The pursuit of happiness

["Chris, London" <100423.2040@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Justin:


Ken worries about the ideological burden in a capitalist society of the
notion that each should be free to seek happiness in her own way. He
thinks this plays into a legitimation of a picture of endless desires for
commodities.

Chris:

I think it is arguable that the concept of needs, which Marx certainly
went along with, is highly compatible with a society dominated by
commodity exchange. By contrast I would suggest we should be talking
about social interaction which occurs spontaneously, and reasserts itself
repeatedly even under conditions of the most intense commodity exchange.

E.G last weekend the new lottery introduced in Britain was said to have
sold tickets to 90% of the population! People are sharing a collective
phenomenon and topic of conversation, as much as individually
buying a coupon of entitlement to the possibility of a 40 million pound
prize.




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