Posts in Activism,well-being technology
‘Spiritual Activism’: do we really want New Age hippies to be more politically active?

I confess I have become more cynical this last two years, particularly about my culture — ie New Age spirituality.

If someone calls themselves ‘spiritual’ these days, sadly it’s usually short-hand for ‘anti-vax, anti-science, a sucker for conspiracy theories or snake oil health remedies, with an inflated sense of their own spiritual advancement and expertise (particularly with regard to healing), combined with actions that actively harm others, out of selfishness or simple cluelessness’.

Is that too harsh?

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Review: The Wellness Syndrome

How are you feeling? How well are you? Is your weight where you want it to be? Smoking too much? How happy are you on a scale of one to ten? Are you optimising your personal brand? How fast was your last five kilometre run? Would you like to share that via social media? Would you like a life-coach to help you overcome these challenges on a way to a better, happier, more awesome you?

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Review: The Happiness Industry by William Davies

Watch out folks. There is a murky world lurking behind the scenes, a sinister cabal of policy-makers, psychologists, CEOs, advertizers and life-coaches, watching you, measuring you, nudging you, monitoring your every smile, all to try and make you happy. We must resist. This, broadly, is the message of sociologist William Davies’ book, The Happiness Industry: How Government and Big Business Sold Us Well-Being.

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