Adbusters article on HipstersBooks:
Lula and the Workers Party-Sue Branford
Understanding The Venezuelan Revolution-Marta Harnecker
Conversations With Durito-Subcomandante Marcos
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Hipster: Representation of The End of Western Civilization?
Is hipster sub-culture representational of the end of western civilization? Highly doubtful. I recently read an article in Adbusters that attempted to support the claim that hipsterdom was "the end product of all prior counter-cultures....stripped of their subversion and originality." Though, I do agree that hipsterdom is vapid, vacuous, self-involved and hyper-consumptive in it's quest for "street cred" and "fame." I do not agree that it is a direct representation of the decline of western civilization, at least not any more than the consumptive yuppies, materialistic gangster rappers or the apathetic grungers of the early 90's. I would say that the aforementioned groups are all equal in their materialism, consumption and apoliticalness, but I do not for one second believe that anyone of these groups or a sub-culture alone is any indication of the decline of western culture or civilization. Our culture as a whole is reflective of our decline: profits over people, material over emotional substance, amorality over ethics. What's the difference between a hipster male that lusts over a pair of $300 Nike Dunks with the yuppie female that spends $300 on Prada sunglasses? Is the former justified by the fact that it's considered "counter-culture" and the latter isn't? Aren't they both equally as materialistic and consumptive? Considering the levels of poverty in the world, how does one justify wearing a pair of sunglasses or a pair of shoes whos price in this country could buy a family in need groceries for a month, or in another part of the world, could feed a family for months? What's the difference between the "counter-culture" skinhead that gets drunk and assaults people from that of a jock who acts the same? Is counter-culture then just limited to that which is obscure, or not the norm in a purely fashion sense? Does growing a mohawk, dyeing it green and putting a safety pin in your ear make you counter-culture even though your actions are in accord with the main culture? Does being "punk rock" and volunteering your self to poverty for the sake of poverty make you marginalized, poor? Of course it doesn't. Banksy said it best: Why act like revolutionaries, when we can just dress like them. In defense of the hipster sub-culture, some people have mentioned how the contempt held for hipsterdom is just that of an older generation looking down at the newer generation. This is true to an extent, seeing as how previous generations tend to think that their generation did everything the best way possible, and the newer generation is just running amok: Chuck Berry was loud, Janis Joplin was a druggie, The Rolling Stones were suggestive, punk was too weird, etc. My qualm with hipsters isn't their style, music, mode of transportation or apoliticalness, millions of people in this country are apolitical, it also isn't their materialism, millions more are obscenly materialistic. My problem with hipsterdom is the conflict of a group of people deluded into thinking that they are counter-culture when they are in fact blatantly mainstream in their materialism, excess and individualism. To an extent everyone values, has and needs material possesions, but as with everything in this world, there is a point where you run the risk of becoming excessive. What we have here is the marketing and consumption of "cool." Our counter-cultures have been subverted and most of us don't even know it.
Books:
Lula and the Workers Party-Sue Branford
Understanding The Venezuelan Revolution-Marta Harnecker
Conversations With Durito-Subcomandante Marcos
Books:
Lula and the Workers Party-Sue Branford
Understanding The Venezuelan Revolution-Marta Harnecker
Conversations With Durito-Subcomandante Marcos
Monday, July 28, 2008
Demographics
I've been back in Chicago for a a little over two months now and so far so good. I managed to get a good job, through a good friend, working for the city and teaching kids art. With all that said, money is still short. I haven't received a first check yet and the bills are pilling. Another good friend, with good intentions, informed me of a "street team," wheatpasting job. I was hestitant at first, with just cause. I'm not to fond of marketing or advertising, with most of it having a target audience. The first deterrent was the fact that the street team leaders wanted me to paste 300 posters in 5 days. Riiiiight. The second deterrent was that the job involved advertising liquor. I like liquor, but I don't necessarily want to advertise it. But the thing that did me in, the factor that broke the camels back was WHERE I would be pasting said advertisements. Here's a quote from the "informative email" I received:
"Target locations
Wild-posting locations are more prevalent in urbanized zones that are under development, going through expansion, or have a high-concentration of abandoned buildings. There are many designated boards in the targeted areas, but in some cases it helps to get innovative on how you can post in these areas."
