Bureaucracy and "The New Industrial State"
The 1950's/60's was a time of prosperity within the USA and the developed world. The outlook was highly KEYNESIAN, as the failure of
Communism lead to Capitalism being seen as a more efficient and effective way to
progress. Branding and Advertising, described as the ‘drug of the nation’, was used to appeal to a person’s subconscious
wants and desires, with the rise in Finance Capital paving the way for a more
nihilistic outlook. People became self-indulgent, adopting smoking for example,
and much more materialistic. Classic Economists such as ADAM SMITH and DAVID HUME were now obsolete as the increase in capital became
the height of social worth and the purpose of existence. Bigger organisations were
being set up to accommodate the necessary ‘means
of production’ with America now being viewed as a “Free Market Capitalist Economy”.
A prime example of this is AMC’s TV series which follows the
lives of successful, bureaucratic ‘Mad Men’
in the 1960’s that work in the business of advertising; “The Industrial System” as GALBRAITH calls it. Though appearing to
be very well off, according to MAX WEBER, they are ‘victims of society’ whereby they are
powerless against authority. Instead, their purpose is to perform a moral duty
– they are ‘Goal-Rational’ whereby
everything they strive to attain is linked back to profit; the main part of the
economy that is subject to change. Instead, the ‘Mad Men’ world shows society as a “death machine”, plunging the public into a state of ‘False Consciousness’ [KARL MARX].
“In its cost and the
talent it commands, this activity is coming increasingly to rival the effort
devoted to the production of goods” [GALBRAITH on Advertising, PAGE 23]
As JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH describes in his book
“The New Industrial State” (1972),
the “managed” society acts as a kind
of “soft” totalitarianism, whereby
the governing body maintains absolute control over the ‘means of production’. He was a follower
of KEYNESIAN Economics, but instead believed in a fixed price system in order
to maintain a state of constant “Equilibrium”.
With the increase in production came the increase in capital and therefore the
necessary division of labour [SMITH]. This can be demonstrated through various
technical advances within the workplace, such as the copy machine, etc. This is
representative of the Absolute State Intervention GALBRAITH references with
organisation taking up a specialised role.
“Technological compulsions,
and not ideology or political will, will require the firm to seek the help and
protection of the state” (PAGE 38)
As a firm believer in Socialism, GALBRAITH thought competition
is healthy as it reflected the ‘animal
spirits of the entrepreneur’ (PAGE 187) supporting SCHOPENHAUER’s idea that
a ‘true’ human is a violent and
aggressive monster. This outlook is characteristic of all society, similar to
that in ‘Apocalypse Now’ where the
killing of the dominate male by the subordinate male mirrors the survival of
businesses that work in the same way; large firms with large amounts of
capital dominating small firms with little amount of capital. However, it is
GALBRAITH’s social anthropology that if a large firm was to dictate or, in turn
stand up to the authority, then the economy would not be able to function
effectively, thus remaining in a state of “disequilibrium”
and ultimately leading to the malfunction of civilisation.
604 words.
Sources:
- www.abridge.me.uk/doku.php?id=the_new_industrial_state [Accessed 13/03/13]
- www.journalismjenni.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/seminar-paper-on-new-industrial-state.html [Accessed 13/03/13]
[Image accredited to ‘Brett Jordan’. Available under Flickr CC]
[Image accredited to ‘Joe Crawford (artlung)’. Available under Flickr CC]
[Image accredited to ‘Carly & Art’. Available under Flickr CC]
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