The affluent society is permanently mobilized against annihilation and sells moronization.

Evidence

The standard of living attained in the most advanced industrial areas is not a suitable model of development if the aim is pacification. In view of what this standard has made of Man and Nature, the question must again be asked whether it is worth the sacrifices and the victims made in its defense. The question has ceased to be irresponsible since the “affluent society” has become a society of permanent mobilization against the risk of annihilation, and since the sale of its goods has been accompanied by moronization, the perpetuation of toil, and the promotion of frustration. — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 843

Categorization

• SEED: Article angle: ‘moronization’ as Marcuse’s prescient term for attention-economy subservience—selling goods through cognitive degradation rather than genuine satisfaction.