<nettime> The Revolution Will Not Be Televised!!

[Newmedia@aol.com]

Folks:
 
I'm curious about why there is so little discussion, let alone *righteous*  
anger, about television on this list?
 
Could it be that many of those who post actually want their thoughts and  
actions to be noticed -- by television?
 
"Activist" often connotes those who participate in *demonstrations* -- so  
what is being "demonstrated" to whom and how?
 
And what is the relationship between *demonstrating* and the evening  news?
 
"Terrorism" also makes no sense without television.  TERROR has to  
communicated to a *mass* audience and that's where television comes in.  In  
crucial terms, if it isn't on television then it didn't happen.
 
OCCUPY began with a call from the glossy magazine ADBUSTERS.  That  always 
struck me as an odd approach.  Fight advertising by coming up with  ads 
against ads -- WTF?
 
Do you *fight* brainwashing with more brainwashing?  Do you  combat 
psychological warfare with a "better" version of the same  thing?
 
In Gestalt psychological terms, this is phenomenon is well known and is  
often described in terms such as Figure & Ground.
 
We obsess over the *figures* (i.e. the capitalists, 1%ers, police, church,  
state, etc.), while we ignore the *ground* of our experiences (i.e. 
television,  mass-media, advertising, etc.)
 
I've been hanging out with this crowd for 15 years now and it seems that  
the RADICAL roots of what is actually going on are relentlessly "off  limits."
 
What am I missing?
 
Mark Stahlman
Brooklyn NY


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