Demotic absorption and bombardment . . .
Missing anything, really? We turn today from external geopolitics to the formless synaptic response by the American demos.
Our diagnosis is clear. As said by readers here recently, we know the pathology. ‘Facts’ are short, blurred and dissolve into mere ‘belief’. Overrun by a cacophony of orchestrated attacks on passive viewers’ self-esteem to galvanize passivity into consumptive action. All overseen by a largely amused (if disparate and unconnected) plutocracy or oligarchy, offering manufactured personalities literally responding to voices whispering in their head. Success is delivering maximum stimuli to the lower brain cortex through the optic nerve (auditory aspects secondary). The political and cultural implications can not be segregated from the commercial.
* See photo below
What then is the prognosis? To assume that such a shellshocked, fractured societal ‘culture’ and ‘memory’ can maintain itself even in a debased steady state is to ignore the inherently unstable nature of the host/parasitic apparat dynamic. Neither can ignore exogenous pressures outside this viscerally paralytic dissolution.
False binaries are the tools of AgitProp. With us or against us. Victory or destruction. And so on. We will tread carefully here. It does seem, however, that we do have two distinct paths, both of which have branches and permutations. Each path may present its own fractal implications — and you dear reader may have a more clear perception. While this seems mere word play, we do mean it as presented.
One path away from the host’s dissolution into bipedal sludge (although still deceptively and actively twitching with consumer gusto) lies with demos writ large. By recovering its collective memory. Of its why and how. Societies and ecumenae have done it before. Usually by rediscovering past cultural, scientific and political achievements literally buried or forgotten. Or in the case of the Arabs, preserved in Spain to be a gift to the West (something not to be said today, of course).
Earlier historical efforts necessarily were top-down, i.e. social, religious and political elites promoted, tolerated or were overwhelmed by the exercise. We speak here of renewal from below. A self-generated and sustained impulse from ‘below’ requires a ‘force’ akin to a contemporary Williams Jennings Bryan. With 10,000 Crosses of Gold (some now on American Home Shopping Network). Today the need is beyond mere populism ala Huey Long. Nor is it about class differentian/junior high dialectics. But of an awakening.
There is hazy precedent. Perot 1992 effort ignited demotic overt nationalism, populism and disgust with elite incompetence. THe impulses tapped were not the awaking we spoke of. Yet opened the possibility to them. The campaign was fated to fail even before the candidate’s inherent quirks turned weird. (We were down in Texas in that orbit when Ed Rollins and Hamilton Jordan later had that memorable press conference). American political structure can not accommodate third parties (Ventura aside). An external shock is possible — ala 1854 and Perry’s Black Ships, etc. (and even that motivated top down reform). Gas prices? Not even close.
A second path is a demos unwilling to remember or reinvent its memory in favor of 3 Day Sales with no shipping (other restrictions may apply). Symbionts know such a host is only a temporary asset. Host depletion is inevitable. Now imagine Krauthammer-esque pretensions to global hegemony and all that nonsense on top.
An enlightened parasitic apparat might pursue some kind of static state — even if short lived — to maximize its preservation and some geopolitical sinew. Although we are not there yet, a symbiont might well welcome a Diolcletian, tempted, cajoled, required, embraced with demos’ decaying delirium. A Diocletian solution today may well be irrelevant; more trouble than it is worth. Plutocratic mobility is without precedent; money and assets know no geographic boundary or cultural loyalty. Leaving behind a rump bio mass. Remaining merely that.
Such an outcome is not dissimilar to the “Snow Crash” scenario. A president and government are irrelevant, marginalized, insignificant figureheads seeking publicity. Much like a Corey Haim. The rump bio mass is “run” by the only company everyone trusts — a CEO who guarantees pizzas will be delivered within 30 minutes or less. In 1992, a slyly comedic observation. Today?
Oddly, the Warlord’s failure cuts both ways. His slow motion fall shows that Imperial rule even with our chaotic mass memory at this time still can be transient. Those exogenous events we mentioned helped: Katrina, foreign policy blowback, etc. His failure rests largely on unvoiced but near universally shared contempt for incompetence. A competent Warlord? (Or more competently managed Warlord?)
To quote the president who refused to eat broccoli, one needs “the vision thing”. Can the Boy King find content behind empty Agit Prop sloganeering such as ‘change’ and ‘yes we can?’. Will that content be more of the top-down kind? Except with different ‘values’ ? Does anything really change at its fundamental level? How do his flock think his vision will arrest any of the above? A mere pallative? Or literally a way out of the symbiotic relationship’s zero sum cannibalism?
One thing we do know. McCain is no answer to any of this.
DrLeoStrauss says
When I was interviewing people, some of the people I interviewed would say to me, “You know, give it up. America has just lost it. It is longer a superpower, it is in decline and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Then I would talk to other people, who would say, “This is just all about market cycles and the market will take care of itself. So, go write a business book on innovation, but from a country perspective, there’s nothing the government could do.” It was almost like they wanted to say, just recognize time constraints and the market will take care of itself.
I don’t believe the market can take care of itself this time because one of the problems is that the market has become very, very short-term focused…I’m not one of those people that says the government can solve all our problems, but I believe that where we are right now actually is somewhere in between those two perspectives.
We need leadership from the top to provide the inspiration and the spark. There are some places where we need some policy changes and some strategically placed funding to be able to get the incentives aligned to solve some of these problems.
