(NOTE: THIS POST IS OFFICIALLY TOO LONG FOR EMAIL. IF YOU ARE READING THIS IN YOUR EMAIL INBOX PLEASE CLICK THE “VIEW IN BROWSER” LINK AT THE VERY TOP RIGHT OF THE BODY OF THE EMAIL.) Some of my posts on here have no news hooks. This one has five (some older than others):
I’ve not published before, but I’ve written to others that politics functions as a religious substitute within secular societies that have collapsed the distinction between the political state and civil society. I think what you’re referring to is ideology - the general American philosophical orientation is one of postmodernism because that is the discourse that was bred by the academics who now permeate our institutional intelligentsia. This groundwork is what informs hegemonic social discourse, and in a society that has collapsed the political into the personal, political identity fills the void where religion once resided. Religious jingoism only fans the flames of that discourse with its own aims and goals.
I agree that we’re at a social turning point that seems to be embracing a New Romanticism and Neo-Enlightenment rejection of the more-or-less dystopian political propaganda established by capital interests and reinforced by the culture industry. But alienation has taken its toll. While it’s helpful to reflect upon and pass analysis of the emergent gestalt culture we find ourselves in, we must situate ourselves clearly and understand what parts are at play in the social strata we wish to focus on.
What’s the difference between Duc and Bushnell? The Buddhists were organized. Bushnell was a lone actor, a viral martyr to be forgotten by the public consciousness in the next war, just like how the Atlanta Immolator was forgotten last year. I don’t intend to downplay the viscerality of one’s ideological self-sacrifice, but this is a matter of scale and strategy. People guilting each other online over Who Cares More will do nothing for the people of Gaza, and one more life lost to the hopes of Something Bigger Than Myself is pissing in the wind.
Anything that dares to call itself a revolution requires organization, and there is simply no social consciousness currently organized on a scale enough to revolutionize our social psyche. Our larger society can’t even agree upon definitional facts at the moment. I say this not as a pessimistic or cynic, in fact I’m the opposite - propagandizing any politics, artistic aesthetic or otherwise, is a deathly risky business when left unrestrained by clearly achievable purposes and goals.
Isolated self-immolation is an act of moralism, not one of revolutionary praxis. What good is one ghost to another across the River or the Sea. It only hopes to be an idealistic beacon that can attract the fervor of its supporters - and then what? What Is To Be Done? Encouraging and spreading support for the kinds of life-giving culture that is worth cultivating merits enough respect on its own for how it impacts the individual and local grassroots scenes. But that is not enough to challenge hegemony; how does an underground scene become popular? How did Punk become Pop? How does a political movement not become corrupted away from its goals, and make itself distinct from its member’s civic life?
>Anything that dares to call itself a revolution requires organization, and there is simply no social consciousness currently organized on a scale enough to revolutionize our social psyche. Our larger society can’t even agree upon definitional facts at the moment. I say this not as a pessimistic or cynic, in fact I’m the opposite - propagandizing any politics, artistic aesthetic or otherwise, is a deathly risky business when left unrestrained by clearly achievable purposes and goals.
My sense from skimming Twitter and the reaction to Bushnell is that its more significant in terms of (a) diminishing morale and domestic recruiting and (b) for Arabs in the region.
My intuition is that only a truly catastrophic economic crisis could spur meaningful domestic political reform at this stage. State organs of control - both centralized and decentralized - are simply too effective.
I pretty much agree. Just a few things: as far as Bushnell goes, there is a world of difference between him and the Atlanta incident. We don't know that person's name and there was no mention of their death. Short of it: that story was buried. The press has tried to bury this story, to be sure. But a few things that distinguish it from Atlanta as well as Vietnam and from the Who Cares Wins Olympics. This is an active duty US officer who said they will not participate in genocide. Meaning US troops HAVE been used in the conflict, despite what the US press has been reporting. Also, the video of this has been widespread and easy to watch. Photos were popular of Duc. Footage was nowhere near as widespread. Certainly not on the evening news lol. As far as calling an act of self-immolation "guilting people," yeah it's not the same thing as guilting people into watching Abbot Elementary.
And now we are back to the crux of my piece: a revolution in consciousness. A revolution in consciousness is not like a military coup much like a coup is not like a tech revolution. Having an organized revolution in a revolution of consciousness is not necessary. Propaganda is the exact opposite of what I am advocating here.
I saw you mentioned postmodernism. Please read my posts on the end of postmodernism (No PoMo) and thanks for the comment.
I understand that you were impacted by the video. If you are looking to impact others, maybe just link to the video. Your links just seem to be comment on the video. I do not understand.
