A complex exploration of how our communication has moved away from facts and reality to the fantasy worlds of Facebook and Twitter. Looks at social and economic causes.
Some interesting examinations of how totalitarian forces have coopted the language and gestures of the Left to counter their influence.
Some scary case studies of how Facebook and Twitter have been used by would-be dictators and extremists to control people's perception of reality, to win elections and to create riots and commit murder.
Worth rereading, as ideas are quite complex and wide-ranging.
Showing posts with label left. Show all posts
Showing posts with label left. Show all posts
Tuesday, 1 October 2019
Thursday, 8 August 2019
How to Lose a Country - Ece Temelkuran
Subtitled "The 7 Steps from Democracy to Dictatorship"
Brilliant book chronicling Turkey's slide into its current dictatorship/autocracy, with asides looking at the same process in other countries - U.S., Hungary, Russia, Poland, Britain.
She brings up the point that this structure of government can actually be called a form of mafia government.
A good companion read to "How Fascism Works".
Temelkuran points out some interesting techniques used by would-be leaders, particularly their use of the news cycle and the outrageous statement as a means to controlling the media's and people's attention, directing it towards controversial topics as the government gets on with some other agenda that it doesn't want attention on.
A very disturbing book. You have to worry about your own homeland heading in that direction. So far, Temelkuran has focused on the actions of the would-be dictator as he moves towards absolute power, but I am interested in the ground, the socio-political situation that makes his rise possible, that he exploits on his way up. My sense is the fertile ground lies in groups that see themselves excluded from the benefits of society as it stands. And it has to be a significant group in terms of numbers. When I consider Turkey, Russia and Hungary, it seems that desperate poverty is certainly one of those conditions of exclusion. Hence, the aspiring fascist/dictator groups get the support of these poor people by simply giving them some of the basic necessities of life for free. (Same thing was done in Egypt by the Muslim Brotherhood - these poor people may not buy into the religious or nationalist message, but they sure appreciate the food and other necessities.) Or by creating low-paying fake jobs for them - as Orban is doing in Hungary. This, however, is not one of the basic techniques in the U.S. - their mythology is too strongly against any kind of social welfare...
So you can conclude here that increased income inequality, either within society as a whole or regionally, is one key element that helps prepare the ground for the rise of autocrats.
Another group to exploit would seem to be the people who see themselves excluded for religious or cultural reasons. In Turkey, the religious factor is obviously at play in several ways. First in the former dominance of a secular elite. Second, in some discriminatory laws around religious clothing that excluded people from higher education and government positions. Cultural exclusion can also be seen. At play, I suspect, was also a disdain towards the people and society of smaller, more traditional Anatolian towns and villages, which also suffered, coincidentally from higher levels of poverty. A would-be dictator gets their support by appearing to take them seriously, by speaking their cultural language, by granting them respect. Which "respect" also seems to be a big selling point for Trump in the eyes of many mid-western and small town Americans (who also experience higher levels of poverty and joblessness.)
A third issue also seems to be exploitable by would-be autocrats, the issue of "the other", of immigrants, (or of the "foreign" E.U regulations in some European countries). It is essentially a reverse side of cultural exclusion - the fear of becoming a cultural stranger in your own country due to immigrant culture or culture imposed from outside. This is the issue that can be used with the middle-class, secular citizen. This trope is being exploited in many countries, but alone it doesn't seem to get the would-be autocrat too far. Economic exclusion and cultural exclusion seem to be more powerful issues to exploit.
The other interesting idea she brings up, which is peculiar to our current technology and era, is the idea of the mob - how harsh it can be, how dangerous, how beyond reason. In situations like that of Turkey (and the U.S.) Twitter etc. essentially function as tools for the formation of mobs at lightening speed. The mob follows you everywhere because it infiltrates your online life. It can also easily track your address, your family and connections. This is a new and very scary tool for enforcing conformism and for silencing dissent through fear.
Brilliant book chronicling Turkey's slide into its current dictatorship/autocracy, with asides looking at the same process in other countries - U.S., Hungary, Russia, Poland, Britain.
She brings up the point that this structure of government can actually be called a form of mafia government.
A good companion read to "How Fascism Works".
