Political Philosophy-Dr. Laurie M Johnson

Narcissistic Death Cult: Christopher Lasch’s America (2-Audio)

Jul 5, 2020

29:22

This podcast reacts to the first chapter of Christopher Lasch’s 1979 book The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations–what does Lasch mean by narcissism, and what does it do to our relationships? In my view, our collective narcissism has created a culture of death, or a societal death cult. Lasch’s ideas are useful for understanding how our economy encourages and feeds off our narcissism and how our turning inwards keeps us from life: being proper spouses, parents, friends, neighbors and citizens. His take on technocracy and its twin vehicles of big government and corporate power is instructive and calls into question our typical distinction between government and business. Both engage in the project of managing us and encouraging our continued narcissism and consequent divisions.
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For more from me:
https://lauriemjohnson.com/
https://politicalphilosophy.video.blog/