There’s no question we need different people in charge. There’s no question we need new leadership for the country.
If we do nothing, there’s no question about it [China’s economic domination]. But I believe that the level of freedom and individuality that we have historically had in our culture provides the framework for that type of (disruptive) innovation more than you’ll find in a more structured society. If you look at China, Japan, or at some other nations, they tend to be more hierarchical and more structured and so that leads them to innovate in the areas where you need to apply scale. I think that if we can get back our culture of openness and freedom and a culture of valuing science and paying respect to it, then no one can beat us in that area.
[At the Intel Developer Forum, (former CEO) Craig Barrett, complained that the U.S. isn’t doing enough to spur R&D compared with the rest of the world. Apropos, you write in your book that science is becoming too vulnerable to nonscientific objection in this country.]
I’m very, very, very concerned about that. When you look at making changes in our education system, you want to make decisions based on evidence and data. You don’t want to make decisions based on who is in office or what geography you’re trying to play up to.
You make those decisions based on scientific data and scientific facts. You need people who can look at that and then make the decisions based on that input. Unfortunately, in the last decade, the scientific community has been treated like a special interest group, as opposed to being used as a resource.
Jusdy Estrin, shouting into the wind. . . (Sept. 2008)
cato90025 says
Great video–kept thinking of a Cialis to help the Neo-con erectile dysfunction as of late.
You could do a hilarious Stiftung-Cento splicing the neo-con/AIPAC prattle with commercials!
Agree some stiltedness in delivery–but substance still has some merit in these heady times.
Anon says
We think Obama was mistaken to go to than Warren megachurch – We have zero doubt McCain cheated and either heard Obama beforehand or had emails or notes sent to him during Obamas time. We just saw that aw-schucks pastor on Larry King getting indignant – but he gave himself away when he sounded ‘moved’ as McCain teared up about Russia invading Georgia – just as he teared up about his adopted daughter and his bad first marriage.
Sorry – but no real political person cries about Russia invading Geogia (esp w/ Geogia starting it) unless you have a backfire bomber about to drop a payload on your dacha.
Anon says
re STSOZ 1.0 flashback- recall the Pundit story and Operation Caspian Freedom? McCain will bring it
Anon says
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-blumenthal/feelin-the-hate-with-toby_b_119363.html
Like father, like son
Anon says
Yeah – there were several disconnects in the flow of daughters comments and both lacked facial expressions to match the words – at certain points.
At first, we assumed language gaps – But it looks more and more like Moscow Centre.
It would have been funnier if Morton Kondracke was the host.
DrLeoStrauss says
Getting on Studio B is surely an easier SVR task than briefing Putin how to hand Bush a cross and get a free soul reading.
Anon says
It seems that Shep was getting instructions in his ear piece that were probably along the lines ‘get them off ….’
Looking at the mother and daughter again – they do seem like they may have rehearsed a bit. Propaganda trojan horse?
DrLeoStrauss says
Shep Smith has an interesting track record at Fox, sometimes assisting others or directly reporting against the Roger Ailes meme of the Moment. Smith in New Orleans after Katrina was stunningly blunt and raw about the calamitous situation despite the FOX overall packaging.
He actually was far more inclusive here than anyone at Fox would be (except maybe Greta, as a lawyer she still as a tattered regard for ‘facts’).
Imagine Hannity . . . ‘Now we get all these reports from World News Daily and other respected sources that in fact Russian special forces deliberately bombed cafes, diners and markets to provoke Georgian defensive action.
How does it feel to be used by the Russians this way? You have 10 seconds before we are joined by Stephen Hayes from the Weekly Standard . . .’
Anon says
“If there is anything I am lacking in, I’ve got to tell you, it is taste in music and art and other great things in life,” McCain joked. “I’ve got to say that a lot of my taste in music stopped about the time I impacted a surface-to-air missile with my own airplane and never caught up again.”
~McCain to Walter Isaacson
(forget for a second McCain marketing his
POW while pretending not too – Note he mixed
up his timeline – ABBA came after Hanoi – just
like the Surge coming after the Awakening. But
‘Mac’ reversed both)
Anon says
Funny stuff – make sure to check out Abercrombie on the video clip. Blowtorch of common sense,
http://kgmb9.com/main/content/view/8965/40
Anon says
LOL – Gatekeeper breakdown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8XI2Chc6uQ
Anon says
Imagine the GOP reaction if this report come out during late 2002-03? Of-course, now they no longer care – unless Obama wins and remains popular in Paris
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/15/opinion/edkinzer.php
Anon says
If the GOP base was not so well controlled by gatekeepers and various other propaganda and if they knew the full complete set of facts about Georgia/Ossetia – they would be giving Putin a thumbs up and yelling ” Shock and Awe Baybee Pooty Poot! Go for it!”
Anon says
Now the gatekeepers are keepers of Memes – LIke those who sort establish the highly dubious proposition that hothead ill-informed McCain is obviously helped by Georgia’s mistakes that Georgia did not supposedly make.
King begat Perot – who called Bush to lose, which led to Monica …
DrLeoStrauss says
All very true. Hard for some to remember when CNN and Larry King were the gatekeepers. Those charts . . . “open the hood” — good times, good times.
Anon says
re The Diocletian Option – hmmm…
Anon says
Larry King created the Perot campaign – without King’s show Perot never would have had the initial publicity.
So the key is to get Larry King to interview Paris Hilton at lenght.