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Our society, John Ralston Saul argues in the 1995 Massey Lectures, is only superficially based on the individual and democracy. Increasingly it is conformist and corporatist, a society in which legitimacy lies with specialist or interest groups and decisions are made through constant negotiations between these groups. The paradox of our situation is that knowledge has not made us conscious. Instead, we have sought refuge in a world of illusion where language is cut off from reality. Reconnecting language to reality, clarifying what we mean by individualism and democracy, making these realities central to the citizen's life, identifying ideologies in order to control them, these are among the first elements of equilibrium which Saul proposes in these lectures.… (more)
User reviews
I was very impressed with the authors ability
He managed to articulate so nicely the moral argument for unions, for doing what is best for all rather than what is just best for some, for open governments and for the necessity of public sector jobs. He gave options, or at least starting points for discussion, on alternatives to the way we live these modern lives that we do. (ie: the packing in of education and race to employment that we do in our early lives, to leave until retirement the time to choose, to relax and to volunteer.) There is a lot of discussion on language, and how it is used to gain power- to exclude sections of the population from gaining the information that is supposed to be so available nowdays.
All very interesting and useful stuff, presented in a palatable, if intellectual, way.