Age of Oblivious

This is the dawning of the Age of Oblivious When Crimea is in Putin's House And Germany aligns with Tartars Natural Gas will rule the Planet And Cash will guide the Stars Everybody's vaguely worried or upset about some damn thing, about fraud, about oligarchs, about inequality or crappy service. A lot of folks around the world are tired of corruption, ready to do something about corruption. The Maidan Revolutionaries, the Occupy Protestors (?) the Indignados, all want to get "money out of politics" or bribery out of commerce. This is what Baudrillard has to say: "Just as the scorpion threatened by fire shoots its own venom into itself, democracy encircled by the flames of free market economics and the new world order pumps the searing venom of corruption into its veins." The fight against "corruption" could also be said to be an instance where the state "offers us a form of resistance that operates as capitalism's own recuperative frame... it offers an avenue for rebellion that loops back to support the goals of capitalist accumulation." In his article "Putin's Counter Revolution" in London Review of Books 8, author James Meek quotes a Maidan doctor : "We did it to change the system, and for the struggle against corruption, so that the whole Ukrainian people , in Dumbass, in Crimea, got up off their knees and fought against corruption..." They left the Market in charge and think they can "fight corruption". Obscurity reigns while "everybody's building Ships and Boats" The PT Barnum Billionaires, the Trumps and Richard Bransons and Russian Tycoons, they love having everybody come out "against corruption" as it ideologically reinforces the narrative of hard working entrepreneurs.

Voting vs Democracy

Crimea votes its way back to the Motherland and the Markets celebrate. Not hearing a lot from old "Flat Earth" Friedman these days about his frictionless, post-ideological paradise of techno-management. One can see how bad the Ruskies are quaking in their boots over "sanctions", I expect the Europeans will suggest having another referendum, much as they did when Ireland voted against joining the EU in 2008. Maybe next time the pesky people will vote "correctly". It is much the same argument the opposition in Venezuela uses: The people can not be trusted to vote correctly so other means must be employed. Like a giant media campaign. Unfortunately for them, their timing was terrible as the news cycle has been a bit flooded with other events. Maybe the "implosion" Beak is looking for is in the Chinese real estate market? There have been warnings about a bubble for some time but who really worries about bubbles anymore? Inflation is the real foe! Went and saw poor old Andrew Bacevich speak the other night. I could basically just copy and paste my comments from the last time I saw him five years ago, same shtick, same worn out "ten-point plan to end US militarism. Last but certainly not least, the American Association for the Advancement of Science issues a new report today outlining the threat posed by climate change. This time they are using "clear, simple language", no words over two syllables, a video by a kindergarten teacher, bright colors etc.. They still think its a rational problem of communication.

Situation Room

Well, well, interesting couple of weeks. There is an oft quoted saying by Mao: "There is great chaos under heaven, the situation is excellent!" - that I wish were true in our current unravelling but one wonders... I just wish there was a team I could root FOR! Ever since Tahrir Square it's been nothing but murky, shadowy, games within a game. I know what drives people out into the streets and into the square, they want a half-way decent, dignified life, if not for them, at least for their children. But once you get to the Streets or the Square, then the complications set in. The old archaic, medieval hatreds and prejudices, the nasty History and Identity and Ideology, and then mix in the covert psy-ops and propaganda of those hoping to manipulate and co-opt... Shit stew! Course we know about the Great Game scramble for spheres of influence and strategic interest, nothing mysterious there. And we know about the crisis of global capitalism, both it's diminishing legitimacy and the vicious scramble for energy and resources which is just a feedback loop for the Game. But what about the sheer scale of corruption on display! "Just as the scorpion threatened by fire shoots its own venom into itself, democracy encircled by the flames of free-market economics and the new world order pumps the searing venom of corruption into its veins." Jean Baudrillard It actually seems to be getting easier to oust governments (in the periphery), get the police and the military over to your side, turn the guns around, storm the palace and watch the oligarch flee. The tricky part is what to do next? Here, have a looted, broke, divided country, it's yours, good luck!