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Notes -
Imagine some guy lays this on you after you ask him about his hobbies. What an extraordinarily annoying and pretentious thing to say. Adorno’s dripping contempt for the “barbarous”, “horrifying”, “mock-worthy” common man, what he enjoys, how he talks, and what he thinks. All rooted in Adorno's resentment that the rube has again and again rejected marx’ bullshit.
“people are unaware of how utterly unfree they are, even where they feel most at liberty“ - thought bubble of guy in corner at party meme.
I think he's simply correct, and the view he outlined in the passage I quoted is something to be aspired to. Why would you not want to live an integrated life where everything you do is meaningful?
At any rate, even granting that he does have "contempt for the common man", this is certainly not an attitude that's unique to Marxists:
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