Who hasn't screwed and possibly even experimented with various partners and sensual objects, done drugs, gone to raves...In the end - this is somehow all allowed within the system - all recuperated.
I was into punk and indie-rock, and hip hop and jazz growing up. Beauty of punk was that as you know, anyone can pick up an instrument and play, express themselves fully without being a complete poseur and it is amazing fun. I grew up in North Carolina (Fayetteville) so there was absolutely nothing to do! We had to be as debauched and imaginative as possible to NOT stay bored. Why was it boring? Because the only options for kids were shopping at the mall, playing video games, playing sports, going to church and attending church functions and literally hanging out at the Exxon parking lot on a Friday night. The Community pool (Moose lodge or country club) was ok.
Back in the mid-80's my junior high and high school friends were classified by moronic zoologists as heshers (Heavy metal, black metal, speed, thrash), punks, skaters, computer nerds (Commodore 64 programming wizard types), stoners, Dead-Heads, and redneck outlaws (my favorite). I lived near Fort Bragg - so my friends were from all nationalities and walks of life.
Really - they were just trying to express themselves and subvert the boring commercial non-choices of our reality (a landscape of strip malls, churches and chemically manicured lawns). Of course, my mother watched too much Oprah and listened to Tipper Gore and tossed all of my Iron Maiden and Dead Kennedys records. That was a travesty. Today, she regrets it because "times have sure changed and now these things seem acceptable".
Moreover, 30% of my life was spent in Athens, Greece were I would see a major contrast - where friends would participate in occupations, marches, and actions against the state and their local administrators (school, etc). I, being the Greek-American would stand at a distance - like a Jack Kerouc and watch as my Neal Cassidy type friends went crazy. It was pretty inspiring. In retrospect, I wish that I had taken part - now I am making up for lost moments with my own sorjurn.
Other than that - back in the US - it's amazing how much fun you can have with a bunch of drunk redneck outlaws in the most unlikely of places (abandoned junk yards, housing construction sites, sandpits, etc.).
Do the powers that be in the USA REALLY fear us? Europeans (Greeks from my experience) seem to not only KNOW how to have a good time, be idle, but also have somewhat of an understanding of politics and the rules of the game. I find my fellow countrymen and especially kids absolutely clueless and quite scared of our police state (for good reason).
Check to see what the students in Greece do on a daily basis. They fight back - they protest, they use their intelligence and wit to out manuever the power structure. In th end do they change anything? Well, from experience - many who partake are younger (late teens to college age) and do have fun.
I think scandalous and subversive behavior in all aspects of life awakens the dormant soul. Even if there is some inherent danger involved and retaliation. We are all too darn passive, arm chair critiques.
In total - Debord and his ilk yearned for the authentic life outside of the circuits of capitalism, commodity consumption and religion. Marxist Autonomists push for freedom - an autonomist space outside the relations of the exchange system.
When I listen to revolution on a song - it isn't the same as if I participated in it myself (and this can involve various manifestations - not just fighting a cop).
I want to find out what exactly that might be beyond NEVER WORK.
Eric <rayrena at realtime.net> wrote:
>Permaculture, flash mobs, occupation of school or unionizing, work
>with Food Not Bombs, pirate radio, street news...
>
> There are still so many things to actually do versus merely
>passively consuming a spectacle.
Flash mobs?
Not a bad point, except for the whole fetishizing of Action thing, which of course merely and unthinkingly mimics capital's axioms about performance and production. How about shooting the shit with friends and strangers on the porch and fucking wherever you want? And really, what kind of music do you listen to that allows passive consumption? Are you a James Taylor fan? Isn't listening also its own creation?
This is why I could never get into Debord.... ___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
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