Magic in the Postmodern World

From Adcult USA, James B. Twitchell, 1996, Columbia University Press.

The magi were the ancient Zoroastrian theurgists whose actions animated the universe. They were the ones who knew the buried codes. Little wonder, then, that it was members of this caste who traveled to Jerusalem to bear witness to one of their own--the Christ child, the new and improved magus. And little wonder that the modern magi are in advertising around the globe, adding "value" to interchangeable objects. They make disposable goods into long-lasting charms. It is the ad execs who produce Budweiser beer trucks in the middle of the desert, transform monsters into gentlemen hulks with a spray of Right Guard, activate those cute scrubbing brushes for Dow Cleanser, put a smile on the pitcher of Kool Aid, change a deep-swimming shark into a Chevrolet Baretta, and make millions of pimples disappear in the mirror . . . like magic. . . .

How do we think things work if not through the powers of magic? Why should we think that ours is an age of reason, an age of scientific observation, an age devoid of wishful thinking? The days of the Inquisition, Ponzi schemes, rain dances, the South Sea Bubble, witchcraft, and Dutch tulip mania are hardly over. In their place we have the stock market, state-supported gambling, chain letters, abstract expressionism, credit cards, national debt, filter tips, premium gas, anorexia, vitamin supplements, Amway, Lourdes, horoscopes, social security, trickle-down economics, leveraged buyouts, long-range weather forecasting, higher education, installment buying, the rhythm method, UFOs, hedge funds, eat-more-but-lose diets, the value of diamonds, astrology, prayer, [blogster emendation: blow jobs that lead to impeachment; smart bombs aimed at Bin Laden; removing shoes at airport security; launching war against terrorism; Internet pornography growing within the ghost of the dot.com bust; no-down-payment, no-principal-payment, adjustable home loans; Enron stock; thirst for democracy; vicarious TV life with sports stars and other celebrities as well as news programming aimed at the buying middle-aged woman's concern about sex perverts; 401Ks to replace pensions; U.S. Corps of Engineers levees and dams; paying $1,000 a year out-of-pocket for Pfizer's Lipitor to prevent sudden death from heart attack; voting in the 2008 Presidential elections] language, and, of course, almost all advertising. Economists like John Kenneth Galbraith make careers by pointing out how American economic culture is based on various pipe dreams, but they also forget that without the magic of these dream worlds we would not have "reality."