The first bit seems to be in English Otto, but did you lapse into Dutch as you went on?
A less discursive explication would be this: Words are signs to which we consensually attach meaning, as Roland Barthes was on about for so long. Barthes' contention was that control of the language is power, in that the controller of language can take a symbol/word and pour whatever meaning they want into it. He was talking about government propaganda, but in the brave capitalist future, the power of marketing and advertising overwhelms traditional nationalism completely -- people pledge allegiance to Tommy Hilfiger and Budweiser, not to the flag. For that matter Tommy Hilfiger has appropriated the American Flag and turned it into his marketing standard. 'Techno' as a term had a very specific association to the people who first used it to describe their music; for 313 initiates the term has broadened to include a lot of music that bears little resemblance to the original music. That's OK by me -- Jay Denham and Surgeons bangin stuff is at least influenced by and respectful of the originators. More disturbing to me is the way 'techno' has been appropriated as a marketing label that encompasses a lot of really revolting stuff, and THAT stuff is what the uninitiated think of when you say techno. I can't imagine a wider contrast than that between 2Unlimited and Ace of Base and "I Believe" and "No UFOs." A similar thing happened in the 90s with the term 'alternative' which was a tag that was used to indicate a lot of really creative DIY music and record labels, before it became a marketing term after Nirvana blew up. The term 'alternative' now makes me cringe, and we've never really came up with a new term to tag that music that hasn't yet been co-opted. Oh well... kent williams -- [EMAIL PROTECTED]
