http://www.processedworld.com/carlsson/nowtopian/public-space/seeing-the-elephant-in-copenhagen-a-blind-man%e2%80%99s-account economy, 'technology', public space, San Francisco past and present, class, books Sat, 11 Feb 2012 03:25:17 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 http://www.processedworld.com/carlsson/nowtopian/public-space/seeing-the-elephant-in-copenhagen-a-blind-man%e2%80%99s-account/comment-page-1#comment-390 mjosef Thu, 24 Dec 2009 12:36:00 +0000 http://www.processedworld.com/carlsson/nowtopian/?p=1308#comment-390 This was a serious and proud report from the center of the cyclone. How can such thinking folk refuse to see the horrific sociology and social psychology that keeps the "left"  herded, arrested, kept outside, marginalized, speechifying? This is no forgivable, minor matter.  Those who whip up the specious street protests are as guilty as the elites who supervise the commerce, because all of them do not have the capacity to examine the contexts in which they operate. Rats who are taught to hit a bar to get sweet red juice will hit the bar repeatedly, even when the juice does not flow, and then will repeat superstitious acts in vain hopes of permitting that sweet red juice to flow again from their masters.  Sure, they can refrain from obsessively tapping that bar when presented with images of their perceived alpha leaders, but all this makes them still anxious, confused, and ever-ready to tap that bar again. In a newsletter that was either anarchist or socialist, a young, pretty hip protester wrote about going to Pittsburgh, where a rent-a-ninja thanked him and the "movement" for permitting him and his buddies to earn money and mileage compensation to travel to operate micro-rays and truncheons. The ninja asked him to please convey to the movement a desire for more protests. Lastly, I have concluded that you can't make waves in a stagnant pond. If I am wrong in this offensive pessimism, I stand ready to learn otherwise, which is why I enjoy your work so much. This was a serious and proud report from the center of the cyclone.
How can such thinking folk refuse to see the horrific sociology and social psychology that keeps the “left”  herded, arrested, kept outside, marginalized, speechifying?
This is no forgivable, minor matter.  Those who whip up the specious street protests are as guilty as the elites who supervise the commerce, because all of them do not have the capacity to examine the contexts in which they operate.
Rats who are taught to hit a bar to get sweet red juice will hit the bar repeatedly, even when the juice does not flow, and then will repeat superstitious acts in vain hopes of permitting that sweet red juice to flow again from their masters.  Sure, they can refrain from obsessively tapping that bar when presented with images of their perceived alpha leaders, but all this makes them still anxious, confused, and ever-ready to tap that bar again.
In a newsletter that was either anarchist or socialist, a young, pretty hip protester wrote about going to Pittsburgh, where a rent-a-ninja thanked him and the “movement” for permitting him and his buddies to earn money and mileage compensation to travel to operate micro-rays and truncheons. The ninja asked him to please convey to the movement a desire for more protests.
Lastly, I have concluded that you can’t make waves in a stagnant pond.
If I am wrong in this offensive pessimism, I stand ready to learn otherwise, which is why I enjoy your work so much.

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