Satisfied individuals see no rational reason to demand change

Evidence

If the individuals are satisfied to the point of happiness with the goods and services handed down to them by the administration, why should they insist on different institutions for a different production of different goods and services? And if the individuals are pre-conditioned so that the satisfying goods also include thoughts, feelings, aspirations, why should they wish to think, feel, and imagine for themselves? True, the material and mental commodities offered may be bad, wasteful, rubbish—but Geist and knowledge are no telling arguments against satisfaction of needs. — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 231

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s attention-economy work: the claim that ‘thoughts, feelings, aspirations’ are administered goods parallels algorithmic content curation. — connects to: Happiness is unmeasurable and too easily invoked to justify imposed stagnation — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 64; Mass acceptance of a society does not make it rational or defensible — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 93; The belief that change is impossible dissolves the obligation to act — Anna Kornbluh, Immediacy, or The Style of Too Late…, 316
• QUESTION: Is the ‘rubbish but satisfying’ condition still true in an era of abundance fatigue, or has the administered good begun to self-deconstruct?

Broader Connections

• Mass acceptance of a society does not make it rational or defensible #expands (0.85) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 93
• The belief that change is impossible dissolves the obligation to act #qualifies (0.78) — Anna Kornbluh, Immediacy, or The Style of Too Late…, 316