Fagburn: On Saying Nothing

The spectacle presents itself as something enormously positive, indisputable and inaccessible. It says nothing more than “that which appears is good, that which is good appears.” The attitude which it demands in principle is passive acceptance which in fact it already obtained by its manner of appearing without reply, by its monopoly of appearance.

• Still taken from Guy Debord's 1973 film of his book, Society Of the Spectacle.

Sometimes I read something so banal I can only imagine that the person writing it must have had this mantra going round in their head on a loop;
"That which appears is good, that which is good appears. That which appears is good, that which is good appears. That which appears is good, that which is good appears. That which appears is good, that which is good appears. That which appears is good, that which is good appears. That which appears is good, that which is good appears..."
It's not just the manufacture of consent, but the feigning of dissent. 
The hell of this hegemony.
Propaganda's K-hole.

Watch Pollyanna pretending to be angry
about the things Polly's allowed to be angry about.

Hear Pangloss, oblivious to our disasters
"All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds"

"And I? May I say nothing, my lord?"

Like Pollyanna

Sometimes I feel like the Winslow boy
most times I feel like Josef K
like they're all out to get me
and I don't know why.

I wish I felt like Pollyanna
like Pangloss
happy and smiling
and I don't know why.

Stickergate: Some Elementary Comments

Someone has put a few crappy anti-gay stickers up in east London.
It's hardly the Reichstag fire, is it?
So what does this story feed into that's made it flare up?
It has exposed a faultline that reminds me of the trial of OJ Simpson - many made up their mind who did this the second they heard.
It's also brought a lot of gay racists out the woodwork/closet/dungheap.
If someone keeps mentioning that people are "brown-skinned", it's fairly safe to assume they have a problem with brown-skinned people.
Looking at messageboards it's clear that gay racists would be thrilled if this could be blamed on a Muslim.
And if "no-one's talking about Muslim homophobia", why do I keep reading articles about it - from the usual reactionary suspects?
Has even one article about gay Islamophobia been published in the wake of Stickergate?
At the time of typing we do not know who put the stickers up.
One thing we do now know as a result of Stickergate is that the English Defence League tried to exploit it as a way of picking up support from gay men.
If they weren't behind it the EDL would have welcomed it.
To stir up or celebrate division between oppressed groups is the morality and tactics of Charles Manson.
I wish I could end on an upbeat Pollyanna/Pangloss note, but I can't think of anything good that's come out of all this.