Author Topic: Resistance In Consumerist Society  (Read 6948 times)

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Holden

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Re: Resistance In Consumerist Society
« Reply #30 on: October 12, 2014, 10:10:56 pm »
It's okay,I can access the webpage now.
La Tristesse Durera Toujours                                  (The Sadness Lasts Forever ...)
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Holden

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Re: Resistance In Consumerist Society
« Reply #31 on: October 12, 2014, 11:26:20 pm »
“Experts in ancient Greek culture say that people back then didn't see their thoughts as belonging to them. When ancient Greeks had a thought, it occurred to them as a god or goddess giving an order. Apollo was telling them to be brave. Athena was telling them to fall in love.

Now people hear a commercial for sour cream potato chips and rush out to buy, but now they call this free will.
At least the ancient Greeks were being honest.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Lullaby
La Tristesse Durera Toujours                                  (The Sadness Lasts Forever ...)
-van Gogh.

Holden

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Black Christmas: Resistance In Consumerist Society
« Reply #32 on: November 30, 2014, 10:35:32 am »
It was supposed to be the start of the peak Christmas shopping season. But across Britain yesterday, stores were left looking more like a battlefield as Black Friday frenzy took hold. Shoppers fought – in some cases literally – to get the best bargains.
At Asda’s flagship store in Wembley, a smartly dressed young woman clung frantically to a 40in Polaroid TV which had been reduced by £80 as a group of young teens tried to wrestle it away from her.
Witnesses told how bargain-hunters behaved ‘like animals’ and likened scenes to ‘a war zone’ as police were called to restore order at many stores, including Tesco branches in Edmonton, Willesden and Surrey Quays in London.


Queues had formed before midnight as many retailers, who had heavily advertised Black Friday savings, opened early.
But police were called to a Tesco in Wigan at 11.37pm on Thursday - before it had even opened- after reports that several hundred people were trying to break down the doors before the official midnight opening time.
Another Tesco store, in Manchester, had to be closed just 36 minutes after opening due to fighting, while another customer was arrested on suspicion of assault in the Salford branch after allegedly telling a staff member that he would 'smash their face in'.
Two other customers were arrested for public order offences by officers in Manchester, who dealt with some of the worst scenes of violence on the biggest day of discount shopping in the year.
As the discounting frenzy reached fever pitch, there were also reports of staff being left in tears in Cardiff, while another female staff member was apparently given a black eye following a melee in Stretford. 


                                                                ---------------------------------------------
Walmart workers are staging protests in front of the stores across the nation on Black Friday morning. The unofficial consumer holiday is the most important day of the year, when Walmart workers and their supporters are hoping to bring to attention their low wages, part-time schedules and unfair treatment.

“That’s a huge business day, so yes, you always have to work on the holidays. That’s a given,” said Marie Kanger-Born, a Walmart worker from Chicago, Illinois. “That’s not our big issue. Our issue is what goes on in the stores every single day. The thing is that’s their big day – that might be the only day we can get their attention.”

Sometimes all I have money for is a can of tuna and crackers

This year’s protests by Walmart workers will kick off on Thanksgiving with a 24-hour fast by 12 protesters. The fast, which is protesting the hunger suffered by some Walmart workers who can’t afford food, will be staged outside a Los Angeles store.

One of the workers participating in the fast is Richard Reynoso, an overnight stocker at the Duarte, California store. Reynoso is one of those workers who cannot afford to purchase three meals a day. As a result, he only eats once a day on his lunch break.

“Sometimes all I have money for is a can of tuna and crackers,” he said.
« Last Edit: November 30, 2014, 10:43:40 am by Holden »
La Tristesse Durera Toujours                                  (The Sadness Lasts Forever ...)
-van Gogh.

Nation of One

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Re: Resistance In Consumerist Society
« Reply #33 on: November 30, 2014, 12:53:25 pm »
Reflecting on the behavior of the masses almost makes me sympathize with ... individual police officers.   :o  Not as far as authentic riots for social justice goes, but riots over sales on TVs and iPods or riots over farkin' football/soccer/hockey games ... Christ Almighty!

Paradox?  Contradiction?

What a catastrophe mass-industrialized consumer society is!

Quote from: Holden
Experts in ancient Greek culture say that people back then didn't see their thoughts as belonging to them. When ancient Greeks had a thought, it occurred to them as a god or goddess giving an order. Apollo was telling them to be brave. Athena was telling them to fall in love.

