A Two Part Hypertext Essay About the Rise of the Drones in America

Dystopian Quotes:

“A really efficient totalitarian state would be one in which the all-powerful executive of political bosses and their army of managers control a population of slaves who do not have to be coerced, because they love their servitude.”  -Aldus Huxley – Brave New World

“In our age there is no such thing as ‘keeping out of politics.’ All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia. The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world. Lies will pass into history.” -George Orwell- 1984

The Vitruvius Man: the Perfect Sublime Human-Copycat-Machine in da Vince Proportions

(Part I)

Conveying Fiction vs. Reality & The Teleology of Drones

Flying autonomous machines equipped with destructive bombs, laser missiles and surveillance are no longer science fiction in today’s world. There will be about 10,000 small and large sized drones flying over people’s houses in less than five years on U.S’s soil, according to the FAA. (here)

Think of drones peeping at its target from a thousand feet in the sky, stealthily, quietly like an eagle stalking its pray for more than twenty hours, while down below, the target is sipping coffee on Starbucks’s sunny patio unaware of being photographed.

This drone civil transgression, all of a sudden, for leftist/liberals and right/conservatives wingers is an undemocratic issue for a nation that praises individuality, liberty, privacy and political consensus protected by the Bill of Rights. Of course, today this is not the case, aerial drones is an everyday reality for all of us now flying in our own national territory and we better get used to the feeling of being permanently panoptized by its glossy eyes, drones are here to stay whether for good or bad. (here, video)

Thereby, the court’s “due processes” won’t help the village commoners anymore and the fourth amendment of the civil rights becomes just graphite on paper and it no longer matters as we move further into an era of surveillance of aerial drones. It is just a matter of time for America’s drones flying Middle East skies to move back to their homeland to roost. Now, drones are the Pentagon’s responsibility once owned by the CIA’ invincible hands. Drones in the Pentagon’ ownership can be used as they deem necessary into the heartland of America in the name of Home Land Security, in fact, they are already in used. (read more here and here)

The next generations of peeping-psychopath are the autonomous-drones that are being built in massive numbers as the human population increases in the U.S. Law and order demands more operative’s cops and more surveillance eyes on the streets to keep derange bad guys and lost souls from killing bystanders and shooting at each other.

Although,  drones are not only used for surveillance or killing purposes, as done in foreign land, but here in the U.S. the low cost of the unmanned aerial vehicles makes the drone-quest easy to follow (UVA), as the corpo-Honeywell put it succinctly: “[the] UVAs become simpler and less expensive to operate and maintain, they will be more and more suitable for mainstream commercial applications. One day soon, delivery companies such as UPS or FedEx could employ unmanned robotic flyers to deliver priority mail.” (read more here and here)

As we learn, the 21th century of a new millennium drone’s future is right here at home, in fact, drones have always been here since Bill Clinton put the first one over Kosovo skies for surveillance purposes. Then under G. W. Bush and now Barack Obama who continues leading drones to fight terrorist.

Drones in the U.S., whether to drop mail or to spy on violent-non-states-actors are a jewel to surveilled underground blood-suckers: international terrorists, corrupted politicians, organized crimes, wife-cheaters, drug-cartel criminals, gangs and the like will be subjected to living-hell by the all-seeing eyeball powerful night-vision infrared cameras of drones. A glossy beautiful pics of 640/480 pixels footage resolution images will be shot to assess and re-assess a person without consent and awareness by federal or commercial-private drones. Then the images will be send back to the agency (or spouses) profiling the target for subpoena, arrest and public disclosure to be shown morbidly in the evening news. (read here and here)

Of course, this idea of surveillance over civilians is an old theme. The Michael Foucault’ 24 hour camera civil watch of Panopticon, originally designed by the British social theorist, Jeremy Bentham is a relic matter when compared to the forthcoming semi-dystopian-police-state that America is urged to experience.

There is a tremendous pressure in the U.S. and the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security in view of increasing shooting and violence to fly drones in the U.S,’s skies. Therefore, American citizens are under pressure to give up another piece of their civil liberties in exchange for more personal security.

This new civil federal law and the use of surveillance drones is not a new phase of today’s society; it’s always been here, gravitating in our premonitional dystopian sci-fi literature known as a “surveillance-police-state”. This very mimesis of surveillance drone culture of this era in the U.S. is now the Zeitgeist of our time. (read here and here)

Unfortunately, we are moving towards the Hobbesian path and the absolutism kingdom is approaching home a lot faster since America’s political demographic has shifted in favor of a more central government who is today more embedded into people’s lives than fifty years ago. This semi-Hobbes-dystopian of today’s society might seem asymmetric and even preposterous fictional for the general readers. But readers know that this issue is not farfetched or unrelated to us if we think about America’s perpetual war against terrorism; increasing pocket of poverty in our own country causing riots resentment, mass-world exodus immigration mostly coming to the U.S. and senseless psychopathic killings of children and bystanders undoubtedly  requires swiftly attention from the government.

Seemingly, logic and reason compels Nation-states like ours, a nation of war, to prepare in lieu of unfolding civil unrest and urban warfare, something done in the past and likely to happens again. Today’s political leviathan requires a central authority government to avert the evils of society discord, civil unrest and senseless murders hence allowing whoever is in power to meddle into every aspect of people’s affairs. (see nation of war)

The United States, by Hobbesian analogy, keeps shifting further into the sixty year old visionary reading of George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four depicting a society of servants being watched 24 hours by the Big Brother. The Orwellian reading is a paramount story like no other as a mental-artifice predicating the current direction of the U.S. now being exemplified with the use of unmanned aerial drones as the independent, Mayor Bloomberg of NY succinctly put it: “better get used to it”. (read here)

With this new reality vs. fiction there are hundreds of premonitional writing and films toppling U.S.’s reality such as Brave New World, The Drowned World and lately, the Bourne Legacy  (2012) depicting big brother-watch it’s secrets agents. In the Bourne Legacy film, drones controlled by CIA’s operatives are utilized to kill their own “assassin” agents. Once the agents are deemed no longer suitable for service, they become dangerous prospects for the agency and national security being ubiquitously under surveillance and suddenly killed. Is the Bourne Legacy a warning predictor film for the future of the U.S? I think so.

Such films and narratives are subliminal artifices extracted from our historical epistemology archive that has collected human events and national experiences over time.  Many of these accumulated events are being recently emulated in epic-films such as Argo 2012; Lincoln (2012) and Zero Dark Thirty (2012) as well countless historical writing politicizing unfinished business. Without these ontological historical collections there wouldn’t be any sci-fi nor any genre or other literary artifices to sublime or transfer reality for that matter. Even “real science” without these Kairotic archives would be completely lost since we know that, after all, “science” is also a kind of myth.

Today, many liberal art colleges illustrate the ideological nuances from some of these historical collections. Some teachers depict them as a semi-dystopian societies focusing on contemporary political concerns about countries like North Korea, Cuba, China, Venezuela, Iran and other hot places in Central Africa as failed states.

These countries, in their calamitous state of affairs and their respective-mano-dura-strongman served us logistically for political purposes. It feeds the nation’s creeds of national identity invigorating the bases of democracy incrementing global power and dominance. The end result falls well onto the collective consciousness of Americans which in time such information is parsed apart by the Art-industry thus films are crafted, as writing, political-discourse and even PhDs theses all assembled upon this cultural archive of men’s production.

As we see, the purpose of sci-fi narratives, as an art-device, is to sublimate the timelessness of Kairotics nuances of past and present events-as the Romans and Greeks did once before. Today’s events, past myths, religions and politics are amalgamated with modern human desire as a wanted projection, best exemplified in some films such as: Start Trek, Start World, Minority Report, John Carter, Matrix, Dune, Avatar, Prometheus, Terminator, Judgment Day, etc.

Sci-fi’s genre is a lot more complex than just make money or enticing people’s attention that cannot be explained here in detail, but clearly, sci-fi has a twofold core connection to consider beyond its purely entertainment subtleties: 1) to raise national cultural consciousness as a prophecy and preparedness; and 2), sci-fi serve as predictor-device of unknown future events in relation to the role of evolving technology in today’s science in time and space where past, present, and future are fused into one. Part II exemplified more on these aspects. (read here and here)

Of course, the genres of science-fiction, like any other surreal art device uncover hidden worlds of possible utopian, dystopian alien universes crafted with apocalyptical images of ourselves -as some sort of narcissistic flash where we can mirror our fate into the future. (no wonder why we love so much sci-fi) Nonetheless, sci-fi’s imaginary symbolic devices stimulate the mind of its creator opening windows of unimaginable visual images that tells us a lot more than just words.

Sci-fi, then, under this premise is no less real than the “fictional-product” of the 15th century testimonial artifacts of the visionary Renaissance man: Leonardo da Vinci and his rare flying devices. The old long bearded man was considered insane-loco-at the time by many skeptical eyes that thought his work was way subliminally utopic, as today‘s science fiction, and yet, he was handsomely rewarded by his opulent clients that loved his futuristic vision.

