Whenever I do some sociology, my main goal is to stay away from spontaneous sociology. During the last quarter, during my social media times, I have seen an enormous proliferation of services offering this self help literature.
Self help books have been around in memories trough my life. I can recall reading some of them, but not really remember a great adivice or knowledge that came from them. As I grew up in Monterrey Mexico, I made up the idea that self help books are moralizing books. This idea goes back to Jr High school, when we where forced to read Carlos Cuauhtémoc Sanchez terrible books; full of stories that scandalized alcohol consumption, sex, drugs, drink and driving and other taboo topics correspondent to a conservative society. All this, as well as other activities in school, where connected to the highly moralized society in Monterrey 1990s. As a youngster I just tried to figure out how this books where supposed to help, and really came out with the conclusion that they had the purpose to help you fit-in within the specific morale, in this case in one of a middle class mainly catholic conservative society. Stories of despair and desolation, but also of success and financial fortune in this self-help literature are moralizing ones, and I may imagine it may be helping a lot to fit in in the precarious reality of the post modern, post industrial global south.
Neoliberal free market and representative democracy, that has been going on since the early 1980 and 1990, respectivly, has come with great cultural changes. I can recognize that a lot of freedom has expanded since my youth years in Mexico. For all the LGBTQ+ spectrum, things have got better, including political representation and they have carried out a movement that had an important participation in the 2010s. Woman have more freedom than ever, with a high percentage of woman in the labor marked and with increased representation in media and government. Few people, now, scandalizes with alcohol or drug consumption. As that liberty exists, in media and in increased representation and law protection, life has been better for some. In spite of all this progress, I just feel thatall this has marked society with a a conservative moralist rationale, oriented to defend work ethic before anything else. In my point of view this sadly diminishes the positive effects of all the other liberties in general wellness.
This ridiculous love for work ethic is represented in the culture of echaleganismo (it comes from échale ganas that means do your best). In accordance to echaleganismo culture, social inequalies have a work ethic basis, characterized by stating that poor people are poor because they haven't made all enought effort. Because they don't work enough, they have made wrong decisions, and they are now suffering the consequences of bad decisions. The result is erasing all social structures by integrating work ethics in their morality. More than serious thoughts on the economic system, this sadomasoquistic morale guides millions in their empty and precarious reality, in which some kind of literature needs to fill the void created by all mighty work ethics.
In Mexico, the current cultural war among nationalism and sovereignty or continuing with the disastrous and corrupt government of the neoliberal era, may be putting a lot to work on justifying their work ethics morality. Echaleganismo cultures needs literature for this justification, and I may suggest that right now middle class Mexicans are now savvy for it.
Whenever I do some sociology, my main goal is to stay away from spontaneous sociology. During the last quarter, during my social media times, I have seen an enormous proliferation of services offering this self help literature. But its all in disguise! There is a great marketing campaing oriented to people that has sort of the same socio-economic characteristics that I do. Their strategy is not to sell the books per se, but an app that will guide you through them. This novelty of various combinations, as options to read the books, may vary from reading plans for alpha males or depending on the childhood trauma that you experienced, or as a test to recommend you book therapy for the ones that sabotage themselves.
¿What type of culture or education are this books giving people? I guess that for most of the readers, the worst. Whenever I’m on twitter reading some hatefull person saying that giving scholarships to all kids in public schools will have an effect on making poor people lazy or magically keep voting for MORENA, I know there is some of “Rich dad, Poor Dad” or “The 5am club”. These books give them those nasty arguments made to fit-in in this reality without social inequality. If this books can really change your life, they will do ir for bad. It creates a lack of culture, and minimum knowledge of the great inequalities and problems that mark Mexican reality. You can check out some twitter pieces that may make you think about it.
