On Being Cool #dmingml

On Being Cool

 

            Are you cool or are you a fool? Are you hot or not? Heath and Potter, in their book, The Rebel Sell, discuss how “cool” is one of the major factors driving the modern economy. The claim is: “cool has become the central ideology of consumer capitalism.” (193) I did not think that I was so caught up in the “coolhunt” until the authors raised the following reflective question: “Think back to the last time you bought something that was a little too expensive, something that you couldn’t quite afford. Why did you buy it? Probably because it was really cool.” (193) All right Heath and Potter, you got me. It only took you one page of your chapter to expose my desire for cool stuff. I believe we are all in the “coolhunt.” We all participate to varying degrees in the chase for “cool.”

 

But what exactly is cool? Heath and Potter delineate a few attempts that try to capture the essence of cool. First, there is what they call the “abstract essentialist” view of cool. In this view cool is something abstract and indefinite. Malcolm Gladwell, a contributor to The New Yorker, is a proponent of this view. He outlines three cardinal rules of cool. “First, the quicker the chase, the quicker the flight. That is, as soon as we think we’ve discovered cool, it slips away. Second, cool can’t be manufactured out of thin air. While companies may be able to intervene in the cycle of cool, they cannot initiate it themselves. When we add to these the last rule – that you have to be cool to know cool – cool becomes a closed loop, a hermetic circle in which not only is it impossible to either make or catch cool, but it is impossible to know what it is. Unless, that is, one is already cool, in which case you have no reason to look for it in the first place.” (194)

 

Second, there is the “cool fascismo” theory, where cool is a complete deception, or something that is only an illusion. This view “dismisses cool as nothing but consumerist mirage, conjured up by corporations in order to sell sunglasses and leather chairs to the duped masses.” (195) According to this view, cool is something that you can take a step away from and expose it for what it is, namely a deception. 

 

According to the authors these two seemingly opposing views both point to “the most obvious feature of cool, which is that what counts as cool appears highly unstable.” (195) This observation leads into third description of what cool is, the “cool as positional goods” perspective.  Heath and Potter note, “Like all positional goods, being cool gets its value from comparison with others. Some people get to be cool only because others – indeed, most others –are not. [….] But unlike traditional status hierarchies, which emphasizes continuity across time, cool is structured by a restless quest for nonconformity. … cool is ‘the universal stance of individuality’, where to be an individual is understood not as being who you want to be, regardless of what other people are doing, but rather as doing whatever other people are not doing. The cool person is the one who has deliberately set himself against the masses of society.” (196)

 

This “coolhunt” underlies our consumption and this insight is exploited by advertising companies who target our desire to be “cool.” Heath and Potter provide some great examples of how some government tax policies can curb some of the “out of control” (arms race like) advertising practices. It’s a very practical fix to addressing some of those issues that arise out of peoples “coolhunt” and search for status and significance.

 

While I was reading this, I was wondering what a Christian “cool” would look like? Instead of focusing only on macro level policies, should we look at our own values and reflect on what shapes and informs them? What could be the Christian “coolhunt” and how could it counter our competitive consumption? However, I believe that the Christian community should be a place that cast Jesus’ vision of what values we should commit ourselves to and order our life to. Behind all this is the belief that the church could be the place that helps people to be faithful to Jesus’ values while living in a culture that is driven by other values.

 

What could some of those commitments look like? First, I believe the biblical vision of stewardship of the earth and its resources should be taught. Second, I believe that self-interest should be set aside and Christians should be taught to serve others and to give to others sacrificially but also joyfully. We can love our neighbor by setting our competitive consumption aside and giving resources that would be used for this quest to the poor and people in need. Third, the Christian community could be committed to simplicity. I know these are very general suggestions but at least wanted to throw out a few ideas. In the end I believe that the people of God in their unique context and in the particular situation they find themselves in need to work out what this Christian “cool” or faithfulness to Jesus looks like. My hope is that churches and their varying ministries start reflecting deeply about these issues and discerning what God is calling us to. Ultimately I am excited about the idea of Christians setting their self interest aside and blessing others in their cities and beyond.

 

Tell me what you think? Can the church play a role in helping people deal in a more God honoring way with consumerism and competitive consumption?