False Awareness strikes back

Today's subject is Habermas and False Awareness.
While I cannot say I'm en expert on Habermas I have picked up a thing or two in my long time as a student.
Primarily his term False Awareness.

Habermas belongs to the marxist group of philosophers known as the Frankfurt School (as does Theodor Adorno), and is an exponent of Critical Theory, in which his term false awareness is a more or less central concept.

False Awareness, in short, means that what you think is right is a product of your mind being conditioned to a certain state of affairs. While functioning normally you would reject said state, but being unable to do so, you adapt. Cognitively speaking: if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
In a marxist world view this is a handy way of explaining why the "working class" would readily embrace capitalism rather than marxism. The workers are being lulled into a false awareness where they themselves think they have reached a definition that marxism is wrong, and capitalism is right.
Usually the various types of cultural industry takes the blaim here. Hollywood and music industry in particular.

While I certainly see Habermas' point, I disagree somewhat. We have all encountered people who seem to extoll thoughts that sound like sound bites from television or some other source. In fact it seems to be quite common. "Democracy might not be perfect, but it's the best we have" for instance is a good example of this. It's easier to adopt a commonly held belief, than it is to create your own. And certainly less time consuming.

However, my main problem with habermasian thought is that it lends itself very easily to ad hoc analysis and totalitarian dogma. "If you don't agree with my carefully constructed analysis, it's clearly because you have false awareness!" It doesn't allow for disagreement, but rather blames such discordant thoughts on what is, in effect, brain washing by the ruling class and its ownership of the media. For instance, something I often encounter: left wing feminists who claim that ALL female sexworkers are oppressed by men. If they are exposed to a female sexworker who disagrees they do not reassess their view, but rather changes the terrain to fit the map. The sexworker simply doesn't realize that she is oppressed, even though she feels entirely free. People's experience is second to ideology, and when they don't match ideology wins.

By no means do I wish to undersell the media as a source of thoughts, but this is simply going much to far. Try discussing with someone who implicitly claims that your oppinions are not oppinions, they are a cognitive process by which you fail to realize reality.

To me False Awareness is clearly an ad hoc hypothesis. It's not critical at all, rather it is some sort of defense mechanism. Ironically, rather than admit the very real failures of marxist theory a logical moebius strip is created to save it. "We were right all along, but people cannot realize it, because their oppinions are being created and upheld by the entertainment industry." The matrix has you my friend!
False Awareness becomes an easy way out. Instead of analysing your opponents views and adjusting your own (if necessary) you blaim the cultural industry for ruining all possibilities for freedom.

Personally I would like to claim that all oppinions and concerns need to be addressed on equal terms. Discounting someones beliefs on the basis that they are not themselves the progenitor of that belief is arrogant and cowardly. Not to mention, it defeats the purpose. If your goal is to change the opposition's minds you clearly need to defeat their line of arguments, not run away from it.