Wednesday 10 August 2011

This (Revolution) is Over-Televised.

This is usually the paragraph taken up with the author apologising for not updating this unweeded patch of the Internet for months- but then, now doesn't really seem like the time for coy little exchanges with my (limited) audience. Now's not even the time for slick blog post intros. In truth, maybe we should all stop our chatter for a few minutes and think on the historical moment which is, like it or not, unfolding all around us.


Dostoevsky once wrote that 'Nothing is easier to denounce than the evil doer, nothing is more difficult that to understand him'. Now, not to put too fine a point on things, but Dostoevsky was a cleverer man than I shall ever be, and its sentiments like this one which only prove that. Indeed, when we view this in the context of the events of the past few days, Fyodor is on the money. The Left, Right and Creamy Inbetween declaim the acts of the rioters, and- honestly- rightly so. Yet, in the same breath, they are quick to pin the blame on their political and ideological rivals- Denunciation is swift and blame is attached to respective opponents like a soggy plaster; ultimately, its ineffectual and when its time to re-examine the infection to see the real problem, its going to be painful. 


 By using Dostoevsky's quote, I suppose I have labelled rioters 'evil doers'. It's not my intention in this post to judge people, rather, actions. I don't agree one iota with what's going on, really, I don't. I just hesitate to use the word evil. Because, really, I have to wonder what the intention behind it all is. See, if it's purely to watch the world burn, then yes, that is be a tad evil.  I've witnessed a lot of reactions to the whole affair- anger, bemusement, shame and a sinking feeling of reaping what we sow- I've felt them all myself too. But they all bring me back to  the same place- a sense of confusion as to why.


A large percentage of those stealing bags of basmati rice probably haven't even considered a reason- in fact, I'd venture this applies to nearly everyone. But people don't act for no reason whatsoever- even if they don't realise it, there's a motivation behind it all. This could be as simple as, 'I quite fancy that Plasma television in that window' or 'Gosh, wouldn't it be fun to plough this here JCB into that menacing looking Post Office'. But what it boils down to is a desire for power. Riots happen because people who feel powerless see them as a quick way to empowerment. Martin Luther King once said of riots, 'The limitations of riots, moral questions aside, is that they cannot win and their participants know it. Hence, rioting...invites defeat. It involves an emotional catharsis, but it must be followed by a sense of futility'. What he's basically getting at is that, rioting gives the rioter a feeling of being in control, of working out some inner rage, but then quickly collapses in on itself, leaving us all facing the question, 'What next?' 


I have but one thought on the whole matter; and it might not prove particularly popular, but I'll float it anyway. What these rioters are doing is wrong; the method is wrong, the consequences are wrong- there isn't much right about it, shall we say. But perhaps the biggest wrong doing of all is the stoking of the flames by the Media. Oh, that's right! I'm having a pop at the Media! I'll keep my voice down though, lest my phone be hacked or something. But think about it for a moment- we live in a culture obsessed with the Cult of Celebrity. Its in our magazines, its on our screens, even our music is about being attractive and fashionable. Children these days dont aspire to grow up to be doctors or writers, nor even necessarily footballers or rockstars, rather, they simply want to be famous. And what's worse, is that, for the most part, we tell them thats okay, because we continue to put celebrities on some sort of weird little pedestal. We've (mistakenly) equated fame with empowerment. And, subsequently, we've identified powerlessness with being normal. When we're not triumphing the Glitterati, we're bemoaning the state of the Great Everyone Else- Credit Crunch, Class War, Climate Change, Racial Tension. And real as these issues are, like any problem, remind someone of them enough, allow it to permeate the collective consciousness and, like that spotty kid you picked on in school, they'll get a complex. A really bad one. One they feel they need to act on, no matter how ineffective, deep down they know it to be. 


 So, between the vast, open ended empires of Twitter, Facebook, and apparently, BBM, they got their chance to organise themselves, egg each other on and do what they're doing now. Fast forward a few hours and every news channel in Christendom is broadcasting live footage, debates, interviews, tweetcasts -and coming soon, a broadway musical- all centered around their actions. This is their Five Minutes, just like Warhol promised them. In a society that tells them that to be televised is to be something, they've got their wish. 


And that's pretty wrong too.


Now, this isn't to exonerate the rioters of any blame that they deserve, not at all. But, maybe it is time to think about just what we plaster all over our screens. 

Anyway, I hope everyone stays safe out there. Tuesday nights and Wednesday mornings shouldn't be filled with any news, let alone bad. Look out for each other, okay?

2 comments:

  1. On the one hand I think you are right, in that our obsession with fame and the media's constant production of 'infotainment' which turns horrible abuses of power (ex: recent, manufactured, US debt "crisis") into advertising dollars serves only to distract from the serious problems our world is now facing.

    However, I think there is something you have not addressed, something people are not talking seriously about. The rise of the super rich, the atrocious inequality between rich and poor in the world riches nations, not to mention the even greater and more disturbing global wealth inequality, where developing nations are essentially conscripted into serving the 'greater' economic plans of the 'developed' world.

    At least in England people seem to be awake, they seem to notice they are powerless, exploited, and ignored. I am still waiting for america to wake up. For average people to stop supporting the politicians who would keep them ignorant, disenfranchised, isolated.

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  2. Very insightful Matt. I've had a bit of difficulty following this whole thing happening over there, but I was reading a bit about it today and I think you have totally gotten it right. A bit like Fyodor if I do say so myself.

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