What is Mass Trance?

Answer 1

This is a working concept I am still developing which takes many ideas into account. Current Mass Trance Definition: A mentality characterized by a lack of individuality, causing people to develop patterned lifestyles, group think behaviors and actions within the confines (conformity) of the general population. Origins: Although throughout recorded history, it is easy to observe cultural formation as the result of security needs, communal economic interests, national identity, religion and shared belief systems. My research reveals how citizen engagement that characterized "The New World" changed after World War II. The menacing 'Red Scare' fear of Communism and nuclear standoff 'Cold War' with the Soviet Union along with the introduction of television (Mass Media) among other social forces caused North Americans to retreat from a public sphere of active citizenship whose characterization could be traced back to 'Founding Fathers' and townhall meetings. In this later phase, Americans have come to embrace a private world of domesticity, conformity, and materialism. Previously, it was perceived urbane citizens moved to the suburbs where they lived in identical houses, drove identical cars, and watched identical television programs. Retiring to comfortable domestic interiors, their interests in politics, culture, and society disappeared. Or so it is commonly asserted. New ideas test these theories, offering useful analyses of suburbanization, industrialization, and modernity. Together they deepen our understanding of how government and business orchestrate living arrangements and cultural productions. While focusing on the 1850s to 1960s, revisionists are beginning to speak to contemporary struggles to achieve fulfillment and equality in an age that has grown more cynical of the modernist equation of progress with achievement. This must be taken in contrast to issues of sustainability and if current consumerist behavior can be transformed into a more planetary aware citizenship.