components of a world where people would not have to buy self-help books or "escapist" novels

i just got a job at a bookstore. i've only worked there a couple of weeks and already i have sold a lot of self-help books and "escapist" novels. these books are "bad", because they make people believe that they have some sort of problem that they have to either fix (with self-help) or ignore (with "escapist" novels). so when somebody feels depressed, they are told to think "i have a problem inside myself, i need to consume something in order to fix myself or ignore myself". but people are NOT told to think the opposite thought, which is: "i feel depressed, and so do a lot of other people, maybe the problem is not within myself, but is actually external to myself. maybe the reason i feel bad is because the structure of society is making me feel bad, and the solution is not to change myself, but to change society."

so here are the components of a world in which people would not feel the need to buy self-help books or "escapist" novels in order to fix or ignore themselves. there are eight parts:

1. everybody sells what they make directly to people that they have a "real connection" with (a chef would only cook meals for people he is friends with because he would like them to enjoy the food; a writer would give their books only to friends because she wants to share her "true emotions" with them" etc.)

2. there would be no reproductions - no photocopies or CDs or printers. (every time anything is copied, it is no longer connected with the person who created it. it is just a "thing" that other people can consume without thinking about how it was made.)

3. if somebody is feeling "bad", they are not told that the only solution is to "get better". instead, the person who is feeling "bad" tells their family/friends why they are feeling "bad", and society changes (perhaps improves) in order to make it so that nobody can feel "bad" in this way again. (like, maybe somebody feels anxious because they have no way to talk to people when they are feeling lonely, so a town square would be constructed so that this problem never happens again etc).

4. everybody would be connected with only one or two degrees of separation from everything that they buy or do. so if somebody wants to eat meat, they have to kill the animal themselves, or if somebody wanted to exploit another person (sweatshops etc) then they would have to see the effects of their exploitation on the people they are exploiting. this would make everyone directly responsible for all their actions. it would make people feel as though their lives are more valid, i think, because they would feel as though they are living more "fully".

5. there would be no "working hours" because there would be no "work". people would just have a single "life" which would involve eating and creating things and entertaining and being entertained, there would be no distinctions between "creator" and "consumer", or "work" and "play". also, nobody would have power. (this is workable, i am completely sure of it).

6. people would be free to express their "true thoughts". this would make it so that people do not feel as though they have to lie in order to "fit in" with society. it would mean that people can communicate with each other properly. it would mean that people feel as though they exist fully both inside their heads, and in the "outside" world. it would mean that there would be less "bad things" happening (like shootings or robberies or pedophilia etc) because people would not need to "bottle things up". like, if somebody was thinking about being a pedophile (or robber, murderer, whatever), then they would feel free to tell other people about their "bad" thoughts, and other people would not judge them, but would help them to stop thinking about wanting to do things that are hurtful and destructive. (i think that the majority of people who do bad things, do these things because they do not ever tell anybody about what they are thinking, so their thoughts just get more and more distorted from reality).

7. people would be able to do anything as long as it doesn't annoy anyone else ("anyone else" includes animals btw). so they could take whatever drugs they want and could do anything they wanted without feeling "trapped" by their gender, religion, race, age, amount of money they have etc.

8. people would recognise that everything that make comes from the environment, so they would only make things that are completely necessary, and would "relearn" how to enjoy things that are not man-made objects (i would call these things "nature", but i think that the word "nature" is bad because it turns "nature" into an object - sorry, that is probably confusing).

anyway, read "contributions to the revolutionary struggle..." by raoul vaneigem. i did. it is pretty good. it isn't all that abstract, it is very concise, and it made me feel both depressed and hopeful.

comment, and we will create a world together, where people do not have to buy self-help books or "escapist" novels.