Temelkuran points out some interesting techniques used by would-be leaders, particularly their use of the news cycle and the outrageous statement as a means to controlling the media's and people's attention, directing it towards controversial topics as the government gets on with some other agenda that it doesn't want attention on.
A very disturbing book. You have to worry about your own homeland heading in that direction. So far, Temelkuran has focused on the actions of the would-be dictator as he moves towards absolute power, but I am interested in the ground, the socio-political situation that makes his rise possible, that he exploits on his way up. My sense is the fertile ground lies in groups that see themselves excluded from the benefits of society as it stands. And it has to be a significant group in terms of numbers. When I consider Turkey, Russia and Hungary, it seems that desperate poverty is certainly one of those conditions of exclusion. Hence, the aspiring fascist/dictator groups get the support of these poor people by simply giving them some of the basic necessities of life for free. (Same thing was done in Egypt by the Muslim Brotherhood - these poor people may not buy into the religious or nationalist message, but they sure appreciate the food and other necessities.) Or by creating low-paying fake jobs for them - as Orban is doing in Hungary. This, however, is not one of the basic techniques in the U.S. - their mythology is too strongly against any kind of social welfare...
So you can conclude here that increased income inequality, either within society as a whole or regionally, is one key element that helps prepare the ground for the rise of autocrats.
Another group to exploit would seem to be the people who see themselves excluded for religious or cultural reasons. In Turkey, the religious factor is obviously at play in several ways. First in the former dominance of a secular elite. Second, in some discriminatory laws around religious clothing that excluded people from higher education and government positions. Cultural exclusion can also be seen. At play, I suspect, was also a disdain towards the people and society of smaller, more traditional Anatolian towns and villages, which also suffered, coincidentally from higher levels of poverty. A would-be dictator gets their support by appearing to take them seriously, by speaking their cultural language, by granting them respect. Which "respect" also seems to be a big selling point for Trump in the eyes of many mid-western and small town Americans (who also experience higher levels of poverty and joblessness.)
A third issue also seems to be exploitable by would-be autocrats, the issue of "the other", of immigrants, (or of the "foreign" E.U regulations in some European countries). It is essentially a reverse side of cultural exclusion - the fear of becoming a cultural stranger in your own country due to immigrant culture or culture imposed from outside. This is the issue that can be used with the middle-class, secular citizen. This trope is being exploited in many countries, but alone it doesn't seem to get the would-be autocrat too far. Economic exclusion and cultural exclusion seem to be more powerful issues to exploit.
The other interesting idea she brings up, which is peculiar to our current technology and era, is the idea of the mob - how harsh it can be, how dangerous, how beyond reason. In situations like that of Turkey (and the U.S.) Twitter etc. essentially function as tools for the formation of mobs at lightening speed. The mob follows you everywhere because it infiltrates your online life. It can also easily track your address, your family and connections. This is a new and very scary tool for enforcing conformism and for silencing dissent through fear.
Monday, 18 August 2014
Straw Dogs - John Gray
Subtitle: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals
Another brilliant social critique by this amazingly well-read author. By shifting out of the view of the privileged place of humankind, Gray finds a point of view that seems to allow him to tunnel through many of the myths that define our modern view of man, society, the world, the point of it all.
Written in short excerpts that seemingly jump from topic to topic, behind it lies a slowly assembled critique, perspective, understanding that is jarringly clear and revolutionary (?)
It is hard to summarize this book. Great for dipping into randomly to read a section or two.
Another brilliant social critique by this amazingly well-read author. By shifting out of the view of the privileged place of humankind, Gray finds a point of view that seems to allow him to tunnel through many of the myths that define our modern view of man, society, the world, the point of it all.
Written in short excerpts that seemingly jump from topic to topic, behind it lies a slowly assembled critique, perspective, understanding that is jarringly clear and revolutionary (?)
It is hard to summarize this book. Great for dipping into randomly to read a section or two.
Friday, 23 May 2014
Heresies - John Gray
A collection of short essays by Gray. You can get a sense of the main themes or ideas he explores - the illusion of modernity; the social, political and economic fantasies of the "modern" era; progress and technology as religious doctrine in our modern time; the christian roots to much of what defines the ideology of modernity in the west. The essays can be quite biting and sharp in their focus. It is to the best book to get an overview of his ideas, however - False Dawn and The Silence of Animals both offer a more coherent view of his ideas. Still worth reading, although the sections dealing with politics of the Blair Bush era are now dated - though it would be interesting to spend some time looking at Gray's predictions and compare them to what really happened.
