Thanks for this one Rhyd. I am once more branded a fascist and a transphobe, and a boycott organised of my publishing company for pointing out that women's sports are under threat, -something anyone can see with their own eyes if they were not blinded by the spectacle and thence engaging in performative outrage. Not sure who was behind the sabotage, so holding back of any comment on that. Debord remains essential reading for us all in these times.
I ran across someone explaining how your critical stance on pornography should have been an "obvious" sign to everyone that Scarlet Imprint was a fascist project.
This, and "I never would have bought their books anyway they're trash" seems to be typical of the deepest level of critique directed at your analysis.
So I think you shouldn't worry too much. Llewellyn anyway has that market locked down.
I think the US election 'battle' is another good example of a Capitalist spectacle as defined. With all the useless and ineffective comment and speculation devoted to it by the media 'Left' (and Right for that matter). It leaves me cold I'm afraid / pleased to say.
Good article. I will have to read the book. Rings a bell from largely forgotten academic theory days.
I absolutely agree with this. Really the weirdest thing is the way that people who didn't care about Kamala Harris suddenly act as if she's been the lifelong bearer of all their hope and dreams. This is another engineered reaction, and shows they don't even need to pretend to have any sort of democratic process in the selection of presidential candidates anymore. Soon, they'll be chosen completely by algorithm...
Yes. It's theatre and not even convincing theatre. It gives an illusion of freedom and choice I suppose. It may as well be managed be an AI bot controlling holograms for all the impact it will have on social justice or a better environment.
In the UK we now have the spectacle of 'far right' uprisings across the country (although I doubt disaffection needs a political persuasion to manifest). We're supposed to either:
(a) decry immigration and fear the 'islamification' of this great nation (without remembering our past as an occupier and imperial thief).
(b) Lock up the 'gammons' and all their brethren (without hearing a single whisper as to motive)
It's simple!
Coincidentally, I came on Substack today to post this - which covers some of the same ground -
You hit the nail on the head with the term Spectacle, and it's two meanings. One thing about spectacle, is everything around it blurs. Matt nailed it again by pointing out that the US election battles are also spectacles. The US presidential election is a spectacle in which the natural world, or even reality, disappears. Anything that questions growth is barred from the display. And down we go.
There's a New Zealand children's book, The World Around the Corner by Maurice Gee (an excellent and often terrifying fantasy writer), that features a pair of magic glasses as a plot device: the child-protagonist finds them in a junk shop, and when she puts them on, she can see another world.
When the algorithm shows me young celebrities I don't even recognise dripping with diamonds at the Met Gala, I just think 'Hunger Games'.
I have to say that here in Canada we did not hear at all about the sabotage!, AT ALL (that was clearly censored) I am of two minds about the authors - I admire their courage, determination and skill all the while I regret the destruction and cost.
You were right about the Spectacle and interpretation. I don't actually care what it represented beyond todays woke, transgender and un-sacred confused mentality. Ambiguous ? probably.
I have been shocked lately at how easy it is to "push the buttons" of people - not so much in the sense of making them mad and "outraged", as in simply engineering a reaction (or rather a pair of diametrically opposed reactions), that, once formulated, seems all too predictable. I realize this has been going on for a while, but the full realization of this only hit me recently. People are being robbed of the capacity to think, and instead re-produce thought-products. It is all a mechanical process.
Nice to see Debord mentioned here. I come back to the situationists every now and then, and a few days ago was such a "now". I always feel that their work resonates well with yours, and still has a lot to say about our times - especially when it comes to identity politics etc.
The "saboteurs" would appear to come from the "insurrectionist" milieu, which is very much inspired by the situationists, so it fits well with the theme here. Like I say, it would appear that way, but who knows for sure.
Not the same topic, but I think adjacent and complementary, in that both Sacasas/Illich and you are calling our attention to the fact that what we are shown is often not reality, and we need to do the hard work of learning to see correctly.
Thanks for this. It's interesting to consider the total sort of lens capitalism might put on us. But is it a bit far-fetched to argue that capitalism is unique in engineering reactions to minor events, and using them to dumbfound, distract and divide us? This has been going on for a very long time. I happen to be reading about Henry the VIII, and everyone in Europe was suddenly forced to have an opinion on Anne Boleyn, declaring it and arguing about it endlessly. What's uniquely capitalistic about what's going on? (Genuine question.)
Thanks for this one Rhyd. I am once more branded a fascist and a transphobe, and a boycott organised of my publishing company for pointing out that women's sports are under threat, -something anyone can see with their own eyes if they were not blinded by the spectacle and thence engaging in performative outrage. Not sure who was behind the sabotage, so holding back of any comment on that. Debord remains essential reading for us all in these times.
