reverse these trends. The pages that follow chart a clear timeline to diagnose the causes of stagnation and map out potential paths toward cultural renewal. Even if a radical transformation of the global economic structure remains unlikely, we still possess the most powerful tool for cultural change: the ability to choose our own norms and values. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 38
Categorization
- APHORISMS: The core prescription — that ordinary people hold the real lever of cultural change through choosing norms and values rather than awaiting structural revolution — is a genuine piece of practical wisdom.
- XREF: Connects to the Frankfurt School’s claim that culture industry pleasure returns subjects to resigned drudgery — mostly passive audiences can self-extricate. — connects to: Culture industry stagnation predates monopolization and is intrinsic to entertainment — Theodor W. Adorno, Minima Moralia: Reflections from…, 168; Democratic theory’s task is to reconstruct rational content in historically realized norms and practices. — Jürgen Habermas, A New Structural Transformation of the…, 10; Culture, unlike science, can always revisit superseded conventions for value — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 685 (+7 more)
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — W. David Marx, Blank Space: A Cultural History of the…, 38