Good catch. Could do without the condescending "do not understand" but this is the Internet and lack of social grace is par for the course. Anyway the link is fixed to both vids now. They are both Twitter videos so it is best to watch the post in your browser and make sure you are logged in to Twitter. Sorry about the confusion and, again, a reminder that the Bushnell vid will be probably be taken down by the powers that be sooner than later.
>OK fine when do we need this revolution? Before we are all just dots on an aerial map.
Powerful. Militarism abroad always comes home. That will be doubly true when the political loyalty of the state's soldiers becomes a non-issue (because the state's soldiers will be robots).
One thing I'm increasingly thinking about - with automation/drones/robotics, it means the death of any and all forms of political populism or even mass political movements. It would break the power of labor, and it would concurrently break the power of small arms/guerilla warfare (because of anti-personnel drones).
My bet is that the USG/national security state/American oligarchs are going to go all in on humanoid drones + anti-personnel drones, and it will ignite the power intense phase of class warfare that's ever existed. I think it's hard even to conceive of how epochal that kind of moment would be.
Imagine a scenario where the people are Gaza can't mount *any* resistance to Israeli military force *at all*, simply because anti-personnel drones/FPV drones are so utterly overwhelmingly advantaged. Now multiply that force overmatch for every other context imaginable, both foreign and domestic.
Uh ... is this all for me? I'm new here and have never commented before (on any substack, even though I subscribe to a few). I'm not trying to be 'condescending'. And I take slight offense to an accusation of a 'lack of social grace', as we're not at a cocktail party. But you sold access to a compelling and emotional video and then just posted over the top. No video. Just you (or someone) telling me how I should feel about the video I hadn't been allowed to see. A mistake, maybe? Cool. But, I struggle with trying to inform my family of old people with truth and combat lies and disinformation. And your shitposting or fishing for clicks is not helpful. But, pardon my lack of social graces.
You don't make money off this do you? Because I don't. I'm just a guy got turned on to Substack. And I'm an Air Force veteran. And a west coast liberal. I'm just trying to make sense of this Bushnell kid. How? Why? This kid had his whole life before him. I want to know. I need to know. Help me. Or go peddle derivative commentary and broken links for subscription fees. I'll look elsewhere. Good luck.
I’ve not published before, but I’ve written to others that politics functions as a religious substitute within secular societies that have collapsed the distinction between the political state and civil society. I think what you’re referring to is ideology - the general American philosophical orientation is one of postmodernism because that is the discourse that was bred by the academics who now permeate our institutional intelligentsia. This groundwork is what informs hegemonic social discourse, and in a society that has collapsed the political into the personal, political identity fills the void where religion once resided. Religious jingoism only fans the flames of that discourse with its own aims and goals.
I agree that we’re at a social turning point that seems to be embracing a New Romanticism and Neo-Enlightenment rejection of the more-or-less dystopian political propaganda established by capital interests and reinforced by the culture industry. But alienation has taken its toll. While it’s helpful to reflect upon and pass analysis of the emergent gestalt culture we find ourselves in, we must situate ourselves clearly and understand what parts are at play in the social strata we wish to focus on.
What’s the difference between Duc and Bushnell? The Buddhists were organized. Bushnell was a lone actor, a viral martyr to be forgotten by the public consciousness in the next war, just like how the Atlanta Immolator was forgotten last year. I don’t intend to downplay the viscerality of one’s ideological self-sacrifice, but this is a matter of scale and strategy. People guilting each other online over Who Cares More will do nothing for the people of Gaza, and one more life lost to the hopes of Something Bigger Than Myself is pissing in the wind.
Anything that dares to call itself a revolution requires organization, and there is simply no social consciousness currently organized on a scale enough to revolutionize our social psyche. Our larger society can’t even agree upon definitional facts at the moment. I say this not as a pessimistic or cynic, in fact I’m the opposite - propagandizing any politics, artistic aesthetic or otherwise, is a deathly risky business when left unrestrained by clearly achievable purposes and goals.
Isolated self-immolation is an act of moralism, not one of revolutionary praxis. What good is one ghost to another across the River or the Sea. It only hopes to be an idealistic beacon that can attract the fervor of its supporters - and then what? What Is To Be Done? Encouraging and spreading support for the kinds of life-giving culture that is worth cultivating merits enough respect on its own for how it impacts the individual and local grassroots scenes. But that is not enough to challenge hegemony; how does an underground scene become popular? How did Punk become Pop? How does a political movement not become corrupted away from its goals, and make itself distinct from its member’s civic life?
