I read a statement (from a newspaper article) on the net that the "pleasure society" (my translation of the German term "Spassgesellschaft") reached it's end with 9/11, in Germany at least. It was still discussed by German sociolists in 2001. And there was a book published in 2003, with the title (again my translation) "From the pleasure society to the state of emergency in education" (Von der Spassgesellschaft in den Bildungsnotstand). In Tokyo, the pleasure society still seems to be in full swing. Hedonism, everybody just wants to shop, eat great food, get drunk and look cute, trendy and harmlessly childish, regressing seems to be the cool thing to do, unless you want to make a lot of enemies. Is there any of this discussion going on by sociologists in other places, besides Germany? All I could find, really, was the "pleasure society" as the name of a brass band, and this, from Japan:
nissygalenissygale.blogspot.com/20...tml
nissygalenissygale.blogspot.com/20...tml
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Re: "the pleasure society" or whatsitcalled
Wed, April 16, 2008 - 11:35 AMAy caramba, every two-bit academic on the planet is constantly trying to make a name for him or herself by declaring the end of an era and/or the start of a new one.
Hedonism is absolutely, unequivocably still alive. Regression to childish behavior is very common in San Francisco, as well, and I wouldn't be at all surprised that it is seen in any major metro area where people are crowded too close together and live stressful lives.
It's really quite ridiculous in San Francisco. I know many otherwise semi-intelligent people whose whole personal identity revolves around Burning Man, parties, costumes, and similar frivolities. And these are middle-aged adults, not little kids. It's a phenomenon I call "40 going on 4."
The need for recreation is of course quite real, but I object to the way people rationalize irresponsible behavior in the name of play. All the world's a stage, yes, but it takes discipline to learn one's lines and perform with convincing emotion.
People today are fat, lazy, stupid, and want everything handed to them. Contrast that with preindustrial civilizations, in which people are starving and desperate, but still just as stupid.
