Mill’s take on Tyranny of the Majority and Ch. 1-3 The Long Tail
(Is it possible to fuse these two together; Chris Anderson and Jon Stuart Mill? It’s worth a shot….)
In Mill’s book On Liberty, Mill argues among a few other things, for the importance of the will of the people within a society as opposed to the tyranny or threat of the majority (1978, p.4). The translation means a praise of liberty of individual independence verses the restrictions and blinding tendencies of society associated with social control. In the case of arguments presented in Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail, there is discussion of the historical events associated with the dissolution of American Pop Culture. Anderson uses America’s legacy of Music chart topping “hits”, as an example of a source of culture, controlled by media corporations (perpetuated by the affiliated technologies) and the limitations of exposure associated with “New Media” from the 1950’s to around 1998 ( 2006, p. 1,21 & 29). To grant acceptance to Anderson’s observation that American culture as heavily influenced by media and it’s massive “popularity contest”, is an understatement. So then, obviously agreed upon is custom and culture defined by the” connective tissue of our common experience” (Anderson, 2006, p. 1). Mill argues that it is not by choice that people are born into their identifiable society. Opinions are held by societal members as a result of time and place, and usually unquestioned and adopted as customary (1978, p. 17 & 56). Anderson argues that as a result of the internet era, the restricted majority of American society at the mercy of capitalistic and monopolistic media marketers exists no longer. He enunciates his points in Chapter 2 of his book headed as “The Rise and Fall of the Hit” (2006, p. 27-40). As a result of the dissolution of the common market of “hits” he presents the observation of the market and society adapting to be “niche oriented” and the new “economics of abundance” (Anderson, 2006, p. 6-10 & 24). In favor of what Mill argues as optimized society than, is the right and diversity of individual opinions, the niches (1978, p. 43). As international cultures are allowed to blend by technology and the internet, there is no longer a majority but a plurality of numerous niches of personal hits (Anderson, 2006, p. 50). (Mill would be so pleased).
WANNA PLAY? CLICK ON THE “LAUNCH STANDALONE PLAYER” BELOW……C’mon we live in a really bad ass time right???? Sooo cool.