Today, it is not da Vinci doing visionary prestidigitization of tomorrow’s flying machines, but the science of drones where companies are reaping the profit by reading well into the future of automated aerial drones. (read more here  and here)

PDF: Part II: “Totemic Drones Comes to Life as an Enhancement of Dreams-Fantasies (and bodies)”

Update:

“Morgan Freeman talks ‘Oblivion’ and defends use of military drones”

In the new film Oblivion: …“I don’t want those drones in the real world,” Cruise admits. “But sci-fi is dealing with humanity. It’s always dealing with future: man versus machine and identity; what do you believe, what don’t you believe. I think that kind of thing is told in a very unique way.”

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Related articles

• Drones Will Soon Deliver Your Newspaper In The French Province Of Auvergne (businessinsider.com)
• POLICE DEPLOY ‘MINORITY REPORT’ STYLE ROBOT DRONES In Standoff With Ohio Man [W/ VIDEOS] (secretsofthefed.com)
• Drone strikes: Groups continue fight against coming surveillance state (hawaiireporter.com)
• Bloomberg: ‘We’re Going To Have More Visibility And Less Privacy,’ Drones And Surveillance Coming (techcrunch.com)
• Police surveillance drones pose a threat to domestic privacy (mysecuritysign.com)

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The past decade has bought with it a wave of reality TV shows, encouraging the public to become a better version of themselves with the help of presenters that believe they know best.  In 2001, Trinny and Susannah’s “What Not To Wear” hit our screens which was the catalyst for over 34 similarly styled programs such as Bridalplasty and Extreme Makeover.

Adding to this list, presenter Gok Wan started up “How To Look Good Naked” in 2006. Described by Dr Steve Lewis the show “illustrates that if you gently coax a non-believing beauty into new sets of clothes and hairdos, she will begin to believe in herself at last, especially with everyone cheering”. It caused quite a stir as it encouraged acceptance over cosmetic surgery and gave a new spin on the traditional format other programs have been feeding us by introducing the nude photo shoot as a self-esteem aid. Said by counsellor Brenda Huebscher “Self-esteem is so intrinsically linked to thoughts about one’s body that physical appearance has consistently been found to be the number one predictor of self-esteem” Nudity is commonly tabooed, so challenging that and receiving positive feedback from the results can be beneficial to our confidence in addition to the thrill from the rush of being publicly nude. This new spin worked so well that the public began to believe that it was the nude factor of the show that caused these people to gain confidence, rather than the entire process of de and reconstruction as it’s the end result that the show focuses on rather than the work building up to that. The middle process was cut out and it became common belief that nude modelling aids an increase in body confidence, adding to our cultural discourse around self-improvement, an accepted truth in our culture.

In the years following the rise of the show, photographic studios began to pop up mimicking the “How To Look Good Naked” style of photo shoot claiming to increase confidence by seeing yourself nude in a glamorous setting. It’s this assumption that sparked my curiosity. Can these claims be true? I’m also interested in what happens after the person has left the lime light and is thrown back into their normal lives; without the help of a professional to make them feel good again. Do the newfound feelings remain or do they fade away with the exciting rush of adrenaline having been the centre of attention. If not, it seems as if it wouldn’t be the most useful confidence building tool for someone that constantly has low self-esteem. It’d be more like a quick fix method that needs repetition to have prolonged results. Although I refer to “How To Look Good Naked”, it is only as an base example of a widely recognised brand making claims of producing people with higher self esteem partly as a result of their photo shoots. Throughout this talk I plan to use many examples of how this has been replicated by the masses on a smaller scale through a series of interviews.

To understand the effects of nude photography on long term body confidence; it is important to recognise that there are many different circumstances in which it takes place. Professional nude models are another format that I will consider alongside makeover style shoots because of its contrasting context. Models may not feel the same affects because it’s more of a job than a luxury, in some cases they’ve been modelling nude for so long they’ve become desensitised to the effects. Another thing to consider is the person’s confidence previous to the photo shoot. Unless they are unknowingly nominated to participate, someone that willingly takes part in a nude shoot may already have a positive body perception.

Zoe Wilder is a professional nude model. In an article she expressed her views on the topic so I contacted her to delve deeper. Zoe explained that nude photography is useful for familiarising “oneself with their own form. The more you practice taking nude portraits…the more comfortable you begin to feel.” Before discovering nude photography, she was apprehensive about her body due to her mother’s fondness of plastic surgery. Although she thinks nude photography “may not work for everyone”, it has helped her confront and conquer her body image issues in the long run and doesn’t feel as if it’s something that she needs a fix of, though later she says she still has insecure thoughts. In comparison, Alex B is a mature nude model having worked longer than Zoe so the initial thrill has worn off. In an interview with me she completely rejected the idea that it can increase body confidence whatsoever saying “Before I started, I had good body confidence, enough to make me feel comfortable posing nude. Modelling is a job! I model nude because there is a market for it, because people book me”. These contrasting opinions demonstrate how previous levels of confidence are just as important as the context of the experience. Zoe repeatedly has experiences of being made to feel attractive so perhaps one particular session may not have definitely helped her long term. The effects could also be temporary but maintained as she continues to work, until she stops, it’s difficult to distinguish.

Julia Kozerski is a noted photographer known for her dramatic weight loss of over 11 stone. Her work explores themes of beauty, body image & identity. Her series “Half” is a response to her weight loss and an insight into what it’s like living as half of her original size. Being a professional photographer I was curious to see if this impacted the way the work affected her. In response to me asking if her series was made to boost her self esteem following her journey, she replied “I don’t think that photographs have solely boosted my self esteem but they have allowed me to see myself more objectively. They helped me remove myself from the situations surrounding the physical and emotional and helped me appreciate the full transformation. I am still insecure with my body but also more comfortable having a better understanding of its history/past and ability”. Rather than her work improving her confidence, she feels that it’s a conversation with herself, aiding her acceptance and it is this feeling that has lasted long term. The nudity simply gives the series more truth, representing her acceptance.

The owners of the photographic studios taking influence from the “How To Look Good Naked” style are also important to consider as they’re the backbone of the common belief. Terrell Neasley is a photographer specialising in female nudes. Terrell explained to me that he tries to bring out the beauty in his models with the images acting as a “trophy” proving they are beautiful so they leave with a new opinion of themselves which he hopes is lifelong. On the other hand, he has also worked with women that have very low opinions of themselves and as they feel the positive emotions caused by the effects of the shoot, have become repeat customers keen on reliving the feelings. He believes that “There can be long term positive effects, but it depends on the environment the model [goes] back to after” the shoot. Having positive experiences at the shoot can’t be as effect in the long run if the person then goes back to an environment filled with factors that diminish self-esteem, the effects only last for as long as they’re maintained.

Similarly PatB Photography was set up by a couple specialising in boudoir photography during the midst of the makeover show rise with the same beliefs as Terrell. During our conversation they pointed out an interesting point I raised earlier, “Women that opt for nude photography are mostly confident to begin with.” Perhaps it’s not the session that gives these certain women their lifelong confidence as they already have it, the shoot turns into something that expresses their confidence rather than sparking the feeling, although they too have repeat customers eager to relive the results.  Similarly to Terrell, Pat believes that the experience aids lifelong body confidence as the women are given a glamorous day with the finished images acting as a token of the memories which lasts longer.

The idea of the token acting as a fond reminder is popular among studios, whether it is the psychical images or the memories. Dr Denise Greenway is a psychologist specialising in body image that shared her views with me on this. She suggested “that nude modelling produces images that are meant to “improve” one’s looks. The distance between the picture and the way the person perceives herself depends on a number of factors. In most cases such an experience will probably lead to further body image dissatisfaction. Ask any married woman who looks longingly at her wedding pictures.” This is interesting as the finished product is promoted as a positive symbol of the transformation, but Greenway suggests that it’s a constant reminder of a better version of yourself that you can’t achieve without help of a professional.

After resulting in mixed findings I decided to try the theory out myself and test if even a student photographer could produce the same results on a small scale. I found two participants, Alex and another that wishes to remain anonymous [I’ll refer to them as modelX] that were willing to help out and partake in a nude photo shoot. As I already know Alex, this may have eased her nerves more so than modelX as I met them through an advert online. During points in and after the session, I asked them to rate their levels of confidence on a scale ranging from extremely unconfident to extremely confident. Both participants started off feeling nervous with low confidence but throughout the shoot became more at ease until the end when they both felt quite or extremely confident. At the reveal of the images, I had imagined that similarly to the makeover shows that they both would be at their highest point on the scale but found that especially modelX’s perception of their body image had significantly dropped as they picked out their imperfections in the images. In feedback they told me “It is an odd feeling to see yourself posed nude but is a good feeling…already I want to do another photo session and be a little more daring!” and one week later, “I want to do another session because of the buzz but also a sense of achievement to be repeated”. In the following weeks, both participants’ levels of confidence steadily dropped towards its origin. My results found what I expected, the sense of achievement and thrill being photographed naked can be interpreted as confidence, but after that has gone and the memories begin to fade, so do the feelings developed on the day.

There are circumstances in which body confidence will remain long term but they are limiting, relying heavily on the context and how well the new self-perspective is maintained. Someone from a background surrounded by factors that diminish their self esteem isn’t suddenly going to have a lifelong positively changed perception of themselves from one shoot, however initially the excitement of challenging a taboo and modelling nude can make you feel good. Although some may marvel at the results, in most cases the experience and photos won’t work alone. It’s natural that after a long period of time without repeating the process, the feeling would subside.

