Sign-In
Cart
Society-on-Demand
Paperback
PhilosophyGeneral Political ScienceGeneral Sociology
ISBN13: 9781399923910
Publisher: Tim Johnston
Published: Jun 8 2022
Pages: 178
Weight: 0.44
Height: 0.41 Width: 5.00 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
A combative, energetic and visceral analysis of the digital entertainment industry and its impact on political change; from the smartphone to social media, pornography to football, streaming to NFTs and more: the realm of the Online has placed us on a path of imminent social collapse. Making his debut, Tim Johnston guides us through a political and social minefield as he dissects, through pop culture and current events, the impact of digital entertainment on our humanity and, consequently, political and social change. A ruthless attack and a fundamental critique of the internet's control over our lives and political future, Johnston systematically eviscerates the technological status quo, otherwise known as, society-on-demand.
-
It's often said our challenge for a better world is political.
And yet, the challenges we face cannot be defeated on an individual basis so long as the realm of the Online, through digital entertainment, is seen as preferable to the physical society in which we live. Expecting millions to demand change when apathy is god and escape is heaven is like trying to fit a camel through the lens of an iPhone.
The challenges of society-on-demand are pervasive, systemic and accepted; presented as normal, even essential, parts of everyday life.
Consequently, we are engaged in nothing less than a war on our selves; to reclaim our humanity from the rubble of indifference through a fundamental reshaping of values.
The digital entertainment industry has established a crisis of impotence; a culture of apathy; through personal devices and the content they provide. Society is witnessing a fundamental shift in how we perceive ourselves and each other, disproportionately affecting Gen Z and Millennials, who face serious mental health crises and broken relationships through the prioritisation of an online existence. We need a political and technological reformation; one which restores our perceptions of ourselves, of each other and the world around us. Without this, the Left has no ideological basis, for it has no recognition, understanding, or prioritisation of reality.
This is about stripping away the weeds of a pervasive digital entertainment industry - the default of an online existence - to rehumanise ourselves and, consequently, achieve the political changes we need.
This book is not a battle plan. But it is an assessment - an analysis - of the enemy's defences. It is a blueprint of the fortress we need to know and understand: a tool of distraction and oppression threatening social relations and, without exaggeration, the viability of our existence. Without this understanding, we cannot hope to regain our lives from the tools that oppress us, nor reuse them for the foundational changes we need: and that means exposing the damage our online lives - and the systems behind them - have caused.
-
A seminal and foundational work, Society-on-Demand is a radical and necessary contribution to modern political thought; a call to arms in our own lives to free ourselves form the oppression of our devices and divert our energies elsewhere, for the sake of our mental health, relationships and radical political change.
Also from
Johnston, Tim
Also in
Philosophy
Solidarity: The Past, Present, and Future of a World-Changing Idea
Taylor, Astra
Hunt-Hendrix, Leah
Hardcover
In the Beginning Was the Deed: Realism and Moralism in Political Argument
Williams, Bernard
Paperback
The American Indian Mind in a Linear World: American Indian Studies and Traditional Knowledge
Fixico, Donald Lee
Paperback
Dreaming of Cinema: Spectatorship, Surrealism, and the Age of Digital Media
Lowenstein, Adam
Paperback
Machine Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm: Spiritual Freedom and the Re-Animation of Matter
Lafitte, Luke
Paperback
The Sociogony: Social Facts and the Ontology of Objects, Things, and Monsters
Worrell, Mark P.
Paperback
On Quality: An Inquiry Into Excellence: Unpublished and Selected Writings
Pirsig, Robert M.
Pirsig, Wendy K.
Hardcover
The Electromagnetic Brain: Em Field Theories on the Nature of Consciousness
Joye, Shelli Renée
Paperback
Philosophy in Turbulent Times: Canguilhem, Sartre, Foucault, Althusser, Deleuze, Derrida
Roudinesco, Elisabeth
Paperback
The New Science of Giambattista Vico: Unabridged Translation of the Third Edition (1744) with the Addition of Practic of the New Science
Vico, Giambattista
Paperback
The Persuaders: At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and Democracy
Giridharadas, Anand
Hardcover
The Dream of Reason: A History of Philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance
Gottlieb, Anthony
Paperback
The Modes of Scepticism: Ancient Texts and Modern Interpretations
Annas, Julia
Barnes, Jonathan
Julia, Annas
Paperback
Friendship and Society: An Introduction to Augustine's Practical Philosophy
Burt, Donald X.
Paperback
Suffering and the Search for Meaning: Contemporary Responses to the Problem of Pain
Rice, Richard
Paperback
Essays V2: Moral And Entertaining On The Various Faculties And Passions Of The Human Mind (1815)
Clarendon, Edward Hyde Earl of
Paperback
The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Holiday, Ryan
Hanselman, Stephen
Hardcover
The Mattering Instinct: How Our Deepest Longing Drives Us and Divides Us
Goldstein, Rebecca Newberger
Hardcover
The Obstacle Is the Way Expanded 10th Anniversary Edition: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials Into Triumph
Holiday, Ryan
Hardcover
Self-Help from the Middle Ages: What the Seven Deadly Sins Can Teach Us about Living
Jones, Peter
Hardcover
Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness
Godfrey-Smith, Peter
Paperback
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Fifth Anniversary Limited Edition: The Global Bestseller
Mackesy, Charlie
Hardcover
Bless & Release: The physics of letting go-and wanting what's meant for you.
Laporte, Danielle
Paperback
The Ethical Slut, Third Edition: A Practical Guide to Polyamory, Open Relationships, and Other Freedoms in Sex and Love
Easton, Dossie
Hardy, Janet W.
Paperback
Eight Million Ways to Happiness: Wisdom for Inspiration and Healing from the Heart of Japan
Yoda, Hiroko
Hardcover
Self-Reliance and Nature: The Complete First and Second Series of Emerson's Essays
Emerson, Ralph Waldo
Hardcover