Friday, 27 December 2013
More Money than Brains - Laura Penny
Full title: More Money than Brains - Why School Sucks, College is Crap and Idiots Think They're Right
A great, albeit depressing, read. One of those books that hits the nail smack on the head. She has done the scholarly research on many of the social and institutional shifts that I shake my head over and discuss when I can find someone else who is interested.
One of the great things about the book is that it cuts across partisan political lines. She talks about how both the left and the right, both the new media and the old, both the young and the not so young, both industry and your average Joe Blow have all contributed to create the new Idiocracy, as she calls it.
This book ties in with the message in the documentaries by Adam Curtis that I have been watching: All Watched Over by Loving Machines, and others.
Lots of great quotes.
Some great creative names for social trends and deformed social institutions.
Her writing style is also quite witty in general.
Tellingly, she offers no solution, no grand way out.
A book you should own.
Also a great source for further reading.
Reread January 2019
A great, albeit depressing, read. One of those books that hits the nail smack on the head. She has done the scholarly research on many of the social and institutional shifts that I shake my head over and discuss when I can find someone else who is interested.
One of the great things about the book is that it cuts across partisan political lines. She talks about how both the left and the right, both the new media and the old, both the young and the not so young, both industry and your average Joe Blow have all contributed to create the new Idiocracy, as she calls it.
This book ties in with the message in the documentaries by Adam Curtis that I have been watching: All Watched Over by Loving Machines, and others.
Lots of great quotes.
Some great creative names for social trends and deformed social institutions.
Her writing style is also quite witty in general.
Tellingly, she offers no solution, no grand way out.
A book you should own.
Also a great source for further reading.
Reread January 2019
Wednesday, 13 November 2013
October 1970 - Louis Hamelin
An excellent novelistic look at the October Crisis in Quebec. Hamelin has spent a lot of time with the accounts and research material around this historical event. He sees the novel as a hypothesis to explain certain holes, inconsistencies and lacunae in the historical record. His version of the story is highly plausible when you consider some of the manipulative political shenanigans that were going on around the world at that time. This book also links in with some of the other cultural figures from the 60s and 70s that I have been thinking about lately. Very well-written. Makes you want to go and look into that time period.
I wish I had read it in French - I tried to find it but the title is so unlike the English version: La Constellation du lynx. This title puts a completely different spin on the book. The English title focuses on the historical side of the novel. The French title puts the focus on a symbol, a metaphor, a trope that repeats throughout the book - the recurring presence of a lynx.
To reread in French later.
I wish I had read it in French - I tried to find it but the title is so unlike the English version: La Constellation du lynx. This title puts a completely different spin on the book. The English title focuses on the historical side of the novel. The French title puts the focus on a symbol, a metaphor, a trope that repeats throughout the book - the recurring presence of a lynx.
To reread in French later.
Monday, 8 October 2012
The Coming Anarchy - Robert D. Kaplan
Originally published in 1994. It seems like a collection of shorter pieces probably written for magazines. Focuses on the future of the political international landscape after the fall of the USSR. Makes predictions about developments in various parts of the world in the coming decade. He predicts increased strife, more tribal or ethnic politics and political divisions. It would be interesting if I had the time to take some of his specific predictions and examine how events and politics have unfolded in that area since 1994 - now almost 20 years ago.
The most interesting piece is entitled, "Was Democracy Just a Moment". It looks at various forces which Kaplan claims will make it unlikely that functional democracy will take hold in many areas of the developing world: poverty, economic stagnation, powerful elites, conflicting racial or ethnic identities, regionalism, the rise of international corporate power and the shrinking power domain of governments. He also traces some of these same factors eating away at democratic institutions in the U.S. He also mentions some noteworthy failures of democratic government (Hitler, Mussolini, Rwanda) and points to some authoritarian leaders who have on the whole had a beneficial effect of their country's social well-beoing. Worth a reread.