I ran across someone explaining how your critical stance on pornography should have been an "obvious" sign to everyone that Scarlet Imprint was a fascist project.
This, and "I never would have bought their books anyway they're trash" seems to be typical of the deepest level of critique directed at your analysis.
So I think you shouldn't worry too much. Llewellyn anyway has that market locked down.
Any deviation from the catechism is heresy…
If people think porn is a net benefit with no cost, they are truly incapable of critical thought.
Keeping the Llewellyn readers out of our readership is a great way to insure quality control.
I think the US election 'battle' is another good example of a Capitalist spectacle as defined. With all the useless and ineffective comment and speculation devoted to it by the media 'Left' (and Right for that matter). It leaves me cold I'm afraid / pleased to say.
Good article. I will have to read the book. Rings a bell from largely forgotten academic theory days.
I absolutely agree with this. Really the weirdest thing is the way that people who didn't care about Kamala Harris suddenly act as if she's been the lifelong bearer of all their hope and dreams. This is another engineered reaction, and shows they don't even need to pretend to have any sort of democratic process in the selection of presidential candidates anymore. Soon, they'll be chosen completely by algorithm...
Yes. It's theatre and not even convincing theatre. It gives an illusion of freedom and choice I suppose. It may as well be managed be an AI bot controlling holograms for all the impact it will have on social justice or a better environment.
Thanks for this.
In the UK we now have the spectacle of 'far right' uprisings across the country (although I doubt disaffection needs a political persuasion to manifest). We're supposed to either:
(a) decry immigration and fear the 'islamification' of this great nation (without remembering our past as an occupier and imperial thief).
(b) Lock up the 'gammons' and all their brethren (without hearing a single whisper as to motive)
It's simple!
Coincidentally, I came on Substack today to post this - which covers some of the same ground -
https://open.substack.com/pub/danoneill/p/denying-tina?r=3zg2g&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
You hit the nail on the head with the term Spectacle, and it's two meanings. One thing about spectacle, is everything around it blurs. Matt nailed it again by pointing out that the US election battles are also spectacles. The US presidential election is a spectacle in which the natural world, or even reality, disappears. Anything that questions growth is barred from the display. And down we go.
This is so right on, thank you Rhyd.
There's a New Zealand children's book, The World Around the Corner by Maurice Gee (an excellent and often terrifying fantasy writer), that features a pair of magic glasses as a plot device: the child-protagonist finds them in a junk shop, and when she puts them on, she can see another world.
When the algorithm shows me young celebrities I don't even recognise dripping with diamonds at the Met Gala, I just think 'Hunger Games'.
Thanks Rhyd I love how you surprise me.
I have to say that here in Canada we did not hear at all about the sabotage!, AT ALL (that was clearly censored) I am of two minds about the authors - I admire their courage, determination and skill all the while I regret the destruction and cost.
You were right about the Spectacle and interpretation. I don't actually care what it represented beyond todays woke, transgender and un-sacred confused mentality. Ambiguous ? probably.
I have been shocked lately at how easy it is to "push the buttons" of people - not so much in the sense of making them mad and "outraged", as in simply engineering a reaction (or rather a pair of diametrically opposed reactions), that, once formulated, seems all too predictable. I realize this has been going on for a while, but the full realization of this only hit me recently. People are being robbed of the capacity to think, and instead re-produce thought-products. It is all a mechanical process.
Nice to see Debord mentioned here. I come back to the situationists every now and then, and a few days ago was such a "now". I always feel that their work resonates well with yours, and still has a lot to say about our times - especially when it comes to identity politics etc.
The "saboteurs" would appear to come from the "insurrectionist" milieu, which is very much inspired by the situationists, so it fits well with the theme here. Like I say, it would appear that way, but who knows for sure.
Reading this I was reminded of an essay I read a couple of years ago by L.M. Sacasas on Ivan Illich's "Guarding the Eye in the Age of Show", discussing Illich's "wish to rediscover the skills of an ocular askesis." https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/surviving-the-show-the-case-for-an
Not the same topic, but I think adjacent and complementary, in that both Sacasas/Illich and you are calling our attention to the fact that what we are shown is often not reality, and we need to do the hard work of learning to see correctly.
Thanks for this. It's interesting to consider the total sort of lens capitalism might put on us. But is it a bit far-fetched to argue that capitalism is unique in engineering reactions to minor events, and using them to dumbfound, distract and divide us? This has been going on for a very long time. I happen to be reading about Henry the VIII, and everyone in Europe was suddenly forced to have an opinion on Anne Boleyn, declaring it and arguing about it endlessly. What's uniquely capitalistic about what's going on? (Genuine question.)