Coercion by Douglas Rushkoff: Book Analysis

Introduction: They Say

The first part of the book introduces the idea of "they," the people who seek to influence our lives in some form or fashion, and it poses questions about our collective cultural behaviors that have become an everyday event. The author introduces himself to us the readers. He also expresses his reason for writing the book by pointing to the backfire effect his previous books. Because he was a media/advertisement consultant, he acts as a "double agent" writing down and reporting the coercive practices from everyday people to large corporations. And that is exactly what he does in the book. He does not reach to conclusions and point at the responsible parties, but instead he strictly reports the facts, although no conclusions are necessary since the facts simply and clearly speak for themselves.

Rushkoff writes down most of the coercive tactics used by "them" and says that everything is coercive. Attempting to change someone's view point is okay, but its when our influence becomes too overbearing and mainly destructive that influence turns into coercion. Although no technique of coercion is ever outdated, it is the style of the technique that changes. For example, the technique of offering a free gift, which either has a catch, or is included in the purchase price, or is fairly inexpensive, rarely works nowadays. There are three main and distinct responses to advertisement or coercion: the "Traditionalists," the ironically named sophisticated "Cool Kids," and the "New Simpletons." The Traditionalists are the type who is "die-hard" for their political party, believe they are not tricked into buying unnecessary things, and thus, have the most trust in people. The "Cool Kids" are the type who is weary of advertisers' usual tactics rewarded by "noticing" the coercion, although just superficially. The New Simpletons are the type who wants a straightforward explanation. As the reader begins to feel that this whole coercion deal is a big