From Ice Cream to Cocktails: Defining the Latest Cultural Shifts

When it comes to cultural shifts and cultural changes, there are few things that indicate the importance of an historical moment more than those coming directly from popular culture and consumerism. In other words, if you really want to have a sense of what stands behind rhetorics and politics, look at what sells. Let’s think about this for a second.

In a culture organized around capitalist materialism, the elements that manage to enter the societal frame and structure are those that sell. It is as if identities and concepts needed to be profitable before being acceptable, in order to be accepted as “proper” and/or “good”. This, of course, means a couple of things:

1 – Companies and institutions that do have the power to promote or destroy a certain product, via marketing campaigns and studies, propaganda and many other tools, can more or less consciously decide what is good and proper, and what is bad and illegal at a societal level. This is a power not to be underestimated, let’s make sure we do understand this, especially because, as we just mentioned, there is nothing, or almost nothing, that can save it from the capitalist gaze when you find yourself within a culture based on consumerism.

2 – There is always space for discontinuities and disruptions, and that kind of space it’s not too difficult to create. Just think about it: how easy it is to create a product that doesn’t mirror a certain expectation, dogma or rule? Now, will that be a successful product, something able to create a new set of meanings and culture? You can’t be sure, and the answer is often very complicated. This said, that product is there.

We just need to look at what happened in the last couple of months in the United States to see an example of how disruptive and revolutionary products can be in society. When clubs in Manhattan and all around the country begin to make and promote marijuana cocktails, you suddenly realize that the fact these drinks sell could create a weave of acceptance and mind openness way stronger than those little hurricanes caused by years of lefty activism. The process is almost scary in its simplicity: people buy them, they like them, the market recognize it, and suddenly cannabis is cool and dandy.

Isn’t it fascinating? Think about it. And maybe try one of those drinks, in case you want to join the discussion. Or you can simply smoke some pot and meditate on the power of the market (greenhouseseeds.nl/). Whatever you do, be ready: because once companies and institutions finally realize marijuana sells…. A LOT, the cultural shift will be insanely strong.