B – To be able to get a clearer view, I need to recognise that there are different types of people that I need to consider when studying the effects as there are many contexts in which nude photography is used. A few that come to mind are makeover shows/ nude calendar photo shoots which are usually for charity etc/ professional nude models [fine art/fashion/glamour]. These people can also be sectioned into people with low/middle/high body confidence. Low body confidence people tend to disagree and don’t understand why baring all would have an effect on body confidence at all especially long term. Middle body confidence people are the people that go to photography studios in the hopes that a photo shoot will boost their confidence further and overcomes issues that they may face about their bodies. These are the people that go on makeover shows too and take part in nude shoots for charity etc. If it the shoots do work for them, they’ll often come back for more to keep reliving the immediate effects and it becomes like a photo drug. Then the people with high body confidence that usually are naked professionally and either find it liberating which is why they continue to strip off [so again it’s like a photo drug] or they think of it solely as a job, it no longer has an effect on them and t they’ve become numb to it and it doesn’t have an effect short or long term. Find out how it works in the long term for all these people. Also consider the photography studio companies, how have they found that nude photography helps people in the long term, has anyone come back to them with feedback?

C – Come to some conclusions, is it a quick fix for some and not others? Does it depend on the context? Does it depend on your original level of confidence which it works to maintain?

From this I need to write a more structured plan of each point I plan to make, how I plan to make it and evidence it/any interviews I wish to include etc. I want to get an interview with a psychologist to talk about it and gain a more informed perspective instead of just making my own claims.

What a better Christmas gift for sad times we live in nowadays, than a good enlightened reading of Christopher Lasch who’s writing touched the sensitive social pathology of our narcissistic culture (Western culture, for the matter), even if the book dates back to 1978. The book is still very current for a worsening/decaying society that lives by the stick of fear, paranoia, ill-rage and narcissistic demoralizing hatred toward subliminal objects as mere target.

Notice that I’m not advertising this book; rather, it is more a personal reading I’ve done in the past and now I want to share it with some of you who are interested in the psychology of US’s consumerism and fetish for guns. The social critic Christopher Lasch diagnosed narcissism as the signal social disorder of the existing American culture. He gives us a reasonable perspective to understand why the country worships guns and why it is as self-absorbed as a nation dislodged from the true reality of people’s lives whether in the past or present.

The cult of fame, the worship of marketing and immediate gratification, refusal of moral social codes and the creeds of politics were decaying signs of a society regressing toward the playground: the infant stage.

Here, there is no need for Freud’s psychoanalytic insights of the Culture of Narcissism. It is already out there and there have been so many shootings so far that I lost count; from Columbine, Colorado to California and recently, Newtown, Connecticut. Today we learned more and more about the killer’s morbid taste in music and their “lonely-wolf” appetite for violent video games. As Lanza’s addiction, sociopathic behavior and thrills for morbid videos licensed him to murder teachers and children. His explosive narcissistic-rage and hatred towards mom motivated him to transfer and do pain where it hurts the most, to kill the innocence he never had.

On the other hand, peoples’ personal egotism, self-immediate-gratification prevails over life’s simplicities for personal comfort and survival, and the balance between spirituality and materiality has become opaque in the public arena, only to surge into peoples’ lives when pain, attrition and suffering arise in an unpredictable horrific way.  The reading of “The Culture Of Narcissism” makes you aware of what it is like living in a society where the Greek logo=marketing and consumption of commodities takes over people’s addictions and emptiness, thus falling prey to product’s gullibility.

We know that the very design of big corporations (and small business) is to make profit by way of feeding peoples’ inner desires, creating more needs based on anxieties and emptiness by appealing to their individual addictions (aren’t we all addicted to something?). That is why marketing commodities of all kinds fulfill the inner void illustrated explicitly (and sometimes in funny ads) on our TV commercials.

Thus, business in general, as exemplified recently in Time Magazine, a gossiped corp-business-media, advocated Barack Obama 2012 person of the year for the fourth time (wonder why?)  I’m sure, Mr. Obama is a good man, a caring father and husband and perhaps, for some others, he isn’t such a good president. So marketing needs to build him as an icon-figure and raise him above a natural mortal being, to a supra-mortal entity. The media has done this portrayal since 2008. In fact, this is a false narcissistic divinization of a man for the sake of marketing-profits and political gain. Indeed, this is the way we construct and foster our heroes and heroines, the living and fallen ones which are culturally made, mostly for the sake of money and some other times to provide dignity for the sacrifices.

Obviously, for any smart reader, this is nothing more than a compulsive fetishization raw marketing-cult paid to Obama’s public-political-image to a pure hedonistic product of consumerism because it sells well. Here, Mr. Obama is just another cultural-product, a commodity of cultural-discourse to satisfy the collective lotophaguses of the population as any other product for sale. Lasch evokes this idea in the following way:

“Society reinforces these [narcissistic] patterns [of behavior in the family] not only through “indulgent education” and general pervasiveness but through advertising, demand creation, and the mass culture of hedonism. At first glance, a society based on mass consumption appears to encourage self-indulgence in its most blatant forms. Strictly considered, however, modern advertising seeks to promote not so much self-indulgence as self-doubt. It seeks to create needs, not to fulfill them; to generate new anxieties instead of allaying old ones. . .Yet the propaganda of commodities simultaneously makes [contemporary man] acutely unhappy with his lot. By fostering grandiose aspirations, it also fosters self-denigration and self-contempt.” (pp. 180-181).

I strongly believe that this egotistic narcissism and unhappiness of our culture is the direct result of the combination of consumerism, immediate-self-gratification and selfish individualism advocated by our corporate business elites and the politicians. The end result of the game is pure profits, power and sometimes ends in a gruesome killing of innocent lives!!

“The Culture Of Narcissism” is a powerful and accurate portrayal of an ailing society heading toward future totalitarianism (because that is where we are going as we see social moral decaying) as more urgent needed regulations are being imposed on the population especially in view of the recent emerging guns consumerism and mass killing thanks to corrupted/poising ill-used of our first and second amendment. These issues, among others, are in the hands of the corporation’s greed and political power seekers…. “More power, more money, more money more power”, according to the slogan of the riches Italian family of Medici (13^th Century) who even owned Italy’s Catholic papacy.

I would highly recommend this book for every person that is interested in comprehending himself, society and the manipulation of symbolic public persona for pure profits. It will surely provide the reader with an educational experience and stunning psychoanalytic reading!

Merry Christmas, friends (or shall I said, “Happy Holiday?”) (:=

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Christopher Lasch, The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1978), pp. 180-181

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Update: Making a living off the pain of others: “A TV Voice Rang True in Clamor of Shooting” (NYT)

Related articles

• Is There an Epidemic of Narcissism Today? (addisabram.wordpress.com)
• Are Media Creating a Generation of Narcissists? (psychologytoday.com)
• Why Americans cannot discipline their children (english.pravda.ru)
• Is Your Child Becoming Like Their Narcissistic Parent? (christinehammondcounseling.wordpress.com)

First of all I need to define cultural discourse. I’ve done some researching but can’t really find a simple definition of cultural discourse that doesn’t expand over a page, so I’ll attempt it in my own words. Cultural discourse is an accepted reality in society depending on your culture. A formal way of speaking in your cultural language and understanding your world. It’s a bit hard to swallow so here’s an example…

Christmas in England; no-one taught us how to have a traditional English Christmas, it’s something that was suggested by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in the 1840s when he brought his German traditions over to England. No-one sat down and wrote a book specifying how English people should celebrate Christmas day with the dinner with the extended family, sharing cards, opening your presents at a certain time and what we eat, it’s just a cultural truth that we accept as the truth.

Okay, now to relate that to my concept questioning if nude photography can build confidence long term. Shaun pointed out that the underlying base to my argument that “the only reason nude photography and makeovers can give you self confidence is the format“ is also exactly the same reason for most consumerist products/service today. This reason is that in our consumerist culture, we’re all aiming for one goal that is being sold to us, an ultimate happiness which is why we spend so much time reaching for happiness by altering ourselves. Every product/service knows this and plays on this whether it’s food or clothes:

Happy people eat at Mcdonalds, if we eat Mcdonalds, we’ll be happy.

If we wear clothes from New Look, we’ll look like these happy people.

Or even makeover shows like the example I keep using “How To Look Good Naked”.

These women from How To Look Good Naked look happy too.

None of these people are actually concerned with how you feel on the inside, according to the format, it’s all about looking great and completely new on the outside and that’s what makes the significant changes on the inside. I’m not denying that some people might genuinely feel better on the inside, the point I’m suggesting is that because nothing has actually changed to sort the underlying problems [self esteem issues, depression etc], the change shouldn’t actually last long.

Relating this back to my personal research, I want to explore since the birth of the format how smaller photo studios and companies set up to bring you this new happiness even though they don’t go full the full process of breaking you down and building you up again are claiming to be working for people. Shaun suggests that they’ve realised the power of the image and how much the model desires the ideal end result “the reveal”  [in terms of nude photography and my main Gok Wan example] which are such strong concepts that they can actually change a person on the inside just because they’ve been conditioned to with cultural discourse. Nude photography is just one strand of this theory, there are many more but I’m choosing to focus on nude photography because of the extreme nature of it and it also helps me narrow down my idea by explaining one example rather than trying to pin down the concept of cultural discourse in all consumerism.

