The politics and culture of "contentment" in the globalization process

Abstract

This article aims to develop a critique of the politics and the culture of “contentment”, which is an expression coined by John Kenneth Galbraith, whose economical system relies on laissez faire and on the commitment to the deregulation of the market. In the politics of contentment, democracy is made to serve those who are favored and satisfied, so that immediatism and the accommodation of political and economical thought are prioritized. The lucky ones do not act on the long run, their effort is focused on the immediate contentment, on the accumulation of the capital. What they expect from the future is the preservation of a good income for the rich and, inversely, the perpetuation of the poorness for the poor. In order to break with this culture, it is indispensable to involve the action of the State with the aim of correcting the actual situation of escape from reality and creating a situation where the state is equally necessary for the fortunate ones as well as for the people who are excluded and marginalized.