time for the f-word again, again
no, the other other one.
or maybe just "audacity".
and no, i'm not gonna say a word about the news of the week except that that picture gives hipster glasses a new, scary, resonance for me.
what i'm saying is this:
reading back issues of this brought me to the following two quotations, which seem deeply of the moment.
first, walter benjamin:
Fascism attempts to organize the newly created proletarian masses without affecting the property structure which the masses strive to eliminate. Fascism sees its salvation in giving these masses not their right, but instead a chance to express themselves. The masses have a right to change property relations; Fascism seeks to give them an expression while preserving property.
drop the "newly created" and this sounds a lot like how the state i live in is responding to the current depression. it's all about allowing folks to express their fear, terror, dread, and occasionally anger as a way to avoid the structural changes whose necessity is made more visible by the everyday experience of the economic crisis...
the theory-heads among you may have noticed that i cut the famous last sentence from that passage:
The logical result of Fascism is the introduction of aesthetics into political life.
that's partly because i think in that sentence uncle walt is either being translated badly, expressing himself badly, or just off-base. aesthetics are always part of political life. you can't separate representation (as in art) from representation (as in parliament) from representation (as in expressing the interests of a social group). ever. (tip of the hat to michael denning, who pulled this out of marx's 18th Brumaire in a seminar i was in)
a better phrasing of what i think could be usefully excavated from behind that sentence might be: "a key part of Fascism is the substitution of the symbolic and expressive for the concrete and material in political life." which can look, as it does in the u.s. today, like the combination of a symbolic change (a black president, say) with concrete continuity of policy (f'rinstance, expanding anti-choice legislation; military escalation; insurance-company giveaways; massive bank subsidies...).
second, benito mussolini:
We have created our myth. The myth is a faith, a passion. It is not necessary for it to be a reality. It is a reality in the sense that it is a stimulus, a hope, is faith, is courage. Our myth is the nation, our myth is the greatness of the nation! For us the nation is not just territory, but something spiritual. A nation is great when it translates into reality the force of the spirit.
in other words: hope you can believe in.
Whatever mistakes we have made, the plain fact is this: the United States of America has helped underwrite global security for more than six decades with the blood of our citizens and the strength of our arms. The service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform has promoted peace and prosperity from Germany to Korea, and enabled democracy to take hold in places like the Balkans. We have borne this burden not because we seek to impose our will. We have done so out of enlightened self-interest - because we seek a better future for our children and grandchildren, and we believe that their lives will be better if other peoples' children and grandchildren can live in freedom and prosperity.
audacious, ain't it?
or maybe just "audacity".
and no, i'm not gonna say a word about the news of the week except that that picture gives hipster glasses a new, scary, resonance for me.
what i'm saying is this:
reading back issues of this brought me to the following two quotations, which seem deeply of the moment.
first, walter benjamin:
Fascism attempts to organize the newly created proletarian masses without affecting the property structure which the masses strive to eliminate. Fascism sees its salvation in giving these masses not their right, but instead a chance to express themselves. The masses have a right to change property relations; Fascism seeks to give them an expression while preserving property.
drop the "newly created" and this sounds a lot like how the state i live in is responding to the current depression. it's all about allowing folks to express their fear, terror, dread, and occasionally anger as a way to avoid the structural changes whose necessity is made more visible by the everyday experience of the economic crisis...
the theory-heads among you may have noticed that i cut the famous last sentence from that passage:
The logical result of Fascism is the introduction of aesthetics into political life.
that's partly because i think in that sentence uncle walt is either being translated badly, expressing himself badly, or just off-base. aesthetics are always part of political life. you can't separate representation (as in art) from representation (as in parliament) from representation (as in expressing the interests of a social group). ever. (tip of the hat to michael denning, who pulled this out of marx's 18th Brumaire in a seminar i was in)
a better phrasing of what i think could be usefully excavated from behind that sentence might be: "a key part of Fascism is the substitution of the symbolic and expressive for the concrete and material in political life." which can look, as it does in the u.s. today, like the combination of a symbolic change (a black president, say) with concrete continuity of policy (f'rinstance, expanding anti-choice legislation; military escalation; insurance-company giveaways; massive bank subsidies...).
second, benito mussolini:
We have created our myth. The myth is a faith, a passion. It is not necessary for it to be a reality. It is a reality in the sense that it is a stimulus, a hope, is faith, is courage. Our myth is the nation, our myth is the greatness of the nation! For us the nation is not just territory, but something spiritual. A nation is great when it translates into reality the force of the spirit.
in other words: hope you can believe in.
Whatever mistakes we have made, the plain fact is this: the United States of America has helped underwrite global security for more than six decades with the blood of our citizens and the strength of our arms. The service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform has promoted peace and prosperity from Germany to Korea, and enabled democracy to take hold in places like the Balkans. We have borne this burden not because we seek to impose our will. We have done so out of enlightened self-interest - because we seek a better future for our children and grandchildren, and we believe that their lives will be better if other peoples' children and grandchildren can live in freedom and prosperity.
audacious, ain't it?