United Nations Alliance of Civilization

“I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain”

John Adams

The challenge of today’s global era requires more than rationale discourses in political economy, international relations and governance. The Occupy Wall Street Movement, the Arab Spring, the rise of Islamic Fundamentalism, Transnational Migration, Climate Change, Globalization, Post-modernism, Multi- culturalism and the tensions at the Spratly’s are manifestations of a rapidly deviating world. The digital space, the virtual world, post and transmodern cultures, the arts and the sciences, and the resurgence of civilizational discourses are  transforming our meaning of self-perception and experiences in the lifeworld. Our worldview continue to inform us in our search for alternative political paradigms. Asia, of course, is seen as the next most exciting continent of international politics and will, in a lot of way, affect, or perhaps by necessity, the way we interpret and conceive politics in the future. These among other  issues were central to the SHIFT 2011 International Conference on the Future of International Politics.

University of Asia and the Pacific organized the 1st Shift International Conference

Convened by the University of Asia and the Pacific in conjunction with the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, the 1^st SHIFT (Shaping Insights and Forecasting Trends in Politics) Conference brought together “brilliant young minds, graduate students, young scholars, professors and industry practitioners around the world to discuss the most pressing issues of the 21^st century.” (Shift, 2011)

Asia in the World of Tomorrow

Dr. Klaus Zeller, a retired German ambassador to the Philippines, spoke on Asia in the world of tomorrow. In his lecture, Zeller highlighted the increasing and expanding role of the continent and the diminishing influence of the United States in global politics. He asked the participant to explore and feel their way through these questions: Is the future messy? How do we deal with the issues of democracy, food, population, energy, resources? Is 10 billion people sustainable in the world? Do we see a less individualist, less unipolar, bipolar, multipolar future?   Will we see new types of political organizations, emerging types of leadership? Etc.

To Dr. Zeller, Asia today is in full transition. He asked the question what does Asia have to offer? And he responded, pragmatically, that Asia can offer the world with consumer goods, gadgets, new spirituality and leadership. Asia, too, can provide intelligent help to resolve conflicts, creativity, new technology, and new models of political organizations. In a nutshell, Zeller said that Asia will offer a new form of civilization. Dr. Zeller is expecting a cultural shift, a diversified world, a contact of civilization, a global governance and the disappearance of empires in the 21st century.

Reflections on the Future of OFWs

The lecture on the future of OFWs was given by Dr. Bernardo Villegas, Director, Center for Research and Communication at the University of Asia and the Pacific. Villegas asked the participants especially the Filipino participants to explore and to uncover matter-of-fact solutions to the most pressing issues on Filipino migration. He asked these questions: How can we mitigate the social problems experienced by OFW workers at home? How can we reduce the number of mothers going out in the country? Is poverty or wage differential the real cause of Filipino migration? What is the role of the OFWs in the political maturity of the community? Do we need social policies, social welfare policies to address the problems of OFWs? While there are no clear-cut, one size fits all solution to address these problems, Dr. Villegas challenged the participants to further examine, inquire more on Filipino migration.

Moreover, Dr. Villegas in his lecture accentuated the Filipino cultural advantage to overseas employment. Comparing the employability of Filipinos abroad over other overseas migrant workers, Villegas noted certain cultural traits that make Filipinos the most preferred by employers abroad. The habit of bathing three times a day, good personal hygiene, the hospitable and beaming Filipino smiles, English proficiency, the ability to adapt easily, patience and perseverance proved to be significant to OFW employability.  In here, Dr. Villegas tried to portray the importance of civilizational, cultural traits as essential to migration and OFW discourse.

Breakout Sessions  

During the morning breakout sessions I opted to attend the sessions on Religion and Post-Colonial Perspectives and sessions on Regional Powers and the Changing Dynamics of International Relations I.

“Islamic Fundamentalism in the World Ahead”

Ebrahim Anoosheh of the Islamic Azad University Iran presented his paper on Islamic Fundamentalism in the World Ahead. He said that Islamic fundamentalism is one of the active movements in the Middle East. Also referred as Political Islam, this form of fundamentalism was conceived to counter the impact of modernity and secularism in the 1920s. It evolved in the Arab-Israeli conflict and was used as a political tool to combat the spread of communism in the Middleast. Today, it grew to challenge capitalism and the transnational Islamic fundamentalism emerged. The essence of transnational Islamic fundamentalism will continue  to challenge the post-western capitalism system. Islamic fundamentalism, its role and influence in international relations and the global political economy will be felt in the years ahead.

Professor Ebrhaim Anoosheh of Islamic Azad University, Iran

This is a very interesting paper on Islamic fundamentalism and its impact to post-western capitalist era.

“Vilification of the Other in US Politics: The Case of Arabs and Muslims in the 2004 Presidential Election”

The implications of loaded imageries and denigration of the “Other” in US elections was the context of Wil McCarthy of Zayed Univeristy, United Arab Emirates paper. He argued that American political parties regularly exploit the fear of Americans have for Arab and Muslim for political advantage.  By associating American politicians to Arab sand Muslims,  about 527 group ads and documentary filmmakers was explored to study how the “Other”are used in US political advertising and in box office documentaries. It noted the case of Fahrenheit 911 that painted the former US President Bush as a cohort of the Saudi royal family.

If you want to know more about the politics and dynamics of videography and how they are used for political maneuvering this paper can provide you significant insights.

Professor Wil McCarthy, Zayed University, United Arab Emirates

Regional Powers and the Changing Dynamics of International Relations I

Domination of Oceans as the key to Understand International Relations: Why and How the Anglo-American Power Still Endures?

The third presenter was Chitha Unni of Chamanide University of Honululu Hawaii, USA. Mr. Unni’s paper outlined the influence of three political forces – United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union – in global politics and the struggle of these forces in commanding the major sea routes of global trade. Unni argued that the political forces that dominate maritime power also dictate world politics. This trend began when Britain in the 16^th century controlled crucial sea routes and dominated the world through her command of the seas. The United States inherited this power and that the struggle in the global politics will be about challenging the United States domination of the Oceans.

Professor, Chitha Unni, Chamanide University, Honululu, Hawaii, USA

The implication of this are seen in the way how the US and other nation-states contain China’s expansion in the seas. The control of the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean is crucial and may give us as a hint as to who will dictate the tenor of world politics in the future. The paper suggest maritime trade and power as an essential variable to understanding the dynamics of  international relations.

Iranian-Saudi Relations: From Economic Security to Cooperation

Using the theory of neo-functionalism, Reza Ekhtiari Amiri of Universiti Putra Malaysia, examined the factors that shaped Iranian-Saudi economic and security relations from 1991 to 2001. He noted that both countries renewed their diplomatic relations in 1991 and cooperated regarding oil price in 1999 within the Oil Petroleum Exporting Countries that lead to the signing of a security agreement in 2001. The informants to the research were ten diplomats and senior officials of the Iranian embassy. The study found out that domestic economic factors and decline in world oil price were the main reasons for the economic cooperation of the two countries and the political elites played a significant role in improving political relations in the process. The common threat of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in the region also played a crucial role in the signing of the Iranian-Saudi novel security agreement. The absence of war between Iran and its neighbors and the reduction of Iran’s revolutionary activities were also noted as factors that led to security and cooperation between the two countries.

In the afternoon, I attended the sessions on Reforming Governance through State-Citizen Collaboration. Three papers were presented here namely “Local Governance: On Disaster Risk Reduction and Management: Shift Towards Decentralized and Participatory Democracy”, “A Model of Private-Public Partnership in the Philippines”, “The State-Civil Society Relations in Malaysia”.

Razaile Beza, International Coalition Against Disappearances, Maria Carmina Cruz, Philippine National Oil Corporation, Marco Eugenio University of the East, Philippines and Mohd Azzizudin Mohd Sani, Universiti, Utara, Malaysia

Local Governance: On Disaster Risk Reduction and Management   

This paper emphasized the dynamics of political participation, accountability and accessible governance. It looked into the problems and prospects of participatory approach to governance and used the Province of Albay Initiative as a model for DRRM localization. The participation of the community was seen as essential to disaster risk reduction and management. An active provincial leadership, however, is crucial to the mobilization and actualization of DRRM initiatives. The presenters were Elaine Razaile Besa of the International Coalition Against Enforced Disappearances, Maria Carmina Cruz, Philippine National Oil Company – Development and Management Corporation and Marco Angelo Eugenio of the University of the East, Philippines.

The State-Civil Society Relations in Malaysia

The paper by Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani of Universiti Utara, Malaysia explained the current status of civil society and state relations in Malaysia. Using the theory of deliberative democracy, in a micro and macro perspective, he described the current procedural and political conditions of civil society in Malaysia. He argued that civil society tend to contest the policies of the administration and resort to joining the opposition because of the hostile relationship between the civil society and the state.

“A Model of Private-Public Partnership in the Philippines”

Mervin Gascon of the University of Mindanao, Philippines discussed the severity of corruption and offered possible mechanism to minimize corruption incidence. The paper explored Public-Private Partnership mechanism and used the experience of PAAC as a case study to address corruption in the government specifically in the Bureau of Customs in Davao City. The experience of PAAC, public-private social partnership can produce significant effects in reducing corruption in national government agencies.