It's pretty common knowledged that most of any citys' abandoned buildings or under-development, expansion zones tend to be located in neighborhoods of color; hispanic or black. Now, as if that wasn't enough, I was also emailed a list of 35 desired locations for pasting the liquor advertisements. These are areas where the highest level of poster-pasting was to be done: The target zones. Here's a link to the list. I believe that alcoholism in neighborhoods of blight is a huge problem, one that is greatly promoted by target marketing, all in the name of profit. Why would I want to perpetuate a problem that destroys families and generates more poverty in neighborhoods already stricken with lack of resources and opportunities? Especially if I truly believe that a better world is necessary. I could use "the profit," but mostly I feel the need to live in accordance with what which I believe to be true. I refused to the job. Pinnacle Vodka and Street Attack can go fuck themselves.
"Target locations
Wild-posting locations are more prevalent in urbanized zones that are under development, going through expansion, or have a high-concentration of abandoned buildings. There are many designated boards in the targeted areas, but in some cases it helps to get innovative on how you can post in these areas."
It's pretty common knowledged that most of any citys' abandoned buildings or under-development, expansion zones tend to be located in neighborhoods of color; hispanic or black. Now, as if that wasn't enough, I was also emailed a list of 35 desired locations for pasting the liquor advertisements. These are areas where the highest level of poster-pasting was to be done: The target zones. Here's a link to the list. I believe that alcoholism in neighborhoods of blight is a huge problem, one that is greatly promoted by target marketing, all in the name of profit. Why would I want to perpetuate a problem that destroys families and generates more poverty in neighborhoods already stricken with lack of resources and opportunities? Especially if I truly believe that a better world is necessary. I could use "the profit," but mostly I feel the need to live in accordance with what which I believe to be true. I refused to the job. Pinnacle Vodka and Street Attack can go fuck themselves.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Digesting
I've been digesting the events that took place the last few months and gathering thoughts. I'll start blogging soon.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Mexican Military and Police Use Drug War to Attempt to Enter Zapatista Territory
By The Good Government Council
La Garrucha, Chiapas, Mexico
June 6, 2008
JUNE 4, 2008
DENUNCIATION
ACT OF PROVOCATION
From the Road to the Future Good Government Council (Junta de Buen Gobierno El Camino del Futuro)
To the people of Mexico and the world, to the comrades in the Other Campaign in Mexico and the world, to the national and international news media, to human rights defenders, to the honest non-governmental organizations
The Road to the Future Good Government Council makes the following denunciation:
1. A column was sighted consisting of a military convoy and public safety police, municipal police, and judicial agents at 9:00 in the morning southeastern time; there were 2 big trucks and 3 small trucks of soldiers, 2 public safety trucks, 2 municipal police trucks, an anti-riot tank, and a truckload of judicial agents.
2. All in all there were around 200 provocateurs.
3. Before entering the town of Garrucha, the headquarters of the Caracol, about 30 meters from the edge of the town, 3 trucks from the convoy stopped and 4 soldiers got out of a truck as if to outflank the town of Garrucha by using the road to our collective cornfield. The people reacted and organized themselves to eject the convoy. The soldiers immediately got back in their truck and continued along the road. Those in front were intimidating the people, taking photos and filming them as they waited for the other provocateurs.
4. Arriving at the spot where the soldiers from Patiwitz were stationed, another military convoy joined the column, which continued on its way to engage in another provocation.
5. They arrived at Rancho Alegre, a community known as Chapuyil.
6. They got out of the trucks and headed for the town of Hermenegildo Galeana, where all the people are Zapatista support bases, accusing the townspeople of growing marijuana in their fields.
7. People throughout the Zapatista area of Garrucha, including the autonomous authorities, are witness to the fact that no such fields exist. The Zapatistas here work in their cornfields and banana plantations. They are willing to struggle for freedom, justice, and democracy and resist any provocation whatsoever.
