My previous post concluded somewhat optimistically - perhaps even disingenuously so - that "No matter how crazy our world can seem at times – there are some things that still aren’t quite beyond parody. (Yet.)"
We have since been confronted by the case of Alessio Rastani.
In case you haven't seen it, the BBC broadcast an interview earlier this week with a 'City trader', Alessio Rastani, who unexpectedly voiced some uncomfortable opinions.
When asked how we can avoid economic collapse in the Eurozone, his response was that his concern is how not how to resolve the problem, but how to profit from it - indeed, he does not perceive the situation as a problem that needs to be fixed at all. "For most traders… we don't really care that much about how they're gonna fix the economy... our job is to make money from it. Personally, I've been dreaming of this moment for three years... I go to bed every night, and I dream of another recession."
We have since been confronted by the case of Alessio Rastani.
In case you haven't seen it, the BBC broadcast an interview earlier this week with a 'City trader', Alessio Rastani, who unexpectedly voiced some uncomfortable opinions.
When asked how we can avoid economic collapse in the Eurozone, his response was that his concern is how not how to resolve the problem, but how to profit from it - indeed, he does not perceive the situation as a problem that needs to be fixed at all. "For most traders… we don't really care that much about how they're gonna fix the economy... our job is to make money from it. Personally, I've been dreaming of this moment for three years... I go to bed every night, and I dream of another recession."
Interestingly he adds that "Anybody can... make money from a crash… This isn't just for some people in the elite. Anybody can make money. It's an opportunity." The triumph of the freedom delivered by the neoliberal dream.
This somewhat touching remark reminds me of a time when my sister and brother both scribbled in blue permanent marker all over the piano when they were about four and five years old respectively. When my mum went crazy at my brother – who, apart from being the elder of the two (should have known better), was usually the one responsible for such acts of mischief - he plaintively sobbed, "But I shared". This wasn't designed to land my sister in trouble, but a genuine plea that he had been a good older brother by sharing the felt-tips.
Rastani’s logic also reminds me of a woman who once jumped in front of me in the toilet queue at Climate Camp. When I pointed out that there was a queue, her response was to smile knowingly, and smugly explain the beauty of her autonomist anarchism - that, not only was she was free to jump in front of me in the queue - I too must realise my freedom to jump in front of others in the toilet queue. Presumably this would lead to a utopian paradise where, just like on X-Factor, everyone has the opportunity to succeed in getting to piss, as long as they want it enough.
These anecdotes illustrate the difficulty with Rastani's ideology. Not anyone can profit from a recession, because - by defintion - someone (indeed most people) will lose out, and end up with no job, a scribbled-on piano, or piss on their trousers. At least my brother had the excuse that he was five.
I digress. The point about this incident isn't that his views are stupid and wrong; anyone can see that. The interesting thing was the response to the incident.
All over Twitter, and even in rightwing newspapers such as the Mail and the Telegraph - who would normally support the essential logic of Rastani's political standpoint - were accusations that the interview was a hoax. Admittedly, there are strong physical similarities between Rastani and one of the Yes Men, the activist pranksters who have famously conducted hoax interviews on TV news in the past.
This was weird. Because the view of the media seemed to be not that they were surprised by the content of his speech, but by the brutal honesty of it. In other words, they acknowledge their habitual collusion in a political ideology that they recognised as appalling when held up to the light. But, just like a market bubble, this narrative breaks down when one of the actors doesn't stick to their script, doesn’t hold up their end of the bargain to maintain a united front of brazenness. The reason that characters like Rastani alarm the press is that their honesty isn't just self-destructive – it holds a mirror up to the whole sordid landscape. In the words of Leonard Coen, everybody knows - and everybody knows that they know that we know.
What compounded this weirdness was that the public consensus seemed to be that it didn't matter whether the interview was a hoax or not, since we all know that the sentiments expressed are those truly held by free marketeers in any case. This constitutes not only an unflinching embrace of what Mark Fisher calls 'capitalist realism' – a permeating acceptance of the capitalist ideology on its own terms.
Rastani’s logic also reminds me of a woman who once jumped in front of me in the toilet queue at Climate Camp. When I pointed out that there was a queue, her response was to smile knowingly, and smugly explain the beauty of her autonomist anarchism - that, not only was she was free to jump in front of me in the queue - I too must realise my freedom to jump in front of others in the toilet queue. Presumably this would lead to a utopian paradise where, just like on X-Factor, everyone has the opportunity to succeed in getting to piss, as long as they want it enough.
