This reminds me of the book "The Undiscovered Self" by Carl Jung. I'm reading this currently. In it, he describes the way that the various forces of our society and our culture have based everything upon the abstract idea of "Man."

From rationalistic science to religious rhetoric, "Man" is referred to as an abstract concept. This "Man" is the symbolic average of all the individual tendancies of intidivdual humans. It has value to us as an abstract concept. Though our society has progressed to a point where the importance of "Man" is paramount and individual human beings are seemingly superfluous. The irony being that "Man" doesn't exist but human beings certainly do.

He goes on to describe the inevitable crisis of a society that values "Man" and diminishes the individual. It encourages people to find solace and meaning in the external world and entirely ignore their inner selves. This not only creates a sense of spiritual impoverishment but leaves individuals entirely vulnerable to falling in line with the masses. And since the masses, like "Man" don't really exist either- what that really means is individuals are manipulated by whatever individuals hold the most power and influence in what you refer to as the spectacle.

It is of paramount importance that we regain an understanding of ourselves as individuals and the landscape of our inner world. Attention, focus, dreams, and ideas. Without a relationship with these things our sovereignty is forfeit.