Albert Camus: A society based on symbols is an artificial society

Lucy Sparrow's Fantastical Felt Mountain of Consumable Goods https://wp.me/p41CQf-JGH

Consumer society can be defined as a society in which objects disappear and are replaced by symbols. When the ruling class no longer measures its wealth in acres of land or gold bars, but rather by how many digits ideally correspond to a certain number of financial transactions, then that society immediately links itself to a certain kind of trickery at the very heart of its experience and its world. A society based on symbols is, in its essence, an artificial society in which the physical truth of humankind becomes a hoax.”

Create Dangerously: The Power and Responsibility of the Artist, Albert Camus
Book Review: Create Dangerously: The Power and Responsibility of the Artist by Albert Camus

An electrifying and timeless book of ideas about how artists can resist and overcome the forces of fascism written by one of the greats of the 20th Century, Albert Camus who created a massive body of work while actively resisting Nazism during WWII.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Genre: Essays, Non-Fiction, Politics, Art

Publisher: Vintage

Review in one word: Electrifying

“Create Dangerously” is a short book of essays written in the 1950s by Albert Camus. Despite its age, its snappy insights feel immediately applicable to the current state of our world in 2025 and beyond. Camus touches on weighty topics like the role and responsibility of the artist, resisting fascism through artistic expression and rebellion, human freedom, love, beauty and despair and much more.

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Content Catnip is a quirky internet wunderkammer written by an Intergalactic Space Māori named Content Catnip. Join me as I meander through the quirky and curious aspects of history, indigenous spirituality, the natural world, animals, art, storytelling, books, philosophy, travel, Māori culture and loads more.

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