Now people hear a commercial for sour cream potato chips and rush out to buy, but now they call this free will. At least the ancient Greeks were being honest.


― Chuck Palahniuk, Lullaby

So, the question still remains, Are the gorts innocent dupes?



I certainly do sympathize with the employees.  I would not want my mother to be trampled by hordes of gorts.  In the only letter I ever received from the woman who called herself Crazy Squirrel here, she offered me a heartfelt diatribe against having any kind of compassion for "the masses".  The Black Friday Phenomenon is a practically perfect proof validating her viewpoint.

This ties into the final lines of "Madness Theory" :

I can no longer accept ignorance on the part of the masses
As the explanation of fascism – I demand an explanation
That takes into account the desires of the masses

Masses of desiring-machines asking for repression
Not only for others – but also for themselves.

We speak of the masses, the deluded masses -
No! This may not be the case at all
The gorts are not the innocent dupes
We may have thought them to be

Under a certain set of conditions
They want fascism, they desire chains
Chains for me, chains for you,
and worst of all, chains for themselves
But I sense the masses are not innocent dupes

It is the perversion of the desire
Of the masses that needs to be accounted for
If we are to at least be conscious
Of the bars of our cages as we address
The rulers and wardens and guards and bosses
Here in the Prison Colony of s-h-i-t-ting Machines

As you wake up to your true nature,
You will be like a mute who has had a dream,
but is unable to talk about it.
« Last Edit: November 30, 2014, 01:06:21 pm by { } »
Things They Will Never Tell YouArthur Schopenhauer has been the most radical and defiant of all troublemakers.

Gorticide @ Nothing that is so, is so DOT edu

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Nation of One

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Re: Resistance In Consumerist Society
« Reply #34 on: May 14, 2015, 09:00:46 am »
An entry I made in my "journal" at the end of February before my disappearance:

While at the library I realized that, with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, graduating with honors from the State University of Rutgers, along with nearly a decade of experience as a park maintenance worker for the State Park Service, although I have some emotional "issues" and "behavioral quirks," I could be of great assistance to the librarians at the Asbury Park Public Library in a wide range of capacities.

WARNING:  Remember Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces when Ignatius got a job at the library?  He not only got fired after just 2 weeks.  They revoked his library card!

___________________________________________________________________
Update: May 2015

Also recall in the film, Henry Fool, when Henry asked his parole officer if he had any leads on jobs at the school.  The parole officer said it was very difficult ... with his criminal record ...

 :-\
Things They Will Never Tell YouArthur Schopenhauer has been the most radical and defiant of all troublemakers.

Gorticide @ Nothing that is so, is so DOT edu

~ Tabak und Kaffee Süchtigen ~

Holden

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Black(Eye)Friday
« Reply #35 on: November 29, 2015, 04:16:56 pm »
Make No Mistake!
I Will Not Compromise.
I Will Not Comply.
I Will Not Submit.
I Will Not Break.
I Will Not Roll Over.
I Will Not Sit Down.
I Will Not Shut Up.
I Will Not Go Quietly.
I Will Not Give Up.
I Will Not Surrender!
I Will Stand For Truth.

La Tristesse Durera Toujours                                  (The Sadness Lasts Forever ...)
-van Gogh.

Nation of One

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Re: Resistance In Consumerist Society: the free spirit
« Reply #36 on: November 29, 2015, 07:07:09 pm »
But he who is hated by the people, as the wolf by the dogs - is the free spirit, the enemy of fetters, the non-adorer, the dweller in the woods.

Quote from: Holden
People like you & I,without a wife & kids to support,are the only ones who can give reply in kind to the corporations.The other day,one of the boss-man was saying openly" I really want all the employees to be married & have at least a couple of kids, that way there's no way out for them,nilly-willy they've got to stick around"

That's why I am such an eyesore to the slave-owner,I need to feed no one but myself,I don't need their garbage filled malls,so I make them feel insecure.

This may be a key factor in the stance of an Absurdo-Rejectionist: a general rejection of marriage and traditional employment as a way of life.  When one does not aspire to play these roles, gort society appears to have to categorize the refusenicks as either mentally ill or criminal or just somehow "broken machinery" and a drain on the war-machine economy.

How can they make money selling status symbols as credentials if one does not live to please?

I pity those who have just willy-nilly gone from one master to another.  I pity those who defer to the opinions of "relatives" or "work-associates".   

