"(Art) has often been under attack. Tyrants always fear art because tyrants want to mystify while art tends to clarify. The good artist is a vehicle of truth, he formulates ideas which would otherwise remain vague and focuses attention upon facts which can no longer be ignored. The tyrant persecutes the artist by silencing him or by attempting to degrade or buy him."
from Existentialists and Mystics by Iris Murdoch

I would argue that capitalism and commodity culture has the same effect.