Dr. Nanette Dungo, University of the Philippines and Miriam College sharing her paper on Migration

Absence Made Present: The Paradox of Transnational Families

After the breakout sessions, a special session on Migration by Dr. Nanette Dungo, University of Asia and the Pacific and Miriam College, entitled Absence Made Present: The Paradox of Transnational Families, was convened at the PLDT Hall. A former Chair of the Department of Sociology at the University of the Philippines, Dr. Dungo explored the social costs of migration in Filipino families and children. Using the interpretivism and poststructuralism as an approach, She asked how do children cope with this kind of environment (migration, absence made present)? What are the primary and secondary costs of migration (to children behavior, mental attitude towards life, character, meanings, worldviews, etc.). She said that meanings must be interpreted and not counted.

To reduce the trauma of migration, she recommended that schools should include the topic of migration in school curriculum, the establishment of migrant centers, bilateral agreements for social protection of migrants, support services for children; family reunification program, government insurance for migrant returnees, etc.

The India-Pakistan Dyad: A Challenge to the Rest or Themselves?

Another interesting paper that discussed security matters, threats and policies in international relations, Raviprasad Narayan of the Institute of International Relations of National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan argued that India-Pakistan dyad, having undergone three wars and a half-war, threatens to undermine security in South Asia and the existence of the two countries as modern states. The relations between the two countries are blanketed by suspicion, hostility, hatred and otherness.  Narayan coined the concept of no-war as an alternative policy that should govern the security policies between India and Pakistan.

Turkey in a State of Transformation: The New Face of Turkish Politics and Foreign Affairs

Javad Heydarian of the University of the Philippines, Diliman highlighted Turkey as a model for secular politics and modernity in the Middle East. He argued that Turkish local politics, influenced by EU, is an emerging model for liberal democracy and Islamization. Its influence and economic dynamism is extending to create new patterns in regional politics. He noted, however, the limits of Turkish policies of revisionism. In a nutshell, Turkey along with Iran is an emerging political powerhouse in the Mediterranean. Turkey’s recent transformation, however, may serve as a fit model for Islamic democratic politics.

In the afternoon, I presented my paper on the futures of Liberal Arts. Manuel Kristoffer Giron of UP Diliman discussed his paper on “The Higantes Festival and the Creative Industries in Angono, Rizal and last but not the least, Nam Jin Woo of South Korea presented his paper on “The Future of Kopinos in the Future of South Korea”

Michael Giron, University of the Philippines, Diliman

“The Higantes Festival and the Creative Industries in Angono, Rizal”

Giron’s paper argued that artistic goods and cultural development takes the back seat of state-policy planning and funding. With the introduction of the creative industries paradigm, however, creative products and services may expand the context of political economy and socio-economic development. The economic benefit of tourism for wealth generation and cultural practices such as the Higantes Festival of Rizal can be a viable source for local livelihood. There are dangers, however, that is, festivals can be exploited, used as a medium to politically manipulate the locals, to sustain political patronage.

Hey, That's me! Shermon Cruz, Northwestern University, Philippines

“Peering into the Futures of Liberal Arts”

My paper explored the futures of liberal arts in a world of changing global trends and technology. Taken in the context of future studies, the paper looked into the various contexts of liberal arts – Greek, Indian, Chinese and Islamic. It weaved a number of perspectives and issues on how the West and the Non-West differ in liberal arts perspectives and approaches. The recognition of cultural diversity and worldviews are essential to the discourse and the creation of transformative and more inclusive liberal arts is becoming more imperative. My paper assumed that liberal arts will move way forward into the future and will be more significant than any other time of human history. The word “liberal” is now a culture bound term. The futures of liberal arts will be less political but more civilizational, cultural and virtual oriented.

“The Future of Kopinos in the Future of South Korea”

Nam Jin Woo’s paper described how Kopinos are discriminated in the homogenous society of South Korea. The paper predicted the political-economic and social roles of Kopinos in the future of Korea particularly in the areas of falling Korean birth rate, distribution of human resources and the nature of Korean society itself. The Korean government may likely revise its definition of Korean nationality and may give equal opportunities to Kopinos in Korea in the future. A multi-cultural society is seen in view of the increasing trend of the international marriage in Korea.

An Indian Professor dancing Tinikling

 Insights

The Shift Conference succeeded in highlighting culture and civilization as the  “X factor” of twenty first century international politics. I intuit that if there is one thing (or many things, if I may) that Asia can  contribute to the world that would be spirituality, identity, collectivism and global citizenship. The list would be exhaustive if I would include all the endless possibilities that Asia can give to the world.

Dinner and cultural night or shall I say "civilizational night"

Some notes:

I had a brief talk with the Executive Director of the Institute of Political Economy Ms. Abigail De Leon and we initially agreed to hold a Round Table Discussion (RTD) on Futures Studies at the University of Asia and the Pacific.  We also discussed the prospect of requesting the Philippine Political Science Association (PPSA) to include Futures Studies as a panel in the next PPSA Annual Conference.

Ipagpapatuloy ko ang natutunan ko sa Shift Conference

My sincerest thanks to the organizers of Shift 2011!  It deepened and broadened my view of international politics.

Link to Shift 2011 Conference official site: https://sites.google.com/a/uap.asia/shift-2011/

Link to United Nations Alliance of Civilizations: http://www.unaoc.org/

Fitch avec Zizek, Descartes, Lacan, Dolar, etc.

David Fitch’s provocative book deserves better than I’ve been able to provide these days, in terms of thoughtful reflection and comment.  This is not to say that I’ve not been thinking about it a great deal in the weeks since my initial post.  Indeed, “The End of Evangelicalism?” has been much on my mind; many dog walks have been spent contemplating what to say and how to say it.  What I realized this past weekend is how much my internal dialogues defeat the entire purpose of a blog like this, which is nothing more or less than agonizing about / wrestling with difficult ideas and issues in public.  And “The End of Evangelicalism?” raises a number of really fundamental issues that deserve such a public airing.

Having said that, where I’ve really struggled is in trying to decide how best to approach a legitimately critical response that doesn’t simply lapse into unsupported opinion.  This is clearly a legacy of my academic past – the world of endless research and copious footnotes.  Unfortunately, I no longer have the time to consult primary sources in search of key citations and supporting arguments, though I admit to having pulled out my copy of Lacan’s ”Ecrits” in order to consult his essay “Science and Truth”, while simultaneously plowing through Slavoj Žižek’s ”Living in the End Times”.  It’s probably just as well that I’ve still not been able to find the box containing the rest of my Žižek, Lacan, Freud, Hegel, and Marx, though once I finish assembling my new mountain bike I’ll renew my efforts.

Let me close by making an actual substantive observation regarding Fitch’s book and his overall project.  Setting aside the questionable value of using Žižek’s theory for the purpose, it seems to me that the key issues surfaced in “The End of Evangelicalism” fall into two philosophical categories:  epistemology and ethics.  On one hand, there is the issue of knowledge – which is actually two related issues:  “How do I know if I’m actually a Christian?” and “How do I know if someone else is actually a Christian?”  On the other hand is the issue of one’s actions:  “If I am a Christian, how should I live my life?”  Obviously the two issues are closely connected, albeit in ways that have generated considerable theological dissonance for Christianity as a whole, and cognitive dissonance for individual Christians caught in the crossfire of the larger theological disputes – i.e., the relationship between “faith and works”.

Existential tensions arising from the problems of knowing whether or not a person is “saved” (epistemology) and, if one is saved, how one then should conduct his or her life (ethics), further manifest themselves in the interrelated theological debates / disputes over ecclesiology (doctrines of the Church) and soteriology (doctrines of Redemption).  That is to say, if I read Fitch correctly, Evangelicalism as a historical movement emerged precisely as a response to broadened conceptions within Protestantism regarding who could be considered a Christian, what it meant to be a Christian and, by extension, what the Church’s role in society ought to be.  From an Evangelical perspective, this trend, commonly referred to with the blanket designation “Liberalism”, illegitimately “resolved” the epistemological and ethical issues surrounding personal redemption, Church membership and Church mission by making Christ’s redemptive act universal, individual “good works” the sign of Church membership, and collective “good works” the Church mission.

When time permits I want to come back to both the historical and philosophical contexts surrounding Evangelicalism’s emergence, something that I wish Fitch had spent a bit more time on.  Indeed, one of my main criticisms of “The End of Evangelicalism?” is that Fitch’s objectives would have been better served, I think, by adopting a more materialist (“Marxist”) and deconstructive analytical approach, rather than using Žižek’s Lacanian / Hegelian dialectical framework.  That’s not to say that there’s not much to be gained from the latter; rather, leveraging Žižek opens the Pandora’s box of the modern subject / subject of modernity central to Lacanian (and Freudian) psychoanalytic theory, and this is a potentially dangerous topic – from an Evangelical perspective - that Fitch avoids – either inadvertently or by design.  I’ll have more to say about what this means in a future post. 

Deeply engrossed and wondering how it will all end.

While I received a copy of David Fitch’s recently published “The End of Evangelicalism?” (2011) several weeks ago, the end of Evangelicalism came for me in 1987.  It arrived, somewhat unexpectedly and unsolicited, towards the end of my first and only year at Fuller Theological Seminary, where I was pursuing a Master of Divinity degree, en route to what I imagined would be a Th.D. and a life of applied Christian reflection within the Reformed Presbyterian Church.

