This is the first of several parts of subcultural analysis overlooked re-911truth. In this case, not just overlooked, but twisted in meaning and now so divorced from its roots the once rich memes are meaningless. And for those rolling their eyes at "9/11 truth", much of what follows applies to anti-war activism generally.
(Also read at:
http://coljennysparks.blogspot.com/... )
If this is it ...
"...Girl don't lie, just to save my feelings</span>
Girl don't cry, and tell me nothing's wrong..."
~re:mixed feelings about 9/11 truth
Part 1-Neutered Memes—The Matrix, 1984 and 911truth
This is the first of several parts of subcultural analysis overlooked re-911truth. In this case, not just overlooked, but twisted in meaning and now so divorced from its roots the once rich memes are meaningless. And for those rolling their eyes at "9/11 truth", much of what follows applies to anti-war activism generally.
The Matrix
Take the Matrix. Very popular movie, rich with symbolism and philosophy. It was inevitable its memes and metaphors would be applied to politics, especially radical politics, and the ideas, as presented by the Warshawski brothers had so many layers, there was no one "right" or "correct" interpretation of the philosophy. Maybe it was inevitable people who identified with an overwhelming struggle for freedom and justice would see themselves in Neo, the One prophesied to end the War between the Machines and Zion. And it doesn't take too much imagination to stretch the metaphor of the Matrix—a system of control for the benefit if a few exploiting the contrived ignorance of the many—to various socio-political constructs in the modern world. Tom Tomorrow did a great cartoon about the Bush administration :
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/...
There's also a series of cute and clever videos exposing factory farming (and encouraging free-range alternatives) called the Meatrix:
http://www.youtube.com/...
So , yeh, the Matrix has given inspiration to many political activists. 911Truth is no different. There's a user called Red-Pill, another called Neomulder, and the idea people need to unplug and wake up has been repeated to the point its become a blind slogan of cultural self affirmation about supposedly being more aware than the "sheeple" about how the world works.
Its perfectly human and understandable to want to draw inspiration from a hero that catches one's imagination. And it can be a harmless comforting fantasy. The problem –besides taking the Matrix idea way too seriously/literally--is these people are taking one aspect of the Matrix philosophy way out of context. These people want to identify as and embrace the philosophy of the One, thinking it will set them free. But –either not being hard core Matrix fans or distracted by the special effects--they've missed the Warshawskis' subtleties: the One is NOT a messiah or hero, though he is deceived into thinking so. The One is another control of the Matrix. It is only when Neo rejects his "destiny" that a real solution becomes possible.
Chew on that a bit. The idea of swallowing the Red Pill and waking up to the Truth of 911 is a nice feel good meme pushed in 911truth. We're all like Neo, eh? We're all going to save the world from the now by "spreading the TRUTH" , which will magically makes us free in some vague way. But what is really happening to all these mini-Neo's is they've become another control of the system.
I'm not saying the Matrix meme is worthless, but if its going to have relevant value, follow the metaphor completely—just seeing the world for what it is doesn't free you by itself. You need to form a new model and new approach to it, one that doesn't play into the hands of the institutions and authorities your supposedly challenging.
1984
Another popular dystopian work mined for memes to neuter is 1984. Everyone likes to focus of the flash—the "sexy" stuff—Newspeak, Double-think, Thought Police, surveillance and general fascist yuckiness. "Gee, it could really get bad if someone did this!" "Gosh, you're right! I hope that doesn't happen!" Well—with all due respect —duh. It makes one happy George Orwell didn't live to see his masterpiece butchered by political hacks...
Its not that all that flash isn't important—it does help to illustrate ideas that could happen. But what doesn't help is taking an idea and twisting its meaning so much it is virtually the opposite of what Orwell intended. For instance:
Double-think: Orwell was describing a neurosis a person would develop when their very survival depends on apparent fervent belief in bullshite. Its a glorified state of denial—they know factual reality so they can function in a superficially rational way—for instance, around things called electrical outlets, even if the Party line they must express unwavering loyalty to claims electricity is "just a theory". (Yes, that is a jab at Creationism.) Orwell was insightful of the ways a fanatic must delude themselves to survive, but he was a bit off on the details. It turns out uber-fascist regimes don't produce Double-think so much as stupidity—we know this observing the Nazi regime where the Third Riech seriously suffered in science and research—and military strategy-- because ideology came before facts. Still, its a useful concept to describe a psychologically trapped person's ability to apparently function rationally in an irrational situation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
But there's another definition of Double-think in circulation—especially among disruptors and trolls—which is a slur they use against anyone who doesn't agree with them, especially when they want to imply manipulation when they know the facts aren't on their side, but they want to sound erudite. Ironically, by trying to manipulate and redefine Double-think to fit their agenda these trolls reveal they are engaging in, ahem, Doublethink. Unless they really don't believe what they're saying, in which case they are simply liars.
