Rebel Sell: Why the Culture Can't Be Jammed [Paperback]

The Rebel Sell is the most thought-provoking and enjoyable critique of contemporary social and political myths that I have read in a long while. It is carefully argued and extremely engaging. It's a ruthless critique of many icons of contemporary thought, from Klein to Foucault, from Marx to Freud as well as a fascinating interpretation of North-American culture, from American Beauty to Kurt Cobain, from alternative culture to environmentalists. And this is the exact reason why those involved social critique and political activism should read this.

The central argument of the Rebel Sell is simple: since the 50s and 60s, the problem with left-wing politics is that it misdiagnoses the source of problems in society. While the critique of mass society identifies the source of problems in the inhuman and deeply repressive nature of "the system", Heath and Potter argue that 1) there is no such thing as the system and 2) most problems in our society are "collective action problems". The book is excellent at demonstrating the deeply individualistic and entrepreneurial nature of counter-culture and at showing how it feeds, and not rejects, the 'system'.

I was personally fascinated by the role of 'collective action problems' and the left's failure to address them. For instance, the authors argue that the source of most violence in society is rational. Following Freud, the left has ignored this fact, and focused on emotions and instincts. Similarly, the authors argue that consumerism is very much a product of defensive competition in the struggle to maintain status in society. Hence, SUVs, gun ownership, tuition fees, etc. are 'collective action problems', the solution to which does not rest in individual choices, but rather in collective decision-making.

There is a lot more in the book than just this. The authors in fact do an impressively good job at moving from philosophical arguments to actual examples. The sections on the social construction of taste, the importance of cool as a positional good and the discussion of alternative lifestyle are fascinating. In addition, the book has a great index and a very accurate bibliography.

For anyone that is genuinely interested in the social problems of contemporary society, this book is a must-read. It is not a manifesto for political action: in fact, it's most successful achievement is the accurate critique of the most prominent movements and ideas of our time. It is fascinating (and deeply troubling) to see how hypocritical and misguided political movements have been recently. A focus re-shift is necessary, and here's where to start.

In The Rebel Sell: Why the Culture Can't Be Jammed, Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter challenge using countercultural or subversive behaviour to establish social justice. Their claim is that the ideals of the counterculture are the same things that drive capitalism and purchasing. Rebellious purchasing, whether that be organic food, extreme sports, grunge fashion, or something else, is sold on the same idea as a Lexus or Rolex - the desire to be different. In essence, the counterculture cannot be co-opted because it does not exist.

The Rebel Sell does not take cheap shots at the left or advocates for social justice. Heath and Potter write about the need for progressive change. At least one is a former punk who participated in varied subversive actions. They write to progressives and the left to attempt to show that blocking or rejecting culture in order to bring about change is counterproductive. Such a rejection may also result in odd situations. A female MP campaigning for equal rights may be considered oppressive because she is on the inside. A Caucasian male from an affluent background who rails against the world in a coffee shop (independent shop, of course) becomes more credible and is somehow even a victim.

Heath and Potter conclude that compromise is necessary. Compromise is not selling out and it does mean that everything you believe is up for grabs. Instead, compromise is identifying where negotiation is possible and asking what will most likely bring about a desired outcome. Without understanding compromise in this way, we will have a world where there is very little opportunity for any change while smug, self-righteous people yell at "The Man." The market is the only means for such compromise. Pluralism and choosing the best bits from a variety of ideas allows for social change if choices are made intelligently. The market accepts that the utopian ideal of having everyone believe in the same cause is mutually exclusive with pluralism. Pluralism forces us to learn how to disagree well and disagreeing well requires society and norms. This does not mean that the market is universally good. We can acknowledge failures in the market without completely rejecting it. We should strive to fix these failures. Absolute freedom is impossible and civilization is needed for progressive change.

Potter and Heath use two methods to demonstrate that subversion is not able to reform culture for the better. Part one shows that countercultural rebellion is ineffective. They rhetorically ask, "How many times can the system be subverted without noticeable effect before we begin to question the means of subversion?" The mainstream, it seems, is happy to chug along and see subversion as inconsequential or entertaining. Subversive groups may even be a target market. Part two explains a countercultural idea and then demonstrates it as ultimately untenable and counterproductive. The "hacker ethic," for example, ensures that information is free for everyone. The hacker ethic uses netiquette rather than rules to govern discourse. Sometimes, however, people use "free expression" as an excuse for harassment, coercion, or flaming. Such activities are as effective at repressing free speech as state sponsored censorship.

I genuinely believe that government can bring about social justice. (I also believe that doing so is their God-given responsibility.) This book made a good case that subversion is not effective or coherent. I like that Heath and Potter suggest plugging holes instead of simply giving the finger to the world. I also like their suggestion that it is as likely (maybe even more likely) that an oppressor other than government or "the system" will stifle freedom. When culture jammers fail to offer an alternative to the culture that they are trying to bring down, they propose a vacuum by default. Without the restraints that a civilization provides, there is nothing to prevent the biggest guy from winning.

Coming from a "social-justice Christian" perspective, I find this book useful. I find myself often in situations where I am with other social justice proponents. Many of my conversation partners are proponents of being countercultural and some endorse culture jamming. I disagree with them, but have rarely been able to move beyond a "Yes, but" conversation. The Rebel Sell allows me to now say, "No, because." The book isn't perfect (some of their arguments about counterculture using cliché could easily be used against the authors as well; their take on the basic beliefs of Christianity are drastically different than mine) but it still makes a significant contribution to the social justice conversation.

Nietzsche once said there is nothing worse for your position than to have someone argue for it poorly. As a progressive, I felt that way for a long time about the counter-culture wing of the leftist movement and their strident railing against "the omnivorous System." Fortunately, this book nicely defangs one of the most wrong-headed and unhelpful political movements in the last 50 years.

Rebel Sell starts by destroying the sociological and moral psychological underpinnings of the counterculter movement which are generally housed upon Marx and Freud respectively. The authors point out (and Chris W seems to have missed this point), that both Marx and Freud have been largely chased out of the world of philosophers and theorists, even though the ghosts of these thinkers still haunt the minds of the amateur intellectuals that make up the ranks of the counterculture.

After that, the rest of the book is a lively and often very amusing discussion of the silliness of the counterculture ideology (thank you, India!) combined with a complete debunking of most of its claims, and a damning critique of any real substantive solutions to legitimate problems. For liberals such as myself who are tired of being embarrassed by the pseudo-rebels in Nike shoes, this book is a welcome relief.