Page 154 - Šolsko polje, XXVIII, 2017, no. 3-4: Education and the American Dream, ed. Mitja Sardoč
P. 154
šolsko polje, letnik xxviii, številka 3–4
al theory (indeed ideology from its inception), which in 1973 already did
its blood stained job in Chile after the coup against the Allende govern-
ment, still lingered in the USA in a state of mainly just voicing the criti-
cism against the “nanny state”. Of course, in the area of economic and fi-
nancial realities, structural moves were already on the go, along with the
diverse promises of technological developments. Therefore, Lasch’s depic-
tion of the American society and culture could be defined in retrospect as
a secular prophecy, based on a diagnosis of a change of the very form of so-
ciety and of the social mechanism, which accommodate singular agencies
including the category of individual. Lasch indicates a demise of the Prot-
estant virtues, what can be interpreted as an inner transformation of the
basic notions of the American Dream. “As the future becomes menacing
and uncertain, only fools put off until tomorrow the fun they can have to-
day. A profound shift in our sense of time has transformed work habits,
values, and the definition of success. Self-preservation has replaced self-im-
provement as the goal of earthly existence” (Lasch, 1991: p. 53). The book
reflects changes in the American form of subjectivity that becomes deter-
mined by the concept of “borderline personality”. Lasch comes close to
what appears some seven years earlier to Deleuze and Guattari (1983) as a
dynamic between capitalism and schizophrenia, since in their words “/…/
schizophrenia is the product of the capitalist machine” (p. 33). Lasch’s in-
tention is more descriptive, nevertheless, he gives a concurring diagnosis.
“In our time, the preschizophrenic, borderline, or personality disorders
have attracted increasing attention, along with schizophrenia itself ” (p.
41). Lasch’s finding that the old ideal of a self-made man transformed into
a narcissistic appearance and an empty performance, signals what became
a perverted form of “success” under the rule of neoliberalism. American
consumerism prepared the terrain for the advent of it. “The happy hooker
stands in place of Horatio Alger as the prototype of personal success” (p.
53). Lasch’s work, especially in view of later developments, marked quite a
few turning points as far as the very sense of the American Dream is con-
cerned. On the fundamental level, his diagnosis of the state of affairs, is
crucial for understanding the operating of “desiring-machine”. Lasch ac-
tually proved that the cult of celebrity massively structures and configures
the concept and the idea of success.
In the whole chapter on education, Lasch finds it appropriate to as-
certain that schools actually produce “new illiteracy”. Contrary to the lib-
eral ideal and expectations, the democratization of education “/…/ has
contributed to the decline of critical thought and the erosion of intellec-
tual standards, forcing us to consider the possibility that mass education,
as conservatives have argued all along, is intrinsically incompatible with
152
al theory (indeed ideology from its inception), which in 1973 already did
its blood stained job in Chile after the coup against the Allende govern-
ment, still lingered in the USA in a state of mainly just voicing the criti-
cism against the “nanny state”. Of course, in the area of economic and fi-
nancial realities, structural moves were already on the go, along with the
diverse promises of technological developments. Therefore, Lasch’s depic-
tion of the American society and culture could be defined in retrospect as
a secular prophecy, based on a diagnosis of a change of the very form of so-
ciety and of the social mechanism, which accommodate singular agencies
including the category of individual. Lasch indicates a demise of the Prot-
estant virtues, what can be interpreted as an inner transformation of the
basic notions of the American Dream. “As the future becomes menacing
and uncertain, only fools put off until tomorrow the fun they can have to-
day. A profound shift in our sense of time has transformed work habits,
values, and the definition of success. Self-preservation has replaced self-im-
provement as the goal of earthly existence” (Lasch, 1991: p. 53). The book
reflects changes in the American form of subjectivity that becomes deter-
mined by the concept of “borderline personality”. Lasch comes close to
what appears some seven years earlier to Deleuze and Guattari (1983) as a
dynamic between capitalism and schizophrenia, since in their words “/…/
schizophrenia is the product of the capitalist machine” (p. 33). Lasch’s in-
tention is more descriptive, nevertheless, he gives a concurring diagnosis.
“In our time, the preschizophrenic, borderline, or personality disorders
have attracted increasing attention, along with schizophrenia itself ” (p.
41). Lasch’s finding that the old ideal of a self-made man transformed into
a narcissistic appearance and an empty performance, signals what became
a perverted form of “success” under the rule of neoliberalism. American
consumerism prepared the terrain for the advent of it. “The happy hooker
stands in place of Horatio Alger as the prototype of personal success” (p.
53). Lasch’s work, especially in view of later developments, marked quite a
few turning points as far as the very sense of the American Dream is con-
cerned. On the fundamental level, his diagnosis of the state of affairs, is
crucial for understanding the operating of “desiring-machine”. Lasch ac-
tually proved that the cult of celebrity massively structures and configures
the concept and the idea of success.
In the whole chapter on education, Lasch finds it appropriate to as-
certain that schools actually produce “new illiteracy”. Contrary to the lib-
eral ideal and expectations, the democratization of education “/…/ has
contributed to the decline of critical thought and the erosion of intellec-
tual standards, forcing us to consider the possibility that mass education,
as conservatives have argued all along, is intrinsically incompatible with
152