These anecdotes illustrate the difficulty with Rastani's ideology. Not anyone can profit from a recession, because - by defintion - someone (indeed most people) will lose out, and end up with no job, a scribbled-on piano, or piss on their trousers. At least my brother had the excuse that he was five.
I digress. The point about this incident isn't that his views are stupid and wrong; anyone can see that. The interesting thing was the response to the incident.
All over Twitter, and even in rightwing newspapers such as the Mail and the Telegraph - who would normally support the essential logic of Rastani's political standpoint - were accusations that the interview was a hoax. Admittedly, there are strong physical similarities between Rastani and one of the Yes Men, the activist pranksters who have famously conducted hoax interviews on TV news in the past.
This was weird. Because the view of the media seemed to be not that they were surprised by the content of his speech, but by the brutal honesty of it. In other words, they acknowledge their habitual collusion in a political ideology that they recognised as appalling when held up to the light. But, just like a market bubble, this narrative breaks down when one of the actors doesn't stick to their script, doesn’t hold up their end of the bargain to maintain a united front of brazenness. The reason that characters like Rastani alarm the press is that their honesty isn't just self-destructive – it holds a mirror up to the whole sordid landscape. In the words of Leonard Coen, everybody knows - and everybody knows that they know that we know.
What compounded this weirdness was that the public consensus seemed to be that it didn't matter whether the interview was a hoax or not, since we all know that the sentiments expressed are those truly held by free marketeers in any case. This constitutes not only an unflinching embrace of what Mark Fisher calls 'capitalist realism' – a permeating acceptance of the capitalist ideology on its own terms.
It represents a total breakdown in the individual's ability to identify the difference between reality and fiction. Or, perhaps it would be more accurate to suggest that people no longer see the point in making such a futile distinction. That is, we not only live in a world where parody and reality are literally indistinguishable, it is no longer even meaningful to consider them as separate in principle - since they merely represent alternative stylistic approaches to a single narrative - that of the capitalist infiltration and domination of every aspect of society and the psyche. This is surely the ultimate capitulation of society to the post-modern political and media culture.
The icing on the cake came when it transpired that Rastani was neither truly a trader, nor a hoaxster. He makes a living by speaking about the market to anyone who will pay him, while not actually conducting any significant trading himself. he is a self-publicist, speaking in order that he may create the opportunity to speak some more, about an entity that is so nebulous one could continue to talk about it for years on end without ever saying anything about it. This gloriously reflexive and cloudy status, an eloquent example of an existence somewhere between reality and fiction, is surely the perfect vindication of those who see no-difference between parody and truth.
So maybe, whilst remaining disingenuously optimistic, the statement that "some things aren't beyond parody" is, contains a sense in which it is not entirely inaccurate after all.
The icing on the cake came when it transpired that Rastani was neither truly a trader, nor a hoaxster. He makes a living by speaking about the market to anyone who will pay him, while not actually conducting any significant trading himself. he is a self-publicist, speaking in order that he may create the opportunity to speak some more, about an entity that is so nebulous one could continue to talk about it for years on end without ever saying anything about it. This gloriously reflexive and cloudy status, an eloquent example of an existence somewhere between reality and fiction, is surely the perfect vindication of those who see no-difference between parody and truth.
So maybe, whilst remaining disingenuously optimistic, the statement that "some things aren't beyond parody" is, contains a sense in which it is not entirely inaccurate after all.
1 comment:
That's hilarious! I'd take it a step further and argue that the Ultimate capitulation of society to the post-modern media culture is when you take the time to explain all this to people and they largely ignore you.
To quote a postmodern re-imagining of Orwell's 1984, while in an act of sweet consumerist affirmation posting a link to where you can buy the book on amazon (http://amzn.to/JzWp6k)...
"Meh".
Perhaps I'm overestimating our collective apathy, the events of the last year have shown that there are people who do care, but where does the line lie beyond which we, "the people" would be forced into action? I bought three types of antipasto for £4 yesterday in Tescos (including wild mushroom), I have a £7.50 (including delivery) cast iron steak skillet in the post to me at this very moment and the 1600 density pocket sprung mattress with memory foam upper layer on my bed is very, very comfortable. In short, many of us have quite a bit to lose.
Post a Comment