Thought Police: that used to be popular. Express a desire to have higher standards—hell, even explicitly express a live and let live policy—and some wankers will go out of their way, re-register where they're banned under a new name just to misguidedly battle the "thought police". By which they mean people who are trying to stop them from expressing themselves, even if they have to go out of their way to troll a forum to prove the thought police are oppressing them.
But that is not what the Thought-Police are. Thought Police were people who monitored people's ideas and conversations to catch and punish those who did not follow the party line.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Various programs proposed to spy on civilians under the Patriot act fall in this category, as do most attempts to monitor/ manipulate grass-roots activist groups. Not being able to drivel on about a pet theory at someone else's forum does not. If one really thinks it does, they need to grow up. And besides—if a forum is really full of nasty though police, why would one want to go to there in the first place? Its like they're trolling because they want to punish people for not following their party line—as if they were, um, Thought Police.
Newspeak: This is a pet peeve of mine. I hate it when a once meaningful phrase, through media manipulation and repetition, its rendered meaningless noise. A famous one was "politically correct". Most people of all political stripes currently have the idea—with much assistance from the right media for over two decades—that "politically correct" means being too liberal or too sensitive. It does not. It is a specific term describing the quality of interaction between a politician and the public she/he wishes to influence. It is irrespective of political sympathy or affiliation. It is a measure of effectiveness, not a measure of a political bias. The best way to illustrate this is a non-standard example:
Bob Bollox, a conservative senator, speaks at a Christian Conservative fund-raiser. He praises God and Jesus and says the usual fluff about "values". This is politically correct—that is, it is the correct thing to say to influence the "polis" he is addressing. Then he starts to ramble about building bridges between parties and says something to the effect the only reasonable position on abortion is that a woman has the right to choose. This statements is considered, by prevailing wisdom to be politically correct. But its not—in this circumstance.
PC is a relative term and meaningless without the relationship between politician and polis. But thanks to Rush Limbaugh, and whoallelse—who were deeply deeply offended social justice was marching on and went out of their way to overexpose the rare, extreme and ridiculous stories of supposed-ed Pcness as an IMMINENT THREAT TO CIVILIZATION AS WE KNOW IT—this once useful political term has been stripped of meaning except as a vague slur.
Note: this was NOT a natural drift of meaning in the language. It was a direct result of media manipulation, possibly retaliation against lefties pointing out politically incorrect behaviour of certain Republicans when addressing say, populations of layed off workers as if everything was roses.[my personal theory based on the time I observed this dynamic 80'-90's]
Here again, Orwell has much correct, but didn't see a simpler enforcement of Newspeak: you don't need to abbreviate words, though that helps. Its sufficient to strip them of meaning through repetition and misleading associations, without dinking with spelling. A bit like the repeated misuse of Doublethink and Thought Police...
But this is all just flash....symptoms of a deeper sinister message Orwell was trying to communicate, which is: the opposition is controlled. That's right Neo...I mean Winston: Obrien, the legendary leader of the resistance, that Big Brother has marked as Public Enemy Number 1, is another control of the system.
You almost never hear people in love with using 1984 as a political meme mention this aspect. Mostly they just weren't paying attention, or its been a long time since they read it. But there's another crowd that really prefers you focus on the flash—not the man behind the curtain. And its easy to pull people that way, because the probable reality 1984 suggests is not only depressing, but leaves most people at a loss for solutions. Its human in the face of despair to look for escape and comfort in a fantasy of lone messiahs fighting a cardboard NWO villain. It simple, comforting, but its not accurate—and more importantly, its not going to work.
As depressing as controlled opposition sounds, its not impossible to work around. Not confront, not "fight"--because frankly the people organizing controlled opposition have far more resources in a toe to toe fight. And unless your group really knows what its doing, you're likely to just give the wankers more ammunition in a battle of wits. The best strategies should be build around recognizing your core goals and focus on what you need to do to get there, and not let distractions derail you. As the greens put it—don't over throw, but out grow the opposition. The opposition will be obvious when it tries to push you about:
--people making strong suggestions for YOU to do things you're not comfortable with, but reluctant to volunteer themselves.
--guilt tripping and other manipulation to manage behavior
--punishment by way of trolling a list or other retaliation when they don't get their own way
--blindly endorsing people who have lost political effectiveness
--when people agree theres' a problem but do nothing, not even to protect themselves from supposed threats
--when no one but you thinks there is a problem, and its an obvious problem[libel, theft, vandalism, a really, really bad idea]
All these are symptoms of the controlled opposition. If you see these repeatedly over a period of a month or more you need to manage your group/list and remove the source. If you are the only one who sees this, its time to leave. No speeches, no sudden moves—archive everything in case the nutters try stalk you, and quietly leave making plausible excuses(work is really busy, studies are harder this term, or just stop showing up)
Note: individuals maybe unaware of their role as a disruptor having been immersed in the artificial culture created to manipulate them....
Next:
If this is it..Pt2: Cults, cultures, LaRouche and 911truth