I have become the strange deviant character in a Dostoevsky novel, the one who would prefer to live simply without car, wife, or children rather than have to grovel for the approval of so-called superiors or be obliged to "pretend to believe in God and country" so as not to "corrupt the children with my subversive ideas".   ::)

I used to use an analogy having to do with fish caught in a net observing those fish outside of the net.  Those caught in the net felt smugly superior, claiming that the fish outside the net lacked the qualities the fishermen desired, and so they were not "chosen".    ;D

If you think about this, this analogy, while at first sounding far fetched, really does hit the mark. 

Think about the smug sense of superiority the employed feel towards the unemployed ... "untouchables" ... And to never have been married raises suspicions about one's sexuality or simply implies one is an undesirable "catch".   

Well, when someone wants a dog to pull their fat ass around in a sled, the last thing they want on their "crew" is a wolf.

What was Nietzsche's quote? I swear, my entire life, while I have not really admired his writings, feeling he was, as Cioran says, a boy whistling in the dark, I do respect the non-conformist lifestyle he led.   Let's not passively wait until the gorts lock us in an asylum for defending an animal or crying in public before realizing that wolves should not be made to feel inadequate for failing to thrive in a dog society.

Quote from: Nietzsche
The Famous Wise Ones

The people have ye served and the people's superstition—not the truth!—all ye famous wise ones! And just on that account did they pay you reverence.

And on that account also did they tolerate your unbelief, because it was a pleasantry and a by-path for the people. Thus doth the master give free scope to his slaves, and even enjoyeth their presumptuousness.

But he who is hated by the people, as the wolf by the dogs—is the free spirit, the enemy of fetters, the non-adorer, the dweller in the woods.

To hunt him out of his lair—that was always called "sense of right" by the people: on him do they still hound their sharpest-toothed dogs.

"For there the truth is, where the people are! Woe, woe to the seeking ones!"—thus hath it echoed through all time.

Your people would ye justify in their reverence: that called ye "Will to Truth," ye famous wise ones!

And your heart hath always said to itself: "From the people have I come: from thence came to me also the voice of God."

Stiff-necked and artful, like the ass, have ye always been, as the advocates of the people.

And many a powerful one who wanted to run well with the people, hath harnessed in front of his horses—a donkey, a famous wise man.

And now, ye famous wise ones, I would have you finally throw off entirely the skin of the lion!

The skin of the beast of prey, the speckled skin, and the dishevelled locks of the investigator, the searcher, and the conqueror!

Ah! for me to learn to believe in your "conscientiousness," ye would first have to break your venerating will.

Conscientious—so call I him who goeth into God-forsaken wildernesses, and hath broken his venerating heart.

In the yellow sands and burnt by the sun, he doubtless peereth thirstily at the isles rich in fountains, where life reposeth under shady trees.

But his thirst doth not persuade him to become like those comfortable ones: for where there are oases, there are also idols.

Hungry, fierce, lonesome, God-forsaken: so doth the lion-will wish itself.

Free from the happiness of slaves, redeemed from deities and adorations, fearless and fear-inspiring, grand and lonesome: so is the will of the conscientious.

In the wilderness have ever dwelt the conscientious, the free spirits, as lords of the wilderness; but in the cities dwell the well-foddered, famous wise ones—the draught-beasts.

For, always do they draw, as asses—the people's carts!

Not that I on that account upbraid them: but serving ones do they remain, and harnessed ones, even though they glitter in golden harness.

And often have they been good servants and worthy of their hire. For thus saith virtue: "If thou must be a servant, seek him unto whom thy service is most useful!

The spirit and virtue of thy master shall advance by thou being his servant: thus wilt thou thyself advance with his spirit and virtue!"

And verily, ye famous wise ones, ye servants of the people! Ye yourselves have advanced with the people's spirit and virtue—and the people by you! To your honour do I say it!

But the people ye remain for me, even with your virtues, the people with purblind eyes—the people who know not what spirit is!

Spirit is life which itself cutteth into life: by its own torture doth it increase its own knowledge,—did ye know that before?

And the spirit's happiness is this: to be anointed and consecrated with tears as a sacrificial victim,—did ye know that before?

And the blindness of the blind one, and his seeking and groping, shall yet testify to the power of the sun into which he hath gazed,- did ye know that before?

And with mountains shall the discerning one learn to build! It is a small thing for the spirit to remove mountains,—did ye know that before?

Ye know only the sparks of the spirit: but ye do not see the anvil which it is, and the cruelty of its hammer!

Verily, ye know not the spirit's pride! But still less could ye endure the spirit's humility, should it ever want to speak!

