Adam Curtis

[luka]

Twitter has made ideologys into consumable brands

 

[Mr. Tea]

To take another example, without the big guy here being labelled WHITE SUPREMACISTS, I wouldn't have the faintest clue what this was about.

 

[luka]

im a Nazbol, I'm a tradcath, I'm a Maoist,

 

[luka]

Means fuck all. All good neoliberal subjects. All doing as we're told. What's the difference between an accelerationist and a libertarian-monarchist? Fuck all. It's just playing dress up. Put on a fancy dress costume, I'm Napoleon look at me

 

[luka]

It doesn't matter what you 'believe' it's just more categorisations for marketing and predictive algorithms. Buy a caravan in Ostend, keep the curtain closed all day and wank yourself into an early grave that's my advice,

 

[Mr. Tea]

im a Nazbol, I'm a tradcath, I'm a Maoist,

Weirdest Meredith Brooks cover ever.

 

[luka]

"when people are encouraged, as happens in a democratic society, to believe that they wish 'to express their personality,' the question at once arises as to what what their personality is. For the most part, if investigated, it would be rapidly found that they have none. So what would it be that they would eventually 'express'? And why have they been asked to express it? If they were subsequently watched in the act of 'expressing' their 'personality', it would be found that it was somebody else's personality they were expressing. If a hundred of them were observed 'expressing their personality', all together and at the same time, it would be found that they all 'expressed' this inalienable, mysterious 'personality' in the same way.... It would be a group personality that they were 'expressing' - a pattern imposed on them by means of education and the hypnotism cinema, wires and press."

"the truth is that such an individual is induced to 'express his personality' because it is desired absolutely to standardise him and get him to rub off (in the process of the 'expression') any rough edges that might remain from his untaught, spontaneous days... he must in the contemporary world submit himself to one of several mechanical socially organised rhythms. There is really less choice every day: the number of group personalities available, of course, diminishes just as the number of newspapers decreases."

 

[craner]

It doesn't matter what you 'believe' it's just more categorisations for marketing and predictive algorithms. Buy a caravan in Ostend, keep the curtain closed all day and wank yourself into an early grave that's my advice,

Marvin had the caravan in Hawaii not Ostend.

 

[luka]

yes but Ostend is a much better image

 

[luka]

it sounds grubby, drear, flat grey sea, flat grey sky. it sounds almost English, but with a twist of dull continental perversion and seediness.

 

[craner]

It's weird you came up with it, though. I've been thinking about Ostend a lot recently. Is this proof of our psychic bond?

 

[luka]

guess it must be. why are you thinking about Ostend? the psychic bonds have been made stronger through lockdown ive found.

 

[craner]

I've been listening to and reading about Marvin Gaye a lot. I find that period where he goes from London to Ostend to Midnight Love quite fascinating.

 

[luka]

Curtis is right nobody can think of what to do. we've tried absolutely everything to stop ourselves feeling bored and nothing worked. you can run around in circles for a while but eventually you end up sitting on the floor again, defeated, staring at the walls again.

 

[luka]

teenagers with anime avatars picking out ever more unlikely ideologies from the dustbin of history. in the same way they ressurect a vintage shellsuit.

 

[luka]

I wanna be the leader
I wanna be the leader
Can I be the leader?
Can I? I can?
Promise? Promise?
Yippee I'm the leader
I'm the leader

OK what shall we do?

 

[craner]

teenagers with anime avatars picking out ever more unlikely ideologies from the dustbin of history. in the same way they ressurect a vintage shellsuit.

Children with hammer and sickles in their profiles dismissing anything they don't like in snark and subtweet angling for a retweet by the elders of Tribune magazine.

 

[Mr. Tea]

The sudden switch from Marvin Gaye to "Curtis" made me think "What's Curtis Mayfield got to do with all this?"

 

[version]

 

[luka]

i watched the last one today. felt a bit incoherent and rushed compared to the others. but all round brilliant series.