Week Eight

Culture Jam: So, this book is still pretty depressing. But it's getting more exciting, as we've moved from Autumn to Winter to Spring. In particular, I loved the section on Situationists International. I wasn't aware of this movement, yet it seems like what I've been looking for in my own life: a way to turn the ordinary into something extraordinary. I especially liked the reference to the Sex Pistols on page 100, because I've always thought that they were very much where punk rock started to go wrong.
Of course, it is hard for one to subscribe oneself to a life of unsubscription, where anything goes, and nothing really matters. From my perspective, where I'm trying to affect positive change within this world, it helps to be a "contributing member of society", where those in power are more likely to listen (as unlikely as that is to begin with). However, I can also see the appeal of rejecting everything and living the drifting life that Lasn talks about. Hell, I've certainly felt the draw to just hop a train out west and see what happens. So what keeps me held back? To be honest, I really don't know...maybe my parent's opinions of me? maybe my goals in life? But, looking at that, shouldn't the ultimate goal be to enjoy life? Lasn mentions that vacations are symbols of "the false promises of modern life", which makes me think of how my parents use their vacation time: to visit timeshares in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, or to go skiing out west. Why shouldn't these activities be a part of their normal lives? Sure, I can understand the inconvenience (personally and ecologically) of flying to Colorado on a regular basis, but I happen to know that Cincinnati has a small skiing hill only an hour away, in Indiana.

The Corporation:
This movie seemed to continually blow my mind. It is obviously well done and the fact-finding was meticulous. I was particularly impressed with Chomsky's interviews, which were engaging and easy to understand (unlike a lot of his writings). The interview with Mark Barry, the consumer spy with the spiky hair, was, for lack of a better word, CREEPY. On top of his job being horrific, he just seems like the kind of guy you'd want to avoid. Knowing that there are people out there posing as interviewers to glean facts about your current job is just another sign of the cutthroat world that we're living in, where anything goes in the name of the profit margin.
The diagnosis that the movie presents of the corporation was also extremely well-done, in my opinion. The directors took their time in breaking down all of the negative aspects of the corporation, and applying them to the concept of corporate personhood, coming out with the conclusion that the corporation fits the personality profile of a psychopath...BRILLIANT!
Also of note is that in the section "A Legal Person", it is mentioned that the corporation is a person concerned with stockholders rather than stakeholders. A few weeks ago, when I was in Montpelier for the VT Senate vote on Vermont Yankee, one of the senators (I believe it was Senator Lyons from Chittenden County), made the statement that we need to move "from the stockholders to the stakeholders". I thought the reemergence of that phrase was apt and I'm very much enamored with the phrase.

Free Mumia.
Nate

culture Jam, part one

So, to begin, I'd like to say that this book is DEPRESSING. But then again, it seems that many of the good books I'm reading these days are. Just look at the Omnivore's Dilemma, Ishmael, and Billy Corgan's book of poetry, Blinking With Fists. I guess it's just generally depressing when someone pulls the shade up from over your eyes and says "Hey, this world is FUCKED".
In particular, on page 61 the author recounts a story of a wedding party where the weight of all of the partygoers burst the septic pipes laid in the ground beneath them. the people continued to dance, ignoring the problem until it was blatantly stated by a young boy. this story was told as an allegory for our current situation regarding oversaturation of the media and the routine-ness of our day-to-day lives. Yet, while it is completely depressing to make this association, one cannot help but realize that it makes sense. We ARE becoming desensitized and ritualized. And of course, as Lasn words it, "those who have clued in apparently figure iit's best to ignore the shit and keep dancing". If you can't be genuinely ignorant, at least pretend you are and hope that "ignorance is bliss" might still apply to you in some way or another.
Then, on the next page, Lasn makes yet another depressing allegory, this time comparing american culture to the late, great, elvis presley: once a shining star on the global scene, now a fat tub of lard, dying on the shitter. Wonderful imagery, really.
To be honest, a lot of what this book is talking about are things that we've already gone over in class to some extent. there are some interesting aspects, to be sure, but it appears as if Lasn is glossing over them, or possibly hinting at later elaborations within the book. For instance, one of the most catching quotes so far, on page 25, is when he says "Can we come up with antidotes to these infoviruses that infect our minds? the answer may depend on how much we've ingested of the most powerful and persistent infotoxin of them all: cynicism". He then switches topics entirely, and leaves the reader hanging. I, for one, agree that cynicism is a killer, but I'm interested in hearing why Lasn thinks so.

In conclusion, the new Alice in Wonderland movie sucks. Support your local punk scene.
nateeee