Is it? I don’t see how abundance of entertainment choices is related to alienation.
If we have 5000 ways to spend our free time in a socialist society and people end up choosing to do various forms of entertainment that don’t involve the possibility of leading to sexy time, are they alienated in the socialist society? Or is the issue that the convenient entertainment is muscling out the less convenient entertainment in competition for a person’s limited amount of total time?
A person does not need to be alienated from their labour to choose to watch tv or play a single player videogame instead of going out to a bar or social event.
Abundance entertainment is directly related to alienation because you end up spending time consuming it instead of participating in activities with other people. Imagine a society where people go out to do sports, have picnics, enjoy nature, get together to discuss books, etc. Social planning can ensure that there are parks, libraries, sport centers, and other facilities for people to use and where they can spend time together.
Abundance entertainment is a direct product of capitalist relations and consumerism. We’ve structured our society around consumption, and entertainment has become a major form of consumption now that capitalism in the west moved into its financialized phase. A socialist society doesn’t have to be structured this way. The focus on producing media to be sold to customers is a direct product of the economic relations in our society.
Is it? I don’t see how abundance of entertainment choices is related to alienation.
If we have 5000 ways to spend our free time in a socialist society and people end up choosing to do various forms of entertainment that don’t involve the possibility of leading to sexy time, are they alienated in the socialist society? Or is the issue that the convenient entertainment is muscling out the less convenient entertainment in competition for a person’s limited amount of total time?
A person does not need to be alienated from their labour to choose to watch tv or play a single player videogame instead of going out to a bar or social event.
Abundance entertainment is directly related to alienation because you end up spending time consuming it instead of participating in activities with other people. Imagine a society where people go out to do sports, have picnics, enjoy nature, get together to discuss books, etc. Social planning can ensure that there are parks, libraries, sport centers, and other facilities for people to use and where they can spend time together.
Abundance entertainment is a direct product of capitalist relations and consumerism. We’ve structured our society around consumption, and entertainment has become a major form of consumption now that capitalism in the west moved into its financialized phase. A socialist society doesn’t have to be structured this way. The focus on producing media to be sold to customers is a direct product of the economic relations in our society.