Page:Anti-mass panphlet.djvu/4



Why is it important to know the difference between mass and class? The chances are there can be no conscious revolutionary practice without making this distinction. We are not playing around with words. Look. We are all living in a mass society. We didn’t get that way by accident. The mass is a specific form of social organization. The reason is clear. Consumption is organized by the corporations. Their products define the mass. The mass is not a cliche-the “masses”-but a routine which dominates your daily life. Understanding the structure of the mass market is the first step toward understanding what happened to the class struggle.

What is the mass? Most people think of the mass in terms of numbers-like a crowded street or a football stadium. But it is actually structure which determines its character. The mass is an aggregate of couples who are separate, detached and anonymous.