Our Corporatized Lives

By Virginia Prescott on Tuesday, June 2, 2009.

On Christmas eve, media theorist and social critic Douglas Rushkoff was taking out the trash in front of his Brooklyn apartment when he was mugged at gunpoint.

He posted his experience on an e-mail list for Park Slope parents, and immediately received angry letters from neighbors. They chided him for naming the street where the mugging took place – because it might bring down the property values. This was before real-estate crashed last fall.

It got Rushkoff thinking – when did we go from caring more about the market value of our homes than the well-being of our neighbors? Why do we equate our assets with our worth? In other words, when did we start internalizing corporate values, valuing competition for seemingly fixed resources over connection and collaboration with others?

Douglas Rushkoff’s new book is Life Inc.: How the World Became a Corporation and How to Take It Back. Rushkoff joins us from the studios of WBUR in Boston to describe what rebuilding the global economic structure should look like.

BoingBoing: Read the introduction to "Life, Inc."

Add new comment

Word of Mouth is all about what's new. Online and on-air, the show looks at our fascinating and ever-changing world, and puts the latest ideas under a microscope. Word of Mouth investigates everything from science and technology, to health and the environment, to new trends in popular culture. The show airs Monday through Thursday at noon and is hosted by Virginia Prescott.

Say what you want to say. How you want to say it. We want to hear from you.

Word of Mouth is on the move! Sign up for our podcast and take the show wherever you go.

Past Shows
Nov 20, 2009 | Link
Nov 18, 2009 | Link
Nov 17, 2009 | Link
Nov 16, 2009 | Link

Support From

Corporation for Public Broadcasting

The TD Charitable Foundation

The Next Green Thing

is supported by

Public Service of New Hampshire
committed to clean energy solutions
New Hampshire Electric Co-op