Seasonal ruminations
New years, and its proximal dates, are supposed to be a time for calm reflection over the passing of yet another artificial & arbitrary temporal demarcation, a time to unleash one’s reservations against the over-commerialised way in which people behave & either spoil yourself or people close to you – all in all, a time where the Dionysian should triumph over the Apollonian just a little bit.
That is until reality hits home.
Why is it that during times like Christmas horrific things are more acutely tragic I do not know, but such unimaginable excruciations for those involved makes it difficult to even contemplate the existence of divine providence regardless of religion.
It is however some consolation that the spirit of Christmas is alive & well in this festive Times article about the woes & lamentations endured by the columnist from the heinous acts of cyclists (allegedly) littering. Whilst I’m almost certain that Mr. Parris’ calls for the decapitation of the (alleged) offenders are nothing more than agitation stylistics ever so popular in media today, especially when there’s very little to talk about initially, it is hardly surprising that it came across as being inexcusably vitriolic, as clearly evident in many of the responses. It does make one wonder why such 2-minute hate sessions are still so prevalent even with post-Orwellian awareness, ranging from trivial issues like these to the demonisation of entire groups of people, and exactly what message the author had hoped to spread.
It might be easy to recognise & criticise conceit & bigotry in those with different views, but one can never fully anticipate reactions from others to one’s own, no matter how carefully one tries & how well-meaning it might be. There’s really no fast & hard rules, as the standards will necessarily be personal. Indeed too much hesitance can only lead to complete obfuscation, not to mention being utterly boring, as I am clearly demonstrating here.
Hereafter anything else I might want to add only increases the compunction for rebuttals in whatever succeeding it, and it’ll really get nowhere, which was where it started originally. If there were to be a point at all, it’d probably be the importance of empathy in getting your message through. You will never make everyone happy, and as interesting as agitprop might be, embracing tolerance & compassion can be very effective, too.
Post-Orwellian awareness? Hmm, not sure that exists beyond a sort of kitschy, pop-like, vague, and effete familiarity.
I mean, there’s was (is?) a “reality TV” (a term itself arguably Orwellian) show called “Big Brother”, for fuck’s sake, and I’d bet that the majority of its fans haven’t a clue whence the term came, let alone its relevance to the show’s premise.
Everything has been commodified–neutered and approved and deemed safe for public consumption. Even anarchism means little more than a cool logo to today’s vacuous, Starbuck’s-slurping, message-texting, earbud-wearing teenager. King Mob? Up Against the Wall Motherfuckers? Mere shadows at midnight, now.
Nice post, by the way. Thanks for the mini-rant space.
Free rant space for all! That’s what being 2.0 is all about. :-)
The small irony is that Mr. Parris was awarded the Orwell Prize in 2005, and given that he himself is rather ardent towards protecting & promoting gay rights, it is perplexing to say the least why such an article was even conceived by someone who should be entirely cognizant about the vilification & persecution of minority groups, let alone submitted & approved for publication.
As cynical as I still am, but I no longer view things like big brother (though in the literal sense) with disdain, however I find the overt exploitation of human emotions & the implicit freak show mentality distasteful personally. If it makes people content (or at least be deluded into thinking so, but is there really a difference?), participants included, then perhaps that’s something positive - even if it does seem unnervingly like the things Pronosec would churn out.
Whilst I truly admire sincere political & religious zeal from all facets of the ideological spectrum (can spectra have facets?!), as it must be nice to have something one can honestly say I believe in wholeheartedly, I find Ideological laissez-faire or even apathy an increasingly attractive option as long as people are happy, regardless of the apparent excessive hedony & decadence of modern culture. Too often are the revolutionary & pious masses exploited & become the foundation of immeasurable suffering throughout history.
That last paragraph sounds like surrender.
There’s a great deal more to life than merely being “content”. “Content” for most people is satellite tv, a cold beer, limited discomfort, the company of someone (or thing) who will tolerate their drivel, and, outside of that, the presentation of exceedingly few opportunities in life where real thought and creativity are required. Of course, I’m being geo- and ethnocentric here. Oh, and a wee bit cynical, to boot.
Anarchism (let’s call it libertarian socialism) doesn’t seek to indoctrinate anyone for personal or financial gain, or to be used as oblations on the altar of Power–quite the opposite. It’s number-one enemy is dogma. It just wants to be left alone.
I do wonder whether there is more to life than being just content. People achieve (or in most cases try to achieve) a sense of contentment through different means. It might be no more than the simple pleasures of eat, drink, man, woman, or it could be aspirations for things far more idealistic & abstract. In this sense ignorance might be a bliss but it is not a state one can easily return to.
Ideological terminologies, & in particular anything with”isms” attached are notorious in being exploited as a force for social change regardless how genuinely sincere the individual is & what he/she actually believe the ideology as a whole should represent. One can idealise & envisage what socialist (or any other form of egalitarian beliefs) utopias should be like, but unless power projection & domination are no longer part of the (arguably innate) human instinct, there will always be struggle & conflict between different groups of people (or more cynically collections of people whose opinion differ the least). Look at the Spanish Civil War where the numerous of factions fighting against Franco were all supposedly socialists, communists, anarchists & brothers in arms, yet the amount of power play & internal persecution was truly disheartening.
Again such attitudes are perhaps indeed defeatist, but ideological disillusionment can do that to ya. :-)