These are the questions we must be asking.
>Anything that dares to call itself a revolution requires organization, and there is simply no social consciousness currently organized on a scale enough to revolutionize our social psyche. Our larger society can’t even agree upon definitional facts at the moment. I say this not as a pessimistic or cynic, in fact I’m the opposite - propagandizing any politics, artistic aesthetic or otherwise, is a deathly risky business when left unrestrained by clearly achievable purposes and goals.
My sense from skimming Twitter and the reaction to Bushnell is that its more significant in terms of (a) diminishing morale and domestic recruiting and (b) for Arabs in the region.
My intuition is that only a truly catastrophic economic crisis could spur meaningful domestic political reform at this stage. State organs of control - both centralized and decentralized - are simply too effective.
I pretty much agree. Just a few things: as far as Bushnell goes, there is a world of difference between him and the Atlanta incident. We don't know that person's name and there was no mention of their death. Short of it: that story was buried. The press has tried to bury this story, to be sure. But a few things that distinguish it from Atlanta as well as Vietnam and from the Who Cares Wins Olympics. This is an active duty US officer who said they will not participate in genocide. Meaning US troops HAVE been used in the conflict, despite what the US press has been reporting. Also, the video of this has been widespread and easy to watch. Photos were popular of Duc. Footage was nowhere near as widespread. Certainly not on the evening news lol. As far as calling an act of self-immolation "guilting people," yeah it's not the same thing as guilting people into watching Abbot Elementary.
And now we are back to the crux of my piece: a revolution in consciousness. A revolution in consciousness is not like a military coup much like a coup is not like a tech revolution. Having an organized revolution in a revolution of consciousness is not necessary. Propaganda is the exact opposite of what I am advocating here.
I saw you mentioned postmodernism. Please read my posts on the end of postmodernism (No PoMo) and thanks for the comment.
Longposting -- I've done my share of that.
I understand that you were impacted by the video. If you are looking to impact others, maybe just link to the video. Your links just seem to be comment on the video. I do not understand.
Good catch. Could do without the condescending "do not understand" but this is the Internet and lack of social grace is par for the course. Anyway the link is fixed to both vids now. They are both Twitter videos so it is best to watch the post in your browser and make sure you are logged in to Twitter. Sorry about the confusion and, again, a reminder that the Bushnell vid will be probably be taken down by the powers that be sooner than later.
>OK fine when do we need this revolution? Before we are all just dots on an aerial map.
Powerful. Militarism abroad always comes home. That will be doubly true when the political loyalty of the state's soldiers becomes a non-issue (because the state's soldiers will be robots).
One thing I'm increasingly thinking about - with automation/drones/robotics, it means the death of any and all forms of political populism or even mass political movements. It would break the power of labor, and it would concurrently break the power of small arms/guerilla warfare (because of anti-personnel drones).
My bet is that the USG/national security state/American oligarchs are going to go all in on humanoid drones + anti-personnel drones, and it will ignite the power intense phase of class warfare that's ever existed. I think it's hard even to conceive of how epochal that kind of moment would be.
Imagine a scenario where the people are Gaza can't mount *any* resistance to Israeli military force *at all*, simply because anti-personnel drones/FPV drones are so utterly overwhelmingly advantaged. Now multiply that force overmatch for every other context imaginable, both foreign and domestic.
Funny thing about AI: ain't no telling what it is actually "thinking" so sometimes the guns turn on the master.
Uh ... is this all for me? I'm new here and have never commented before (on any substack, even though I subscribe to a few). I'm not trying to be 'condescending'. And I take slight offense to an accusation of a 'lack of social grace', as we're not at a cocktail party. But you sold access to a compelling and emotional video and then just posted over the top. No video. Just you (or someone) telling me how I should feel about the video I hadn't been allowed to see. A mistake, maybe? Cool. But, I struggle with trying to inform my family of old people with truth and combat lies and disinformation. And your shitposting or fishing for clicks is not helpful. But, pardon my lack of social graces.
You're either the troll or the victim. Pick one.
You're either the partisan hack or the click-bait journalist. Pick one.
Atta boy! Glad you decided. I am the partisan hack for the Democratic Party clearly. 🙄
You don't make money off this do you? Because I don't. I'm just a guy got turned on to Substack. And I'm an Air Force veteran. And a west coast liberal. I'm just trying to make sense of this Bushnell kid. How? Why? This kid had his whole life before him. I want to know. I need to know. Help me. Or go peddle derivative commentary and broken links for subscription fees. I'll look elsewhere. Good luck.
....thank you for your service I guess? 🫡