To find: Balkan Ghosts, Robert D. Kaplan
The most interesting piece is entitled, "Was Democracy Just a Moment". It looks at various forces which Kaplan claims will make it unlikely that functional democracy will take hold in many areas of the developing world: poverty, economic stagnation, powerful elites, conflicting racial or ethnic identities, regionalism, the rise of international corporate power and the shrinking power domain of governments. He also traces some of these same factors eating away at democratic institutions in the U.S. He also mentions some noteworthy failures of democratic government (Hitler, Mussolini, Rwanda) and points to some authoritarian leaders who have on the whole had a beneficial effect of their country's social well-beoing. Worth a reread.
To find: Balkan Ghosts, Robert D. Kaplan
Monday, 13 August 2012
Left in Dark Times - Bernard-Henry Levy 2008
I got a few leads on classic 20th c authors and texts to follow up on, but otherwise this book rambles a bit too much. It is a bit inbred, I think, in that he assumes an interest in, and a familiarity with, the history of the ideas of the left in the course of the 20th century (especially in France).
He does bring up the point of the death of big ideologies as a result of the horrendous revolutions we've seen through the 20th c. - particularly the discrediting of the very concept of revolution and designed human society. I'm not so sure though that the right has moved away from big ideologies - and he doesn't seem to address this. How can the left stand as an alternative to the right if they don't have a vision, a narrative, a story that can stand up to the ideologies of the right? (Thinking of american politics here...)
Levy does raise some interesting points regarding human rights, cosmopolitanism, and tolerance vs respect (tolerance accepts from a distance without wanting to engage; respect implies willingness to engage, incorporate a presence into your society. Levy also addresses the issue of cultural relativity vs. human rights, coming down strongly on the human rights side. (If tradition and culture are worth more than human rights, it is a double standard in relation to our own western society, where rights over tradition has come to be the norm - and lead to positive social change.)
Levy also looks at the Israel/Palestine conflict, but from a very shallow, historically narrow point of view. He raises some interesting points about links to Nazism and fascism in arab political organizations, but this could be seen as similar to the Finnish link with Germany as an ally against Russia in WWII. (Part of his overall assumption in the book that ideas lead society - whereas my view is that ideas are often made to fit one's own personal advantage - like his interpretation of Israel/Palestinian history.)
To find:
The Gulag Archipelago
- Cambodian revolution
Arthur Koestler - Darkness At Noon
Panait Istrati - The Confessions of a Loser/The Other Flame
Karl Popper
Star of Redemption - Rosenzweig
Philippe Sollers
Marcel Pleynet (Tel Quel magazine)
Origins of Totalitarianism - Hannah Arendt
Are We Rome? Cullen Murphy
Wretched of the Earth - Frantz Fanon
He does bring up the point of the death of big ideologies as a result of the horrendous revolutions we've seen through the 20th c. - particularly the discrediting of the very concept of revolution and designed human society. I'm not so sure though that the right has moved away from big ideologies - and he doesn't seem to address this. How can the left stand as an alternative to the right if they don't have a vision, a narrative, a story that can stand up to the ideologies of the right? (Thinking of american politics here...)
Levy does raise some interesting points regarding human rights, cosmopolitanism, and tolerance vs respect (tolerance accepts from a distance without wanting to engage; respect implies willingness to engage, incorporate a presence into your society. Levy also addresses the issue of cultural relativity vs. human rights, coming down strongly on the human rights side. (If tradition and culture are worth more than human rights, it is a double standard in relation to our own western society, where rights over tradition has come to be the norm - and lead to positive social change.)
Levy also looks at the Israel/Palestine conflict, but from a very shallow, historically narrow point of view. He raises some interesting points about links to Nazism and fascism in arab political organizations, but this could be seen as similar to the Finnish link with Germany as an ally against Russia in WWII. (Part of his overall assumption in the book that ideas lead society - whereas my view is that ideas are often made to fit one's own personal advantage - like his interpretation of Israel/Palestinian history.)
To find:
The Gulag Archipelago
- Cambodian revolution
Arthur Koestler - Darkness At Noon
Panait Istrati - The Confessions of a Loser/The Other Flame
Karl Popper
Star of Redemption - Rosenzweig
Philippe Sollers
Marcel Pleynet (Tel Quel magazine)
Origins of Totalitarianism - Hannah Arendt
Are We Rome? Cullen Murphy
Wretched of the Earth - Frantz Fanon
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