ZYGMUNT BAUMAN: "CULTURE"?

Zygmunt Bauman, Culture in a Liquid Modern World (Cambridge, England, & Malden, MA: Polity, 2011) (From the back cover: "In its original formulation, 'culture' was intended to be an agent for change, a mission undertaken with the aim of educating 'the people' by bringing the best of human thought and creativity to them. But in our contemporary liquid modern world, culture has lost its missionary role and has become a means of seduction it sees no longer to enlighten the people but to seduce them. The function of culture today is not to satisfy existing needs but to create new ones, while simultaneously ensuring that existing needs remain permanently unfilled. Future today likens itself to a giant department store where the shelves are overflowing with desirable goods that are changed on a daily basis--just ling enough to stimulate desires whose gratification is perpetually postponed." [Comment: In short, we are existing in a "consumer culture," where we are constantly on the make for the next "new" thing. Yet, worse than that, we ourselves have become "consumer goods," constantly marketing ourselves, repackaging ourselves, updating our brand, fighting for better shelf space.]).