Seeing by John Berger in Term Paper

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Apart from the loss of one's individuality, publicity also leads to further consumption, fueled by the belief that one needs to own something in order to feel satisfied in life. As Berger had observed, "[t]he choice of what one eats (or wears or drives) takes the place of significant political choice. Publicity helps to mask and compensate for all that is undemocratic within society. And it also masks of what is happening in the rest of the world." The alternative reality that an individual had cultivated through consumption and the propaganda of publicity led to the creation of a life separate from reality. The consumer eventually denies that what is happening in reality was not the actual reality s/he is experiencing; thus, s/he believes that his/her reality is the true reality.
The promises of a bountiful and comfortable future life conveyed through publicity messages made consumers live an alternative reality that centers on promises, not actualities.

Thus, because of consumption and the creation of an alternative reality, what results then is a curtailment of one's democracy or freedom to exercise his/her free will. Publicity, as a product of capitalism, indirectly "forces the majority, whom it exploits, to define their own interests as narrowly as possible." This end result of capitalism through publicity defied the objectives of capitalism, which is to promote quality life and rationalization of human society. In effect, publicity limits one's opportunity for self-improvement and -development and fails to emancipate people from the inequalities resulting inherently from capitalism......

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