8. Around 100 soldiers, 10 public security police, and 4 judicial agents headed for the town of Galeana. All the repressors painted their faces to confuse people and to avoid being recognized in the hill country. They walked for a while on the road and then went into the hills on their way to the town.
9. The federal column was guided by a person named Feliciano Román Ruiz, who is known to be from the Ocosingo municipal police.
10. The townspeople of Galeana ––men, women, girls, and boys–– organized themselves to eject the troops, come what may.
11. They met up with the troops in the middle of the road and the melee began. All the Zapatista women, men, boys, and girls told the soldiers in no uncertain terms, “Go back to where you came from, you aren’t needed here. We want freedom, justice, and democracy ––not soldiers.”
12. The soldiers said, “We came here because we know there’s marijuana here and we’re going on ahead come hell or high water.” That’s when the people took out their machetes, shovels, rocks, slingshots, ropes and whatever was at hand, and drove them back.
13. The soldiers said, “Well, this time we’re not going any further, but we’ll be back in two weeks and we’re going in there come hell or high water.”
14. They took another road down to the village of Zapatista support bases called San Alejandro where 9 vehicles with 40 soldiers and 10 policemen were waiting for them.
15. On their way down, they trampled the cornfield, which is the town’s only food source.
16. In the Zapatista town of San Alejandro, the 60 repressive agents took up their positions, ready for a confrontation.
17. The people reacted and used everything at hand to drive back the federal forces.
18. Soldiers from Toniná, Patiwitz, and San Quintín participated in the confrontation.
19. People of Mexico and the world, we want to tell you that it won’t be long before another confrontation occurs, provoked by (President Felipe) Calderón and (Governor) Juan Sabines and Carlos Leonel Solórzano, the municipal president of Ocosingo, who’ll call out their dogs from all the forces of repression. We are not drug dealers. As you know, we are brothers and sisters of Mexico and the world. It’s clear that they’re coming for us Zapatistas. All three levels of the bad government are coming after us, and we’re ready to resist them if that’s what’s necessary, just as our slogan says: We’ll live for our homeland or die for freedom.
20. People of Mexico and the world, you know that our struggle is a peaceful, political one. As it says in the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle, it’s a peaceful, political struggle known as the Other Campaign. Just look where the violent provocation is coming from.
21. Comrades of the Other Campaign in Mexico and other countries, we ask you to be on the alert because the soldiers said they’ll be back in two weeks. We don’t want war. We want peace with justice and dignity. But we have no other choice than to defend ourselves, resist them, and eject them when they come looking for a confrontation with us in the towns of the Zapatista support bases.
22. All we can tell you is to look and see where the provocation is coming from. We’re now informing you of what’s going on, hopefully in time.
That’s all we have to say.
RESPECTFULLY YOURS,
La Junta de Buen Gobierno
Elena Gordillo Clara Claribel Pérez López
Freddy Rodríguez López Rolando Ruiz Hernández
saw this one coming a mile away.
La Garrucha, Chiapas, Mexico
June 6, 2008
JUNE 4, 2008
DENUNCIATION
ACT OF PROVOCATION
From the Road to the Future Good Government Council (Junta de Buen Gobierno El Camino del Futuro)
To the people of Mexico and the world, to the comrades in the Other Campaign in Mexico and the world, to the national and international news media, to human rights defenders, to the honest non-governmental organizations
The Road to the Future Good Government Council makes the following denunciation:
1. A column was sighted consisting of a military convoy and public safety police, municipal police, and judicial agents at 9:00 in the morning southeastern time; there were 2 big trucks and 3 small trucks of soldiers, 2 public safety trucks, 2 municipal police trucks, an anti-riot tank, and a truckload of judicial agents.
2. All in all there were around 200 provocateurs.
3. Before entering the town of Garrucha, the headquarters of the Caracol, about 30 meters from the edge of the town, 3 trucks from the convoy stopped and 4 soldiers got out of a truck as if to outflank the town of Garrucha by using the road to our collective cornfield. The people reacted and organized themselves to eject the convoy. The soldiers immediately got back in their truck and continued along the road. Those in front were intimidating the people, taking photos and filming them as they waited for the other provocateurs.
