<nettime> Crisis 2.0 - the political turn (some comments) P.S.

[allan siegel <allan@allansiegel.info>]

Hello Brian,

Just a few comments:

By postmodern delirium I was referring to that moment when people seemed
to abandon history and succumbed to ???capitalism's ability to deliver
the goods??? and Reagan and Thatcher were the shining stars starring
down the Soviet bear and celebrating neoliberalism???s ascendent status
- a wave of privatisation - and the dismemberment of the welfare state
(with the various means appropriate to either the UK or the US). To
paraphrase Lyotard: the grand narratives of modernism and the
Enlightenment were losing traction. The welfare state became a corporate
hobby horse with defense and finance leading the pack. Of course the
tech companies were in the mix also but that???s another story.

So, the crisis you so aptly brought up is actually a series of crises;
repetitive global traumas relating to war, climate change, finance
etc??? And, contrary to D. Garcia???s trashing of Mr. Zizek, also a
crisis in relation to the Liberal (as in the Enlightenment sense) values
so highly cherished by Western democracies (whose democratic values are
constantly Blowing in the Wind). By an easy reckoning,  America???s
Liberal values are in a bit of disarray with the police running amok and
the country in constant war and anything resembling social democratic
values under attack by institutions as vile as any of Europe???s
neo-fascist parties. Meanwhile, the financial brains of The City and
Wall Street are having a great time pilfering and thieving. And, Cameron
is begging Obama for the green light on the totalisation of the
surveillance state. Whoppee for Liberalism and plurality??? Plurality
only exists for the 1% (when you measure the results) the rest feed on
the crumbs that ???ruling classes??? call freedom of speech. I???m not
knocking democracy at all but we need to look at things a lot more
realistically instead of paying homage to illusions.

By that I mean, as you highlighted, places like Spain or Greece, where
people are dealing with issues relating to political power and the
insidiousness of the neoliberal state.

best, always
allan

(BTW Bordoni and Bauman???s State of Crisis is worth alike)

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