1.08.2007

"against america..."

...ever notice that concepts that are fossilized are suddenly under more threat than dynamic ones?

For example, if you are opposed to the tenets of situationism, you are simply not a situationist. It is either a part of an identity that are you claim, or it isn't. But being 'anti-american'... is what exactly? What is its definition?

Racism is doubly tragic, for it is steeped in meaninglessness. Say what you will about fascism, at least it is an ethos. But to be a self-described anti-semite is to oppose a concept-- racial identity-- that is so utterly ossified, that it can only be identified by the barest of visual cues. Or, if you saw any of those Howard Stern skits where they goaded that klansman scumbag into trying to guess the 'famous jew', not even that. They are at war with a concept of a human being that they can't even pick out of a crowd.

It is a characteristic of all human identities, flawed or otherwise, that you either embrace your values, or you don't. It is the characteristic of all tyrannies that they be selected by default, that they be identified by their concrete fixtures and by their institutional signifiers, ie. big fuckin' ugly statues and bureaucracy buildings. It is the characteristic of all tyrannies that they only be defined by their absence. The Straussians craved war, because they believed it would give the lives of Americans meaning... and thus their meaning is death. Death of 'heroes' motivates a continuation of hostilities, concealing the pretexts for war. It this will suffice only because the living are exempt from 'hero' status. Similarly, the persecution of the 'anti' gives meaning to the home front, and that meaning is murder for its own sake.

I beg of you, don't be like me, and call yourself 'anti-capitalist' for years and years. Be something. The Marxians can't even agree on a solid definition of capitalism, and I would argue that the history of colonialism is not evidence of capitalism, but of its absence, and the existence of something much worse. (see also: communism)

The institutions of the future will resemble the spaces in which punk bands rehearse: they will exist for moments that will be glamorized for decades, and they will collapse into confusion and infighting. This is the way of nature; for in the time that they were right and justified, they existed. And when their reason for existence was forgotten, they ceased to exist. No greater glory can occur. And when their glory is recalled and properly understood, another generation will take on the responsibility. These are the shabby institutions of humanity. All else are concrete walls that do carve the synapses of coerced existence.

We must be the ones that say yes...

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