Western Individualism

version

Well-known member
There was a scene in that Herzog film I watched the other day where he spoke to a scientist or historian in North Korea and when he asked him what his personal feelings were he just spoke of The People and The People's feelings. It was really bizarre and I couldn't work out whether it was conscious or unconscious on his part. Whether that was just how he thought due to the political system, whether that was how he felt or whether he was scared of singling himself out on film.
 

luka

Well-known member
it's certainly true that no one in the west has a personality. but it's also true that a large number of people refuse to consider the effect their behaviour has on others. there's no awareness of or consideration for the wider social field.
 

version

Well-known member
Western society seems to rely on that lack of awareness and consideration in order to function. The reality must be hidden. We don't want to look directly at what allows us to buy fruit all year round, cheap electronics and 99p burgers.
 

luka

Well-known member
there's all sorts of reasons why the social contract has frayed. worth poking at the notion of Western Individualism a little bit to see what it's comprised of. some of it is self-congratulatory and delusional of course.
 

luka

Well-known member
tonight i want to say the real problem is criminal organisations and vested interests that control the world and refuse to relinquish their grip
 

luka

Well-known member
we are a standardised product machine-tooled to fit mechanical socially organised rhythms which serve the needs of these vast criminal corporations which crouch on the corpse of the world like a hideous spider. it's not our notions of individualism which are the problem. it's vested interests and wealth extraction and the solution is KILL KILL KILL!!!!
 

luka

Well-known member
the solution might not be KILL KILL KILL. don't go out and do that just cos I said to. i'm having second thoughts.
 

version

Well-known member
I always come back to that comment I found under a Rhythm & Sound tune:

Gus Cleitus
6 months ago
i've figured out why even using the internet is intolerable. your entire planet is owned by mobsters.
 

luka

Well-known member
if you try and persuade individuals to change their consumption patterns to 'save the world' then you will come up against the deep rooted and fiercely defended addictions seeded by the Nova Mob, but the individuals are not who I would point the finger at, tonight anyway.
 

version

Well-known member
It's difficult to gauge how free we are. We're free in the sense we're living in a less authoritarian system than people do in other parts of the world, but that's only one type or aspect of freedom. We're still at the mercy of the mind and nervous system and the things which act on and manipulate them.
 
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luka

Well-known member
what we need to be free to do is to take down the mob, as you say. you're free so long as you don't strike against them.
 

luka

Well-known member
you're free to do anything which is not against the rules and in practice you're free to do all sorts of things which are against the rules too.
 

version

Well-known member
Jordan Peterson's thing seems to be we should sort ourselves out as individuals before looking to sort out the world, but that assumes a) we have the time to do that and b) the problems affecting us as individuals are independent of the system we live in.
 
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version

Well-known member
I didn't watch the debate, so I don't know but I heard that was Zizek's counter. That people can't "get their house in order" without some sort of systemic change because the system's part of the problem.
 
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