Corboy wrote: "Years ago, somewhere in his book, Rational Mysticism, journalist and author John Horgan referred, in passing, to 'The Enlightenment Industry.'
"At the time, this rang a bell for me, as that choice of words linked the Enlightenment Industry with the celebrity driven media driven Entertainment Industry."
You made some good points, Corboy (though I'm not so sure I can claim credit for coining the term "Persuasion Industry)." I've long said that the New-Wage/selfish-help/McSpirituality business is as much about entertainment as it is about enlightenment...enlightentainment, if you will (a word I *think* I coined, though it's kind of awkward).
One problem is that self-help etc. is very often relatively expensive entertainment (when compared to, say, a blockbuster novel, a movie, an MP3 of a hit song, or even a Broadway play). Another problem is that people often base important life decisions on this pricey "entertainment." True, some people are deeply influenced by movies, novels, or songs, and a few may even look at life differently, and perhaps even make a change or two, based on the message they took from a story that touched them. But a filmmaker's or songwriter's attempts to touch our hearts or make us think are, I believe, much different from the well-orchestrated and systematic influence/persuasion techniques employed by those in the self-help biz.
Some years back a certain not-so-cosmic person scribbled an essay based in part on some of the points about self-help/spirituality as a form of entertainment...
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...and little has changed. In fact, the problems have gotten worse, it seems.
BTW, my pal Chris Locke at the Mystic Bourgeoisie blog has made reference to the "Spiritual-Industrial Complex." That seems apt too.