It would be nice to say my experience of the end of Evangelicalism was sudden, dramatic and life-changing, and in many respects it was.  Indeed, while the beginning of the end was set in motion several years earlier, during my undergraduate studies at Oklahoma Baptist University, and gained added momentum via a series of troubling events in the two years following my graduation, the end itself arrived at a precise instant I remember quite vividly.

Evangelicalism ended on a Saturday afternoon in South  Pasadena, California (or thereabouts).  I’d driven my white, 1970 Chevy Impala sedan, with the 327 cubic inch V-8 engine, turquoise upholstery, plastic seat covers, and the 2-volume, hard-cover edition of John Calvin’s “The Institutes of the Christian Religion” in the trunk, up the Harbor Freeway (110) from San Pedro to attend a meeting of the Southern California synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church.  My mission:  begin the process of coming under care of the synod as the first step towards eventual ordination.  This involved appearing before a committee and answering various questions concerning my faith and beliefs.

As I was neither the only nor the first person going through this process that day, I had opportunity to sit in a pew and observe another aspiring ministerial candidate put to the test.  As I listened, I experienced a powerful, almost religious conviction that, while I understood and could answer, quite eloquently, all of the questions posed by the assembled presbyters, I no longer, in fact, believed in the substance of any of it.  The experience was breathtaking – simultaneously terrifying and liberating – as I rose from the pew and headed for the door, turning my back on the process, on the RPC, on Evangelicalism, and on God.  Shortly after this, I left my local church, withdrew from Fuller, and transferred to the philosophy program at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

It therefore made perfect sense when my friend and former OBU classmate, Todd Littleton, pastor of Snow Hill Baptist Church, in Tuttle, Oklahoma, invited me to read and share my thoughts about David Fitch’s new book.  For not only had I experienced the end of Evangelicalism up close and personally, my subsequent studies in continental philosophy, critical theory and psychoanalysis led me to become well-acquainted with the voluminous writings of Slovenian cultural theorist Slavoj Žižek, several of whose key concepts form the crux of Fitch’s own theoretical approach to the question of the end of Evangelicalism.

I’ve given quite a bit of thought about how to respond to Fitch’s thesis and its supporting arguments.  My residual academic impulses are to focus primarily on a critique of his understanding and use of Žižek’s theory, which I believe to be flawed in a number of areas but also to be somewhat like using an AK-47 to settle a family dispute (though, to extend the metaphor, the net effect is more one of intimidation than the infliction of damage, since the safety-catch remains switched on throughout – in less sympathetic hands, unleashing Žižek’s theory on Evangelicalism would have inflicted considerable collateral damage on many of the core doctrines of Christian orthodoxy).  However, rather than submit readers to mind-numbing close-readings of Fitch’s readings of Žižek’s readings of Lacan’s readings of Hegel and Freud, I’ll try to focus on what I think are the fundamental problems with or limitations of Fitch’s use of Žižek, paying particular attention to his contrast between the constitutive function of “lack” in Žižek’s account of political ideology and that of “fullness” in a properly Christian / Evangelical – and presumably non-ideological – politic.

At the same time, I want to go beyond methodological disputation to engage with Professor Fitch’s contentions about what ails American Evangelicalism and how to cure it.  Given my opening gambit, readers might be surprised to learn that I largely agree with his critique, though not with the conclusions he draws from it.  As I’ll explore, our divergence stems primarily from different readings of the history of the Church and its myriad institutional manifestations.  Indeed, let me lay my cards on the table and say, quite simply, that Evangelicalism’s “politic” problem can be traced to the very nature of “polity” as such – that is, institutionalizations of power within which individual subjects are constitutively formed (Hegel) and / or interpellated (Althusser), and which history shows to be always and already sites of conflict and contestation.  Or, to put it more directly:  my contention is that the history of Christian “polity” has been the history of the persistent and ongoing domestication of the radical call to discipleship set out in the Gospel accounts, and also present in the Pauline writings (where we already see the early signs of the growing tension between that call and growing institutional pressures to temper it).  That is to say, it is not Evangelicalism’s failure that has led it to its current state of growing irrelevance, but the logical outcome of its founding intent:  to impose ideological conformity on its adherents in the guise of a “return to traditional orthodoxy and values” which were themselves a domestication of Jesus’ terrifying and impossible challenge to those who would dare to follow him.

I honestly believe that Professor Fitch and I are not far apart here, and this would place us both in the neighborhood of Žižek’s own recent thinking on Christianity, critiques of which by Milbank and others I’ve found unconvincing.  What I want to explore, in subsequent postings, is how Fitch’s effort to stake out a political theology of “fullness” over against what he perceives as  Žižek’s “politics of lack” is based on an inadequate – or at least unarticulated – theory of human subjectivity, which in turn leads him to misinterpret Žižek’s critique of ideology and a politics of “the Act”.

Let me close by noting that I understand Fitch’s reluctance to sail off the end of the world in “The End of Evangelicalism?”, since that’s where an unflinching use of Žižek’s theory would invariably lead.  Like many – though not all – in the Emerging and Missional church movements with whom he appears to share considerable – though not uncritical – affinity, he is not inclined to toss bombs.  But one ought to raise the question – which Žižek does repeatedly in his writings on the revolutionary act, a propos Robespierre and the French Republicans, Lenin and the Bolsheviks, and Mao Zedong and the  Cultural Revolution:  is it ever really possible to reform oppressive institutional power short of a decisive revolutionary act, the outcome of which can never be assured and whose legitimacy can only ever be established after the fact – if at all?

These are some of the things I will reflect on in my next postings.

Yes, it was one year ago today that NPI published its initial post (as well as three others). Back then Michael Jackson, Patrick Swayze, and Dennis Hopper were all alive. Back then Sarah Palin was still the Governor of Alaska, David Souter was still on the Supreme Court, and Conan O’Brien was the host of The Tonight Show. Back then, Lost was still on TV, Titanic was still the highest-grossing film in American history, and Lady Gaga had only had two #1 singles. Then NPI came along and all that changed. (Of course, correlation doesn’t always mean causation.)

We declared then that our goal was “to be topical, relevant, entertaining, and, logically following from these three, interesting.” Hopefully we have succeeded more often than we have failed.

We’ve covered everything from deep dish pizza to the evolution of TV to Mariano Rivera, from The Sopranos to the Old Testament to the Food Network, from the 1999 NLCS to apologism to David Foster Wallace. We’ve ranked the Bill of Rights, the work of Bob Dylan, and everything in history. Oh, and we had some French guy discussing sports rules.

This all may seem self-congratulatory (and it is), but it’s all by way of a thank you to those have read us: A blog is only worth writing if you feel that someone is reading, and we here at NPI appreciate all our readers. It’s only with the help and encouragement of those who read us that NPI has lasted longer than Joe DiMaggio’s marriage to Marilyn Monroe, the entire series of Freaks and Geeks, and the French Revolution’s Legislative Assembly.

In all that time, here are a few of our favorite posts:

JOSH’S PICKS

“The Most You Ever Lost on a Coin Toss: The Sense in Senseless Violence” by John S. I remember editing this post and thinking, “Wow, John is really an excellent writer.” But, besides being written superbly, this post carefully and insightfully analyzes TV and the movies to draw out an original common thread and its consequences.

“In Memoriam: David Foster Wallace” by John S. I waited to read this until I completed Infinite Jest and it almost brought me to tears. It helped me understand Wallace and Infinite Jest in a way I hadn’t before despite watching the Charlie Rose interview in full. Whether or not you’re familiar with DFW’s work, you owe it to yourself read this post for a great piece of writing.

“Joie de Vivre: Remembering the ’99 NLCS Part I and II” by Tim. Tim has a ridiculously impressive memory and is a ridiculously impressive sports journalist. Combing those two qualities for a retrospective on what he subjectively calls (and I subjectively agree) “the greatest sporting event ever staged,” results in my favorite Tim post.

“In Search of the Great College Drama” by Tim. This is a sleeper post, but one full of great elements: original idea, multiple Saved by the Bell: the College Years jokes, and a persuasive analysis of why the complexity of college is better suited for TV than high school. I’m usually impressed when a sports journalist writes a great non-sports piece (or vice-versa, for that matter), but it’s such a norm for Tim that the challenge is picking the best non-sports piece.

JOHN S’ PICKS

“Is Roger Federer The Greatest Tennis Player Ever?” by Tim. This post was one of Tim’s best breakdowns of the sports world—which is saying a lot—and was really the first thing to run on NPI that I thought was truly great. For anyone who thinks sports journalism is just about games: read this.

“The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and the Condensed Epic” by Tim. We spend a lot of time at NPI talking about literature, but rarely do we get as fresh a perspective on a book as talked about as Tim got on Junot Diaz’s megahit. As with all great book reviews, I felt I understood the book better after reading Tim’s take.

“Ranking the Bill of Rights, Number 1: First Amendment” by Josh. Even though I strongly disagreed with this one, I couldn’t have written my follow-up if Josh hadn’t made his case so clearly and thoroughly. When arguing with Josh it’s often frustrating how logically sound his reasoning is, and this post showcases that.

