"He who praises you for what you lack wishes to take from you what you have." - Don Juan Manuel

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A: guess this is the dumbing down of the masses into making them expect even demand simplistic feel-good shit, which is why they need real art to shock, challenge, enlighten and eventually emancipate them. but this is crit theory already la.

B: i think actually this is the purpose of critical theory AND art - both need to constantly challenge the norms.

but then i was wondering (on a completely random note) if this means that there should ALWAYS BE a refusal even when we have come to a point when things are okay (according to the marxists)?

C: See the thing about Critical Theory that i like is that _ when will we ever reach a happy state? One man's meat is another man's poison so for many the Happy state is here. But for many it isn't. WHat critical theory does is it challenges and opens a space for consideration as to what can be changed, what SHOULD be changed. Utopia is elusive but critical theory seems to offer a way towards it, by changing what we are unhappy about. So the way I see it, Critical Theory offers a way for people to realise what makes them unhappy - through art. IT does not require a complete rejection of everything all the time. It just challeneges - the its upto you to decide if you like this status quo or not.

Me: Alternatively, Critical Theory assumes you are unhappy even if you're not, and then "shows" you how you "are", like how Marxism assumes you are exploited even if you're not, and then "shows" you how you "are".