The false needs - ideology of consumption

do we really want this new order?
‎"The culture industry not so much adapts to the reactions of its customers as it counterfeits them." Theodor Adorno

an extract of an article from the borderlandbeat.com blog
Los Chakas are followers of a modern Mexican cultural trend that glorifies the “narco” ethos and lifestyle, and are heavily influenced by visual elements of U.S. gang culture.
A description of los Chakas in Mexican society can be found in a social critique posted by Conrado Romo, a journalist, on CriticaPura, a Mexican political analysis website.

The following is an excerpt from the post:

The Chakas are a sign of the erosion of what is left of the national identity.....They are a symptom of the danger to a society whose quintessential concept is that of a criminal, a badass (cabron), a drug trafficker.

Los Chakas are the ultimate representation of what many Mexicans consider acceptable; they are an effect of globalization on a community that is poorly educated and, in general, suffers from a poor quality of life.

They are the result of a socio-economic model defined by ignorance, a quest for wealth and hedonism, with the "fiesta" as the central structure of an entire generation's world view; an ideology of consumption by youth who face a completely tedious life with little promise and in awe before the offerings of organized crime.

And it is not only those who wear "Ed Hardy" t-shirts that accept that dynamic; a majority of the population is part of that indolence that naturally relishes the most coarse hedonism and breaks with the bonds that could lead to an impulse of positive community development. It is the most brutal and heartbreaking kind of individualization, a beginning of the end of a society.

The deficiencies of contemporary Mexican society have led to the "narco" as an icon; the social archetype that is able to overcome personal difficulties and achieve success (money, women, fine wine) is the dream of thousands of youth who fill Metroflog servers with photo poses holding handguns and imitating those with the power to corrupt governments.

Calderon's war is lost because his strategy only kills people but does not erase the example of their lives; the war is lost because the communications media continues to criminally spread these new class of values; it is a lost war because it is not creating a narrative of life that people can aspire to; it is a lost war because it is not being fought with education, but only with weapons. " (end of article extract)

is it really a drug related problem only??...

The needs of the One Dimensional Man are pre-conditioned. The pre-conditioning is subjected to additional indoctrination by a standardized media. The media teaches " to behave and consume in accordance with the advertisements, to love and hate what others love and hate... "Social interests impose "false" needs. The "false" needs can gratify the individual but they "perpetuate toil, aggressiveness, misery and injustice." The endless drives for these endless "false" needs require additional efforts, and brings frustration and despair that create hostility. Herbert Marcuse

No it isn't a drug related problem only. And it is not geographically limited to mexico or latin america. This is a phenomenon that has reach all the world. Russia, Albania, Somalia... Different places different manifestation of the problem. Drug is one of it's manifestations. The false needs. this is the problem.

“By virtue of the way it has organized its technological base, contemporary industrial society tends to be totalitarian. For "totalitarian" is not only a terroristic political coordination of society, but also a non-terroristic economic-technical coordination which operates through the manipulation of needs by vested interests.” Herbert Marcuse

in the "Republic" Plato points to the fact that all problem spur out of greed.. Greed motivates al vice.
as simple as it looks Greed is the reason.
when Man sought to fullfil untrue needs _ FLASE NEEDS_ he took the decision to self corrupt himself. Drugs, human trafficking, extortion ect the just followed.

what looks like a simple touch on an iphone may have great social complications.
and an innocent funny ad on tv may turn out not be very innocent with sorrow fileld futur.