“Against Agnosticism” by Josh. Unlike the last one, this post was one where Josh and I are thoroughly simpatico. It is also Josh’s writing at its best: Taking something—in this case a line of thought—that is common yet thoroughly misguided and pointing out all the inconsistencies and problems with it.

TIM’S PICKS

“Watching Alone” by Josh. From the title’s subtle allusion to Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone, “Watching Alone” is perhaps the quintessential Josh post. It takes something that is socially stigmatized, and it simply wonders “Why?” In this post, he criticizes the act of going to a movie as a social activity, and for good reason. Posts like this illustrate the way Josh thinks: always inquisitive, always logical, and never willing to accept “Because” as an answer in itself.

“Height Matters” by Josh. What I usually find most interesting about Josh’s writing is how he applies a fresh perspective (and almost always supplies a fresh insight) to something I long ago stopped considering for myself. Hence, he started a category called “Stuck in a Poor Equilibrium” and has basically carried another entitled “Social Norms.” His post on height, however, struck me as especially intriguing because it was Josh himself considering something more on my level–that is, not being taller than the average (note: Josh is two inches taller than the average; I am exactly average). Plus, this gave us what is almost certainly my favorite comment the blog has ever inspired, courtesy of Zach.

“John’s Especially Vague and Pusillanimous Predictions for Super Bowl XLIV” by John S. We’ve all tried at various points to be funny over the course of the last year, but I don’t think any of us succeeded as well as John did here. I read the initial draft of his “vague and pusillanimous predictions” on my Blackberry in a Church parking lot having locked myself out of my car. Needless to say, it was quite the pick-me-up, foiling my own carefully constructed predictions and providing lines such as “At some point during the broadcast, Jim Nantz will ask Phil Simms if he would ‘go for it here’” that seem so innocuous but still crack me up anyway.

“Brain Dead and Made of Money” by John S. One of our first dozen or so posts on the blog, John’s peering through a Phish concert at hippie culture and the infiltration of capitalism hinted a bit at NPI’s potential. It was the kind of piece I would bookmark in a magazine or link to on Monday Medley, doing much more showing than telling. It was simple and understated in making its point. And, I love it when people rip on John for that T-shirt.

Going against common wisdom, I tend to actively pursue cognitive dissonance in my life, above and beyond the ample supply heaped upon us by everyday existence.  And so it was last night when, following the conclusion of Sherlock Holmes’ “The Last Vampyre” (1993, Jeremy Brett, Edward Hardwicke), I retired to bed to catch up on some reading.  To supplement the online course materials for my MBA class on Research Methods, I find myself slogging through Marketing Research (McDaniel and Gates, 2007) and Multivariate Data Analysis:  With Readings (Hair, et al., 1995), neither of which are quite the page-turners that I find Alan Furst’s novels of Eastern European espionage and political intrigue in WWII to be.

After a dozen or so pages on programmatic, selective, and evaluative research, it was time for a stiff shot of cogdiff so I reached for my copy of Revolution at the Gates:  Žižek on Lenin – The 1917 Writings and thumbed through the remainder of Lenin’s second “Letter from Afar” (March 22, 1917), written from Zurich to his revolutionary colleagues back in Russia on the topic of the provisional revolutionary government and the proletariat.

Now, of course, there’s more than enough cognitive dissonance to go around here.  The transition from learning how to sell more stuff to consumers to understanding why the provisional revolutionary government’s efforts to reach compromise with the Tsarist supporters of Nicholas II, in order to protect the interest of Russian land owners, the bourgeoisie, Western European investors, and war profiteers, could only be accomplished at the expense of workers’ and peasants’ freedom and economic well-being, is not exactly an effortless one to make.

Yet it is precisely by juxtaposing contemporary marketing practices against Bolshevik political discourse that we are forced to look at the two things in a different light than we would ordinarily do.  And this is setting aside what is probably the more dissonant experience of even reading Lenin’s writings at all, in this post-Communist / post-revolutionary age.  For isn’t it commonly received wisdom that Lenin is one of the arch-villains of history, the father of the original “Evil Empire” that was ultimately vanquished by the triumphant forces of capitalism and democracy, but only after the suffering and death of millions of innocents?  What could possibly be learned from reading anything Lenin ever wrote?  Indeed…

In fact, what is striking about Lenin’s letters – as Slavoj Žižek points out in his forward to the collection – is his intuitive grasp of the revolutionary conditions of possibility which emerged as a result of the incipient failure of the initial revolt against tsarist rule in 1917 (itself a continuation of the failure of the 1905 uprising).   As Lenin observed, most commentators surveying the events of early 1917 interpreted the situation as portending either the gradual transition from autocratic monarchy to constitutional liberal democracy (should the revolution succeed) or the restoration of monarchical power, albeit with some provisions for limited democratic expression (should the revolution fail).  Lenin, on the other hand, understood that conditions were unfolding under which the power of a unified coalition of workers and peasants – a coalition which did not yet exist but would have to be forged by the Bolshevik Party and it’s allies – could sweep away both the tsarists and the parties of established wealth and privilege, and the lay the foundation for a truly transformational society.

Well, we all know how that turned out.  And yet, at 6:30 a.m. on a damp and foggy morning, it’s hard (for me) not to reflect on current conditions, here at the “end of history”.  We’re being told by our leaders that threatened economic collapse has been avoided and that we are slowly on the road to recovery, despite ample evidence all around us that the situation remains dire and the underlying systemic causes of the melt-down remain unaddressed.

Meanwhile, as the dogs stopped to inspect what to my untrained nose was yet another indistinguishable patch of grass, I noticed someone, warmly bundled against the chill, standing in the shadows by the duck pond, distributing bread crumbs to several large ducks.  Once upon a time, chickens and ducks roamed Sonoma Plaza freely, and a pond had been constructed to provide suitable “natural” habitat for the migratory ducks and geese who dropped in for seasonal visits.  Like many good deeds, this one had unintended consequences, as the feathered visitors flocked to enjoy the new amenities, and warm-hearted residents were more than happy to provide snacks.  Eventually the chickens were banished from the Plaza, in 1999, allegedly out of concern for their own safety.  The ducks, who were reconsidering their migratory status and contemplating a more settled lifestyle, were periodically “culled” – an interesting euphemism – in order to keep their numbers under control.

My overactive imagination wondered whether this scene wasn’t ripe for some kind of critical analogy about homelessness, illegal immigration, bleeding heart liberalism, welfare, or any number of political hot button issues bombarding us these days.  I confess to actually looking around to see if there might be someone of a different ideological persuasion lurking in a car, hammering away furiously on a laptop his or her latest inflammatory outburst of righteous indignation.  I didn’t see anyone though, so the dogs and I proceeded around to the other side of the Plaza.

My take away from the metaphorically-overdetermined bird feeding scene is that there’s nothing easier than building simple analogies from complex assortments of facts.  Feeding migratory birds apparently reduces their inclination to migrate and renders them dependent on the kindness of strangers to subsist through the months of inclement weather.  Better to let them fly away south for the winter, to warmer environs.  Thanks for the visit, see you next spring.  And so too migrant farm workers and homeless people, n’est-ce pas?  When I lived in Santa Barbara, free bus tickets to Long Beach were used to promote the orderly process of seasonal migration.

The morning walk was almost done, as we prepared to cross the street to where the Subaru was parked in front of the Ledson Hotel.  I noticed how the view down First Street East of the old First Baptist Church, built in the late 19th century, was partly obscured by the telephone poles arrayed like fence posts from one corner to the next.  It occurred to me that when electricity and telephones were first introduced, the presence of these poles and wires must have been experienced as signs of modernity and progress – of the spread of civilisation and all its conveniences.  Of course, there were no doubt Luddites who bemoaned the passing of an earlier age, but the benefits of these new technologies far outweighed romantic nostalgia or aesthetic considerations.   But in 2009, I’m struck by how unsightly these things are, and how they’ve lost whatever earlier sense of the new and modern they might have conveyed.  The fact that the more affluent parts of town have removed all external traces of these things – save for the occasional gray fiberglass “rock” signifying the location of an access point to underground utility cabling – speaks volumes to where we are today.

With the dogs snug in the back of the car, we concluded our walk and drove home, to reflect on the things we’d seen this morning and to eat some kibble.

When I am centred, at peace with myself and my life, all I see is beautiful, wonderful people, carrying wounds and pain in their hearts, being soft and fragile within, full of love… I see their sincere attempts to do good, to be fulfilled, to make sense of their lives. My heart melts in warmth, my eyes get filled with tears and I am all empathy.

On the other hand, when I am feeling nervous, under pressure, frustrated, in inner conflicts and stress, I do not see that scene at all. All I can see than is egotistic, pushy, aggressive, ugly and terrible people, being nasty to each other, torturing their children and spouses. And my mind goes cynical. No empathy. Nothing.

It is obvious that my perception is utterly shaped by the state of my emotional being.

So what am I seeing really?

Nothing out there.

All I can ever see are merely my projections, my own emotional colouring, my subconscious patterns, cultural discourse, mental patterns and expectations… I do never communicate and interact and live with such and such people, with individuals and their objective attributes. No, I live among people that I am creating inside my head, shaping them this way or that way, arbitrarily.