And never yet could ye cast your spirit into a pit of snow: ye are not hot enough for that! Thus are ye unaware, also, of the delight of its coldness.

In all respects, however, ye make too familiar with the spirit; and out of wisdom have ye often made an alms-house and a hospital for bad poets.

Ye are not eagles: thus have ye never experienced the happiness of the alarm of the spirit. And he who is not a bird should not camp above abysses.

Ye seem to me lukewarm ones: but coldly floweth all deep knowledge. Ice-cold are the innermost wells of the spirit: a refreshment to hot hands and handlers.

Respectable do ye there stand, and stiff, and with straight backs, ye famous wise ones!—no strong wind or will impelleth you.

Have ye ne'er seen a sail crossing the sea, rounded and inflated, and trembling with the violence of the wind?

Like the sail trembling with the violence of the spirit, doth my wisdom cross the sea—my wild wisdom!

But ye servants of the people, ye famous wise ones—how could ye go with me!—

Thus spake Zarathustra.


« Last Edit: November 30, 2015, 12:43:18 am by H »
Things They Will Never Tell YouArthur Schopenhauer has been the most radical and defiant of all troublemakers.

Gorticide @ Nothing that is so, is so DOT edu

~ Tabak und Kaffee Süchtigen ~

Holden

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Ernesto Che Guevara: [addressing the United Nations in Spanish] Executions? Yes, we have executed. We execute, and we'll continue to execute.

[upon hearing that Batista has fled Cuba]
Ernesto Che Guevara: Nobody is going home on leave. We have only won the war. The revolution has just begun.Ours is a fight to the death.


Leper from San Pablo: Why did you want to be a doctor?
Ernesto Guevara de la Serna: I wanted to be useful, somehow.
Leper from San Pablo: You're wasting your time.
Ernesto Guevara de la Serna: Why?
Leper from San Pablo: Life is pain.
La Tristesse Durera Toujours                                  (The Sadness Lasts Forever ...)
-van Gogh.

Holden

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Re: Resistance In Consumerist Society
« Reply #38 on: February 08, 2016, 12:03:32 pm »
La Tristesse Durera Toujours                                  (The Sadness Lasts Forever ...)
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Holden

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Valentine's Day: Resistance In Consumerist Society
« Reply #39 on: February 13, 2016, 12:29:21 pm »
La Tristesse Durera Toujours                                  (The Sadness Lasts Forever ...)
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Holden

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La Tristesse Durera Toujours                                  (The Sadness Lasts Forever ...)
-van Gogh.

Holden

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Re: Resistance In Consumerist Society
« Reply #41 on: April 28, 2016, 09:58:51 pm »
No,my friend,its not morbid-its the reality.I'm the corpse that rides a bicycle. I remember that apart from playing drums & doing math ,you also like to run in the forest.
Well,recently I have rediscovered bicycling! One of my cousins recently bought a big gas guzzler( he also has a trophy wife who never gets along with his mom),while I have stopped going to office in my motorcycle & have started using bicycle instead!

Riding makes me feel so much better than being in a cubicle.I get strangest/ deepest of thoughts
 when I am riding.

Don't let the bastards get you down!
Maybe one day I will ride right out of office on my bicycle forever!
« Last Edit: April 28, 2016, 10:11:25 pm by Holden »
La Tristesse Durera Toujours                                  (The Sadness Lasts Forever ...)
-van Gogh.

Holden

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From now on will it'll be total organisation.
« Reply #42 on: April 29, 2016, 01:20:33 pm »

The idea had been growing in my brain for some time: TRUE force.

« Last Edit: April 29, 2016, 01:26:46 pm by Holden »
La Tristesse Durera Toujours                                  (The Sadness Lasts Forever ...)
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Nation of One

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Re: Resistance In Consumerist Society
« Reply #43 on: April 29, 2016, 05:31:43 pm »
It makes me feel like I should at least do some push-ups in the morning ...  :-\  BEFORE my first cigarette ...
Things They Will Never Tell YouArthur Schopenhauer has been the most radical and defiant of all troublemakers.

Gorticide @ Nothing that is so, is so DOT edu

~ Tabak und Kaffee Süchtigen ~

Holden

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We need to drink Pepsi while fighting Capitalism?
« Reply #44 on: June 01, 2017, 10:03:33 pm »
We need to drink Pepsi while fighting Capitalism? Finally,we get the missing piece which completes the puzzle ::)
La Tristesse Durera Toujours                                  (The Sadness Lasts Forever ...)
-van Gogh.