The anti-self-improvement arguments usually devolve into weird strawman arguments and non sequiturs. In this case, the author is trying to portray modern technology and companies as the enemy because he wrote a series of books on the subject.
> It’s that we humans should be making active choices about what it is we want to do to ourselves, rather than letting the machines, or the markets propelling them, decide for us.
Self-improvement isn't synonymous with buying products or following companies. In fact, two of the most common self-improvement goals are to reduce the amount of time spent in front of screens and to spend more time with friends and family.
This article reads more like an anti-technology or anti-corporate piece disguised as a criticism of self-improvement.
Ironically, the author of this post would like to sell you his thinly-veiled self help books such as "Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age" and "Get Back in the Box: How Being Great at What You Do Is Great for Business". This blog post is marketing material for his specific brand of self-improvement.
Rushkoff has been a digerati pundit for a very long time. He is definitely NOT a self-help guru. He's a legit academic at CUNY/Queens who has written quite a few books, writes articles, has a podcast, and gets paid to give talks when invited.
Yes, he can get preachy sometimes, but he's not part of what I call "the self-help-industrial-complex". He doesn't use ponzi-like levels of ever more expensive training seminars, that garbage people like Tony Robbins and all their ilk on youtube use to make money.
Rushkoff makes compelling and sincere arguments, he admits it when he's wrong (eg like the "Program or be Programmed" book) and, yes, he's certainly a lefist. He puts himself out there and isn't afraid to break consistency with his previous views. I admire all of that.
This particular article makes some good points. I don't agree with all of it, but it's a solid point of view and not disingenuous marketing.
There are so many ideological knowledge and mindset cults out there competing for attention. I could probably come up with one and make millions just from looking for drifters after the first several failed for them.
> It’s that we humans should be making active choices about what it is we want to do to ourselves, rather than letting the machines, or the markets propelling them, decide for us.
Self-improvement isn't synonymous with buying products or following companies. In fact, two of the most common self-improvement goals are to reduce the amount of time spent in front of screens and to spend more time with friends and family.
This article reads more like an anti-technology or anti-corporate piece disguised as a criticism of self-improvement.
Ironically, the author of this post would like to sell you his thinly-veiled self help books such as "Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age" and "Get Back in the Box: How Being Great at What You Do Is Great for Business". This blog post is marketing material for his specific brand of self-improvement.