Born: June 9, 1972
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June 10, 2003 at 11:33 am
Nothing can change the shape of things to come...
I got an e-mail this morning from my favorite anti-consumerism infosource, Adbusters.org. It’s about a new campaign that they’re starting called “Unbrand America.” Of course, the people at Adbusters.org are idealists. The things they strive for, while thought-provoking and highly admirable, will never come to pass. At this point in time, America — and most of the rest of the world — are just too engulfed in its corporate takeover to ever be swayed by a few radicals.
Case in point: the beginning of the Unbrand America intro on their website shows the exact running shoe that I own, the Nike “Air Kukini,” blocked out by a black spot (the black spot is the theme of this new campaign). Now, I love the fact that a bunch of people are out there trying to “unbrand” America, but I also love my shoes. I admit it: I have been branded.
So, this morning at 5am, as I was out at J.C. Nichols Park, walking and jogging around the path in my Air Kukinis, I was listening to the Ramones Acid Eaters album. I love this album. All of the songs are covers and the Ramones, with true reverence, pull them off in style — sometimes better than the originals. Midway through my morning exercise, the song “The Shape of Things To Come,” by Max Frost and the Troopers, came on…
There’s a new sunActually, this song was performed by Wild in the Streets (1968 – read about the movie), and some soundtrack musicians. Still, it is a protest song, written by the youth of the day pushing their romantic wishes for world that was more about love and peace and drugs than their fathers and mothers had created. But, after listening to “The Shape of Things To Come” in the park this morning, I couldn’t help but think that the perveyors of this message may have been sorely wrong. Maybe, instead of singing the song to their parents, they were actually singing to themselves: “We can try our best to change this place, but nothing is ever really going to change.” Maybe their ideals were more like the “old world” than they ever thought.
Risin’ up angry in the sky
And there’s a new voice
Sayin’ “we’re not afraid to die”
Let the old world make believe
It’s blind and deaf and dumb
But nothing can change the shape of things
To come
There are new dreamsWhat, then, can this “Unbrand America” campaign accomplish? Probably nothing, black spot or not, but it will be a valiant try.
Crowdin’ out old realities
There’s revolution
Sweepin’ in like a fresh new breeze
Let the old world make believe
It’s blind and deaf and dumb
(But) nothing can change the shape of things
To come
On a separate, but related note, here is an interesting interview. In it, Richard Falk, a visiting professor at UCSB claims that western world politics are becoming more and more like fascism. Very compelling. (Now I’m starting to sound like Tim K!)
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Comments (4)
The Adbusters concept (and most anti-capitalist/anti-consumerist concepts), though, are quite paradoxical. They’re based around the theory that is very “communist” in some ways (read more), relying on working and trading and, eventually, destroying the current system in which we are living under (see Culture Jam by, Kalle Lasn if you want to read more about this). What makes the concept of anti-consumerism a paradox is that any campaign designed around mass-insemination means that the campaign must devise a “brand” or a discernable cohesion-of-ideas. These ideas, in turn, create a viable commodity that “consumers” can “buy” and use to glean knowledge, come up with new ideas (i.e., new commodities), and, ultimately, establish power (e.g., knowledge = mass produced, shippable products = power, etc.).
But, I’m getting much to analytical about this probably. The bottom line is that Adbusters (as well as most other anti-consumerism campaigns) just have plain cool graphic design! I’ve “gleaned” many ideas from them for use in my own design (much of which has gone into promoting some brand or another).
America is already dead. It’s just that the formaldahide is working really good! Pleasant coma we are sharing here … Costly, but then most good resorts are.
New ideas will be, as they’ve always been, a revolution. And revolutions are messy. And require more than thought and passion. They cost soul and blood. Only it’s our own and not Georgie’s Axis, nor is it America through the eyes of a compact Eurohipster. It’s here in our hearts. In our souls. And that will shatter systems like trying to install Linux on a W2K box – eventually, the hard drive is gonna be formatted. (yeah, yeah, IT guy, I know about multiple systems, but as a replacement OS, one can kick against the pricks for just so long!)
I’m not sure which oxymoron I believe in more: organized anarchy, or disorganized democracy. I just know the west is just a little less cowardly and stupid than the rest of the free world, therefor are “allowed” to rule as they do. Otherwise, the money would go elsewhere and we’d all be back on dial-up connections again. Neitsche forbid! We have become consumers – even the drunken Muslims. But that is not the soul. It is not the heart. All of our hearts are in Jihad against the baser fleshly desires – and since we can’t directly seem to attack them from within, where the true battle will be won or lost, we attack the outward expression – the ultimate outward expression … the “West”.
And Rome fell. Only this time, we can’t let that lead us to the same dark place. Be ready, kiddies, and be careful what you wish for! Let’s not burn everything of beauty, just ‘cause we can’t have it in our possesions.
In the meantime …. “we can be heroes”
A friend from the Well just gave me a copy of Adbusters for me to read, and I’ve got to tell you, it’s a compelling experience. I’m still “grasping” it and had to ask him some questions. I’ll keep you posted. It’s strange, because of the job that I have… refinement man.
Thanks for a great post.