Oprah Winfrey &

The Dumbing Down of America

Success becomes confused with market values. Success in all domains becomes defined by the ideology of the marketplace. Only a few turned up to your party, so it wasn't a success. You only have a few friends on Facebook, so you aren't a success.

As an essential component of capitalist ideology, the idea of competition has been exaggerated and planted in the popular consciousness, its influence spreading beyond purely economic relations. To compete appears to be a natural thing to do.

We have the illusion of individual freedom. Capitalism fears the consequences of individualism - greater self-awareness and challenging the system. Capitalism is more than happy to give us the freedom to consume but not the freedom to question.