That’s why my wife is sometimes divine Goddess, and sometimes…, well, something rather different. It is me who keeps changing her, inside my head, not her. In other words, if I want to see you ugly, there’s nothing you can do about it. And in case I choose to see you beautiful, you are trapped again… The same applies for everything; I am the creator of the world I live in and I keep re-creating it moment by moment.

So, you and me, we do not live in the same world. Pretty scary, isn’t it?

There was a time in my life where myself and a handful of friends would head off for camping trips and do bong hits by the campfire, and I recall that with regularity at a certain point one of the side effects of my high was that synapses would be reawakened such that I could occupy the exact mindset of different stages of my life:  the deep-run thoughts that course through the brain daily, including crushes on girls, the song that was stuck in my head, and so on.  Of course at the same time I had my current state of mind as well, so that the effect was as if I had quantum leaped into myself when I was, say, eight  years old. 

Recently I  had very much the same sensation, when I stumbled across an array of pop culture ephemera on Youtube (if you can call it that), consisting mostly of old commercials and network television bumpers. These are things I saw all the time, and stuff I’d utterly forgotten about, to such an extent that the sensation was very much like taking one of those bong hits, but this time of course it was not drug induced.  Try it, it’s freaky. 

This is all a long way of saying:  that kind of cultural referencing, of nostalgia, strikes me as an utterly harmless and in some ways incredibly gratifying thing.   It’s not about “celebrating” those things (after all, is it really very entertaining to watch bumpers and old McDonald’s commercials?), it’s about being mentally transported.  I would liken it to visiting your childhood home:  sure you can remember the layout and the color of the carpet, but it’s only when you smell it, when you see an old stain or cigarette burn, and see that the crack in the foundation is still there, that level of detail — that is when things flood back.   

Anyway, the article I linked to above points out/alludes to two trends, which usually (but not necessarily) utilize the first kind of nostalgia, that may be even worse than the lack of a strong cultural dynamism and the snowball effect, the collapsing of time, of what can be meta-meta-meta-referenced for nostalgic purposes (hey, remember “dramatic prairie dog“?):   

1.  Prosthetic memory.  It’s becoming trendy to “remember the [insert decade]“ (thanks, VH1!), such that we “remember” things we “all” shared, which may not in fact be things we remember, or things that accurately reflect the ethos, the ”structure of feeling” of living back whenever.  When I watch an 80′s overhaul, I realize there were whole areas of pop culture to which I was never privy, and yet somehow I feel a sort of nostalgia for that, get caught up in the spirit of it — despite that these are not things I actually remember.  What happens?  Am I nostalgic for the time period they reference, coupled with reminiscing about reminiscing about the ’80′s?   Further, while it’s hardly surprising that the focus is on pop culture inanity, there were lots of pop culture things that bring up less “fun” but certainly quite important things:  Ayatollah Assaholah tees, Reagan masks, etc.  Hey kids, remember Iran Contra?  Holy wowza, wasn’t the invasion of Panama a hoot?  Remember Live Aid, Farm Aid, “We Are The World”?  Well, you remember the songs at least, but let’s just sort of leave behind what they were about:  bo-ring! 

2.  The celebration of not merely pop culture, but any and all consumer goods.  They are, after all, what defines who we are/were, right?  How long’s it gonna be before Tide brings back their old packaging to try to evoke nostalgia?  I mean, Coca Cola brought back their “classic” bottles some time ago, I can’t see why this won’t be an industry wide trend.  And hey, you can now buy Count Chocula, Frankenberry and Boo Berry.  And this is not because they are quality cereals.  Have a look at the toys in the toy store right now:  Care Bears, My Little Pony, Star Wars, G.I. Joe…who are these toys really for, the kids or their parents? 

Certainly we can point to all of these insidious things, but I think there’s also something else at work:  we’re nostalgic for a time of mass movement/culture.   Things are becoming more and more diffuse.  About the only thing I can think of that “everybody” is into are internet memes, and even then this is niche by age, class, and taste (raise your hand if you’ve seen “Two Girls 1 Cup”).  We became so used to belonging to a mass culture and its mass products that we don’t know how to operate in a world in which the classic “water cooler talk” is mostly sharing things that only you saw, and relating it in the lamest fashion to your coworkers.  As television advertising goes through its latest crisis, the future will be in on demand, subscription-only, straight to download shows for niche markets of hardcore fans — with high variance in quality and budget.   

Is this a good thing or a bad thing?  Are we experiencing the horrors of atomization and micro-casted capitalist exploitation, or the dawn of a new era of consumer freedom from the top-down model of the culture industry, where we get what we like without being hoodwinked by advertisers?  And what will be nostalgic for in such a future?

Watch this space!  (and remember…)

the conspiratorial thinker sees “a projection of the self”—he’s just like them but more discerning and more rational. Indeed, for the paranoid skeptics, it’s not that science is wrong but that the scientists aren’t scientific enough. (original emphasis)

The circuitous discourse that is then taken up is seen by the skeptic as hyper-rational, when it is in fact anti-rational.  The effect of this tack of so-called skepticism, then, is not to find “truth,” but to destabilize it.  Although they themselves think they are exposing a conspiracy to hide truth, what they are in fact doing us undermining our ability to consider anything “true” that does not exist with 100% exactitude — in other words, that scientific fact/theory (which is understood as being “true” yet contingent) becomes suspect as an entire regime of knowledge.  What the skeptic actually engenders then, is not truth but Truthiness.

“Truthiness”, coined of course by Stephen Colbert, refers to the notion that “truth” does not necessarily stem from, or adhere to, “facts”.  Although the term is mostly reserved for “intuitive” thinking that one thinks or wishes to be true when it’s not, I think the term is actually somewhat more complex with regard to the way in which people approach “truth.”  The purveyor of truthiness recognizes that facts are only meaningfully rendered when they enter into discourse (and are at base derived from science, which operates according to its own discourse), but nonetheless holds that the discourse of truthiness, while not literally “true” in the traditional sense, speaks to a kind of truth, a higher order truth.  Thus we have a discourse that adopts a sophisticated postmodern disdain for truth on the one hand, but paradoxically believes that somewhere out there is truth in an absolute form.  In this way, proponents of intelligent design call into question the way scientific knowledge is legitimated in order to propagate a notion that speaks to the “truth” of God’s creation without making any claims on truth that can be empirically defined or arrived at.  This kind of postmodern position is (perhaps ironically teleologically) best explained via poststructuralist notions of discursive practice and skepticism toward metanarratives—how else can we explain this marriage between irrationality and rationality?  What aspect of capitalist ideology can systemically produce subjects who are both very good capitalists and very good fundamentalists?  And so we have the ultimate irony:  people who believe in truth in its absolute form are in fact the ones pushing us further and further into postmodern relativism, whereby “truth” and “facts” are entirely subjective and discursive.  To this end, “truth” is linked to situational politics, and is taken up strategically, as a weapon to “prove” whatever it is one already believes in (needless to say, without good reason).

So, welcome to the (post)modern era, where the logical conclusion of truthiness will lead us into a new age of, potentially, hyper-rational capitalism paradoxically (or so it would at first seem) coexisting with an anti-rational culture.  So, awesome, we get all the exploitation and commodity fetishism, but none of the reason.  This oughtta be fun.

In any case, the notion of the artist as a Magi who locks himself away in an ivory tower to create his masterpieces is now considered little but a cliché.  And yet, isn’t there still a discernible hierarchy between those who create and those who write about it?  Or that which is created and that which comments upon it?  The artist certainly garners more media attention, though celebrity shouldn’t of course be confused with artistic merit or talent.

For some reason, this is of no great concern to the present art world.  With everybody doing a bit of everything, perhaps it’s easy for those lesser-showered with glory to wave away the issue in a generous socialist gesture.  The question only presented itself to me when considering what to write here, in the Velleity; not a problem in itself, but when art and commentary exist side by side I’m wary of being too prescriptive, telling people what to think.  The day the magazine passes comment on the self-same photography or fiction it presents, something about it will die.

It sounds dramatic, I know, but there still exists a mystical aspect to our relationship with the work of art and we retain it wilfully.  Though a painting in a gallery may be prefaced and ‘‘explained’’ by texts and brochures, the viewer still likes to believe it is imbued with a quality inexplicable to any but the artist.  Andy Warhol, it is held, rid art of this mysticism, but a photo presented in the Velleity is left ‘‘open’’ to reading and is non-self-reflexive.  Whatever opinions it reflects are implicit rather than explicit; it appears to be ‘‘art’’ rather than ‘‘criticism,’’ unless criticism can be seen as postmodern art.

Writing this, then, is not exactly exploding the myth or breaking the fourth wall , but a faux pas is made in the act of acknowledging the wall’s existence.  In this way, the writer appears to have power over the artist, but in our society, the artist is surely prioritised over the writer, for without the art there would be nothing to criticise.  The artist is primary.

Despite this, I think I value and respect aptitude in writing over that in art.  There is a greater currency, or more mileage, in discourse generated than in the art that generates it.  For what purpose is art produced today if not to generate, engage in, or more generally ‘‘explore’’ cultural discourse?  With so many fingers getting in on the cultural pie, we need not fear slim pickings from either artist or writer, but in some ways they’re poles apart.

This article originally appeared in The Velleity on Sunday and was reprinted in Gliberagora (The Glasgow School of Art: 2009), compiled by Liz Lochhead.