4. Arriving at the spot where the soldiers from Patiwitz were stationed, another military convoy joined the column, which continued on its way to engage in another provocation.
5. They arrived at Rancho Alegre, a community known as Chapuyil.
6. They got out of the trucks and headed for the town of Hermenegildo Galeana, where all the people are Zapatista support bases, accusing the townspeople of growing marijuana in their fields.
7. People throughout the Zapatista area of Garrucha, including the autonomous authorities, are witness to the fact that no such fields exist. The Zapatistas here work in their cornfields and banana plantations. They are willing to struggle for freedom, justice, and democracy and resist any provocation whatsoever.
8. Around 100 soldiers, 10 public security police, and 4 judicial agents headed for the town of Galeana. All the repressors painted their faces to confuse people and to avoid being recognized in the hill country. They walked for a while on the road and then went into the hills on their way to the town.
9. The federal column was guided by a person named Feliciano Román Ruiz, who is known to be from the Ocosingo municipal police.
10. The townspeople of Galeana ––men, women, girls, and boys–– organized themselves to eject the troops, come what may.
11. They met up with the troops in the middle of the road and the melee began. All the Zapatista women, men, boys, and girls told the soldiers in no uncertain terms, “Go back to where you came from, you aren’t needed here. We want freedom, justice, and democracy ––not soldiers.”
12. The soldiers said, “We came here because we know there’s marijuana here and we’re going on ahead come hell or high water.” That’s when the people took out their machetes, shovels, rocks, slingshots, ropes and whatever was at hand, and drove them back.
13. The soldiers said, “Well, this time we’re not going any further, but we’ll be back in two weeks and we’re going in there come hell or high water.”
14. They took another road down to the village of Zapatista support bases called San Alejandro where 9 vehicles with 40 soldiers and 10 policemen were waiting for them.
15. On their way down, they trampled the cornfield, which is the town’s only food source.
16. In the Zapatista town of San Alejandro, the 60 repressive agents took up their positions, ready for a confrontation.
17. The people reacted and used everything at hand to drive back the federal forces.
18. Soldiers from Toniná, Patiwitz, and San Quintín participated in the confrontation.
19. People of Mexico and the world, we want to tell you that it won’t be long before another confrontation occurs, provoked by (President Felipe) Calderón and (Governor) Juan Sabines and Carlos Leonel Solórzano, the municipal president of Ocosingo, who’ll call out their dogs from all the forces of repression. We are not drug dealers. As you know, we are brothers and sisters of Mexico and the world. It’s clear that they’re coming for us Zapatistas. All three levels of the bad government are coming after us, and we’re ready to resist them if that’s what’s necessary, just as our slogan says: We’ll live for our homeland or die for freedom.
20. People of Mexico and the world, you know that our struggle is a peaceful, political one. As it says in the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle, it’s a peaceful, political struggle known as the Other Campaign. Just look where the violent provocation is coming from.
21. Comrades of the Other Campaign in Mexico and other countries, we ask you to be on the alert because the soldiers said they’ll be back in two weeks. We don’t want war. We want peace with justice and dignity. But we have no other choice than to defend ourselves, resist them, and eject them when they come looking for a confrontation with us in the towns of the Zapatista support bases.
22. All we can tell you is to look and see where the provocation is coming from. We’re now informing you of what’s going on, hopefully in time.
That’s all we have to say.
RESPECTFULLY YOURS,
La Junta de Buen Gobierno
Elena Gordillo Clara Claribel Pérez López
Freddy Rodríguez López Rolando Ruiz Hernández
saw this one coming a mile away.
Monday, June 9, 2008
In The USA
I'm back in the states. It's bittersweet, I'd rather still be in Mexico. I'm slowly recovering from the cranial pressure that I had due to an infection in my ethmoid sinuses. My stomach is still upset, but that will pass with time, aswell. I'm going to take this time to recover and plan my returm, which I would like to be sooner than not. There are still many things that I would like to see in Mexico, many things I would like to learn. Here's to looking ahead.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
"How Far Left Has Latin America Moved?"
