The mystery of why Kamala wasn’t giving interviews has been solved. She was preparing for the debate. And she did fantastic. Lied like a… well, like a politician, I guess but since her debate partner just let her, why not?
I went on Twitter, and it’s full of how the moderators were nice to Kamala and unfair to Trump.
Well, duh. It’s not exactly unexpected, is it? We all knew this was going to be the case given that 94% of journalists vote D. That’s even more reason for Trump to prepare carefully and not try to wing it.
What the bloody Vance was Trump thinking, coming so unprepared and being so all over the place?
It’s a rhetorical question. I know the answer well.
Clarissa's Blog 
No political issues debated between them. The American people lost.
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Definitely. We all lost. And we’ve nobody to blame because we allow our politicians to treat us like trash.
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The Frankfurt School emerged during the interwar Weimar Republic period. Critical Theory engaged with the real world. It sought to understand and transform society, not merely theorize about it. It focused upon making a critique of modernity, capitalist society, and mass culture. It made a reinterpretation of Marxist concepts like commodification, reification, and fetishization.
Marx introduced the concept of commodification in his analysis of capitalism. It refers to the process by which goods, services, or even human labor become transformed into commodities, for sale in the open market-place.
Reinterpretation by the Frankfurt School: They explored how commodification affects not only economic relations but also cultural practices, social interactions, and personal identities. Commodification wasn’t just about goods; it was about the pervasive influence of market logic on all aspects of life. The Frankfurt School critiqued how commodification led to alienation. People became estranged from their own labor, their creativity, and even their identities.
Marx introduced the concept of Reification: the process by which social relations, abstract concept or human activities become transformed into seemingly objective, natural things or commodities.
Marx used the term Fetishization to explain how commodities (goods and services) assume a mystical aura in capitalist society. Something like how black magic injects spirits into dead objects.
Reification and fetishization are intertwined. Reification turns social relations into things, while fetishization imbues those things with mystical significance. Both concepts reveal how capitalism alienates us from the true social relations behind commodities.
The Frankfurt School’s Critique extended reification beyond economic relations. It wasn’t just about goods; it was about how capitalist society turned everything into commodities. Cultural practices, social interactions, and personal identities—all became subject to market logic. Reification alienated individuals from their labor and obscured the true social context behind these processes.
The Frankfurt School’s Critique of Marx’s Fetishization, explored how fetishization extended beyond commodities. It included cultural phenomena, ideologies, and even political figures. Fetishization of celebrity culture turns individuals into quasi-magical icons, obscuring their humanity. The culture industry (mass media, entertainment) perpetuated fetishization, creating standardized tastes and conformity.
After World War II, the geopolitical landscape shifted dramatically. The rise of the Cold War, the division of Europe, and the dominance of the United States as a superpower reshaped intellectual priorities.
The Frankfurt School’s critique of the culture industry (mass media, entertainment, advertising) remained influential. However, it didn’t always translate into widespread societal change. The Frankfurt School’s decline in direct influence was shaped by historical events, academic shifts, and generational changes. Yet, their critical lens still informs discussions about culture, capitalism, and society.
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[from another post on the electoral debate]: Harris clearly worked her butt off to prepare and she won[…]: it’s OK to be mediocre as long as you are ready to work, work, work.
This is something that every teacher knows: it’s the hard slogger that gets the prize, not the brilliant lazybones.
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Exactly. I’m not particularly brilliant but I get results because I work hard.
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Don’t agree with this post. She spent a few days preparing for the debate, and she’s been avoiding interviews for months. I don’t think these two are related. Even the pliant media has reported on how she’s not comfortable with interviews and any situation where she has to think on her feet. And this goes way back.
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