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A review by snoakes7001
Selfie: How We Became So Self-Obsessed and What It's Doing to Us by Will Storr
5.0
Selfie is a compelling and immersive investigation into the rise of the Western world's love of the self. Starting in Ancient Greece with Aristotle, Will Storr tracks the rise of our self regard and the equivalent fall of our belief in community and the common good.
It's always fascinating and highlights many things that I either knew nothing about or had never considered seriously before. More often than not is is also highly disturbing. He examines the Self Esteem movement that started in California (where else!). The belief is that many of society's ills such as alcoholism and unemployment are due to low self esteem and that by raising it in everybody we will create a society of well-balanced productive individuals. When backed up by some dodgy reporting of scientific research, this soon began to influence government policy in America and the UK. Unfortunately having self esteem that outstrips personal ability actually leads to narcissism and in turn to depression or violence and increasing suicide rates. He then links this to the self-serving neoliberalism so loved of Thatcher and Reagan; free markets, the reduction of state welfare, citizens redefined as consumers, the rich getting richer while the poor get poorer, and if you are one of the have-nots, then it's your own fault for being unenterprising. Depressing stuff that ultimately leads us to identity politics and the horrible mess we find ourselves in today where a repellent narcissist like Trump can become president.
As well as being an in-depth, well researched and absorbing piece of reporting, it is clearly also a personal journey - in places it's extremely candid as he bares his soul in situations he understandably finds very uncomfortable. Highly recommended.
It's always fascinating and highlights many things that I either knew nothing about or had never considered seriously before. More often than not is is also highly disturbing. He examines the Self Esteem movement that started in California (where else!). The belief is that many of society's ills such as alcoholism and unemployment are due to low self esteem and that by raising it in everybody we will create a society of well-balanced productive individuals. When backed up by some dodgy reporting of scientific research, this soon began to influence government policy in America and the UK. Unfortunately having self esteem that outstrips personal ability actually leads to narcissism and in turn to depression or violence and increasing suicide rates. He then links this to the self-serving neoliberalism so loved of Thatcher and Reagan; free markets, the reduction of state welfare, citizens redefined as consumers, the rich getting richer while the poor get poorer, and if you are one of the have-nots, then it's your own fault for being unenterprising. Depressing stuff that ultimately leads us to identity politics and the horrible mess we find ourselves in today where a repellent narcissist like Trump can become president.
As well as being an in-depth, well researched and absorbing piece of reporting, it is clearly also a personal journey - in places it's extremely candid as he bares his soul in situations he understandably finds very uncomfortable. Highly recommended.