This an article about the rise of leftism in latin america by Immanuel Wallerstein. I found it interesting, maybe you will too.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
The Militarization of Mexico
One of the first things I noticed upon entering Mexico was the number of soldiers and checkpoints on the countries main roads. I guess I wasn't all that surprised when I was by the border towns, but became more concerned the deeper I went into the country. The soldiers are posted on main roads under the premise of combating drug-trafficking and the drug-cartels that run rampant in Mexico, specifically in the states on Michoacan and Sinaloa. So why am I seeing checkpoints in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico and Queretaro, which are not know as heavy drug trafficking states? This last week the US congress voted on the Merida Initiative as part of the Iraqi Supplemental Bill. The Merida Initiative, also known as Plan Mexico, would give Mexico $500 million in aid to combat drug-trafficking and $50 million to Central American countries for the same purpose. Drug-trafficking violence is a HUGE problem in Mexico, with the drug-cartels brutally killing civilians, soldiers, police and each other. Up until the month of April there had been, on average, at least 3 drug-cartel related murders per day in Ciudad Juarez, since the beggining of the year. One of the cities with the highest drug-related murders in the republic. 45 mins from where I was staying, by the border of Michoacan and Guanajuato, a police officer and a woman were killed execution style in broad daylight, Mexican police chiefs have been killed left and right, with three just recently asking the US gov't for asylum. I've seen soldiers walking the streets of mexican cities with AK-47s and Uzis calmly tucked under their arms, driving in hummers and army trucks with as many as ten soldiers in the cab. Mexico is becoming a military state, and all in the name of fighting a drug war for the US. Mexico isn't known as a drug consumptive state, yes people use drugs in Mexico, but the demand isn't as great as it is in the US, hence Mexicos role as a supplier. What the Merida Initiative fails to do is attempt to curb US consumption and address the issues of need that make drug-trafficking a practical means of income. Again, I'm brought back to the disparities in wealth that exist in Mexico, in the third world and in urban areas of blight. Areas where heavy drug-trafficking exists. These same disparities in wealth, resources, education, food, opportunity, running water, etc, are what drive people to immigrating or seeing drug-dealing as a viable form of income. If these gaps in wealth were lessened, people would be less inclined to turn to drug-trafficking for the sake of survival. I believe that if people are given the option to make a positive choice, that most of the time, they will make that choice. If people are given positive resources and opportunities, they will take them. We live in a society that creates situations of need, a society that creates negative opportunities with high-risk as a last resort for survival: drug trafficking, immigration, prostitution, human-trafficking, etc. Then we wonder why people act the way they do. Necessity. What the Merida Initiative will accomplish is to further militarize Mexico. The Mexican army, along with the Mexican Police force, is known as being one of the most corrupt, brutal organizations in the world. Their behavior is evident in the militarys handling of the massacre of Zapatistas at San Salvador Atenco and of the Oaxacan teachers strike in Oaxaca, the latter which ended the life of american journalist Brad Will. As for the police, just ask any tourist or Mexican native. Even tour guide books like Let's Go and Lonely Planet bluntly advice NOT asking police for help in Mexico, unless it is a complete neccesity. Another effect of the Merida Initative will be its aid in curbing political dissent in Mexico. Militarized states aren't conducive to protests or civil disobedience. It is in the United States best interest to help keep Mexico "stable." Keeping Mexico stable was the main reason why the US gov't intervened in Nicaragua. If Nicaragua could successfully create a populous gov't through revolution, what was to stop Mexico? A country with comparable levels of poverty. Examples need to be made. So again, how is the Merida Initiative good for Mexico? It's not. What is good for Mexico and humanity is upholding systems that eliminate extreme poverty and need. It can happen.
book: Here's to you, Jesusa!-Elena Poniatowska
book: Here's to you, Jesusa!-Elena Poniatowska
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