A Frederick wiseman nod would have made any review more valuable, for sure. Thank you, Brian, for your depth of thinking and participation. I am a shameless lurker and have been learning from nettime for over a decade now.
> On Feb 15, 2022, at 9:33 PM, Brian Holmes <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > Thanks for this - I am totally curious about Chinese society and haven't been > there for a long time. Actually, more recommendations would be cool. > > The film Ascension is sometimes beautiful, but at all times devastating. All > the reviewers picked up the connection to Koyaanisqatsi which is there in the > first part; but they missed the one to Frederick Wiseman, who devoted his > films to the relentless analysis of people's behavior within institutional > constraints. Throughout Ascension, the institution that's analyzed is > neoliberal pedagogy - training people to perform for the corporation and to > bear up to corporate cynicism. You see workers being trained to paint the > nipple on a sex doll, salespeople being trained to prey on their peers, and > servants being trained to lick the boots of the oligarchy, who are themselves > trained to drink French wine and the like. > > This is a polemical film, relieved a bit by the filmmaker's inside knowledge > of Chinese society and baffling capacity to get into, well, some of the most > banal industrial, commercial and business settings you can imagine. Surely > she told them she was making a film to glorify the rise of the new > superpower. But it's basically showing an entire country being pushed into > neoliberal ideology - or at least, submission - in order to produce floods of > meaningless crap for the West and a gigantic high-end consuming class for > China. > > Too bad those are the only ideas. If you're really into cinema, you might > give it a pass. If you're really curious about China, check it out. > > Brian > >> On Sat, Feb 12, 2022 at 9:15 AM J Drew <[email protected]> wrote: >> I haven’t had a chance to see it yet but the reviews suggest #ascension may >> be worth seeing in light of David’s analysis of Xi Jinping’s *Hobbesian* >> Chinese state. >> >> Official trailer: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ojRgr6h68IQ >> >>>> On Feb 12, 2022, at 6:00 AM, [email protected] wrote: >>>> >>> Send nettime-l mailing list submissions to >>> [email protected] >>> >>> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit >>> http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l >>> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to >>> [email protected] >>> >>> You can reach the person managing the list at >>> [email protected] >>> >>> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific >>> than "Re: Contents of nettime-l digest..." >>> >>> >>> Today's Topics: >>> >>> 1. Re: The Meaning of Boris Johnson (David Garcia) >>> >>> >>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> >>> Message: 1 >>> Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2022 10:26:56 +0000 >>> From: David Garcia <[email protected]> >>> To: patrice riemens <[email protected]>, >>> <[email protected]> >>> Cc: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> >>> Subject: Re: <nettime> The Meaning of Boris Johnson >>> Message-ID: >>> <[email protected]> >>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" >>> >>> Many thanks Brian and Patrice? When Johnson came on TV as head of state and >>> did not advise but ?instructed? me, my family and the rest of the country >>> to ?lock down? I experienced the actual fact and reality of state power as >>> never before. Much as I despise Johnson and all his works I supported this >>> use of state power as a uniquely powerful means of supporting the value of >>> mutual dependency over the value of individual freedom, (this was very >>> difficult for Johnson as a libertarian Tory as we now realise in the wake >>> of partygate). A new and intense awareness of mutual dependency and the >>> collective agency of which we are capable was the great revelation of the >>> pandemic and our only hope of survival. >>> >>> >>> >>> But the debate over state power and where we might seek to draw the line >>> goes well beyond traji/comic Johnson sideshow. Anyone claiming, as Patrice, >>> does that the state is merely an impotent ?conveyer belt? steered by >>> corporate forces has to explain the effectiveness of Xi Jinping?s Hobbesian >>> Chinese state in reigning in their own corporate giants. The last 18 months >>> has seen Xi cracking the whip and imprisoning (and doing anything else >>> required) to re-assert state sovereignty over corporate hubris. This even >>> extends to legislating time allowed to kids for gaming not to mention >>> tinkering with the education policy as Xi has decided that the tech and >>> finance sectors are sucking too many talented graduates away from more >>> tangible forms of manufacturing. >>> >>> >>> >>> Some European/western political actors are looking with envy at the >>> perceived effectiveness of the Chinese (and other proactive Sth East Asian >>> states) in their forthright nation-wide actions in containing Covid. The >>> likelihood is that this is just a foretaste of an increasingly loud debate >>> over the limits and role state power will play as the climate crunch really >>> starts to bite. This is when we will return to the earlier postings on this >>> thread that spoke about the science wars. >>> >>> >>> >>> David Garcia >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> From: patrice riemens <[email protected]> >>> Date: Saturday, 12 February 2022 at 08:51 >>> To: <[email protected]>, David Garcia >>> <[email protected]> >>> Cc: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> >>> Subject: Re: <nettime> The Meaning of Boris Johnson >>> >>> >>> >>> Aloha, >>> >>> >>> >>> Let me (allow me to) take Brian's rejoinder as an opportunity to address >>> David's and his argument in face of the (dangerous) shenanigans in 10, >>> Clowning Street (-Marina Hyde, TG) ... and beyond. >>> >>> >>> >>> There is absolutely no doubt that Boris Johnson is a very 'special' >>> character and political animal (Rory Stewart too, btw - but then in a >>> positive sense), but as David says, his clowneries are froth while 'his >>> administration is less of an outlier than it appears' - and this with >>> deadly consequences. >>> >>> >>> >>> I however do differ with David where he ascribe the current >>> political-ideological imbroglio to the 'return of the state' as a >>> consequence of the pandemic. According to me, to put it bluntly, nothing of >>> the such has happened. The state has become more impotent than ever, and it >>> are the corporate forces which have and are steering the decision-making >>> process, with the state as mere conveyor belt. There is no confusion there, >>> and even if it appears to happen more by default than by design, it is >>> still entirely deliberate.We have truly and wholesomely entered the era of >>> 'govcorp' where the administrative apparatus is merely, albeit >>> indispensable, exo-squeleton of global corporate governance, with, in >>> accordance with the spirit of the times, 'hyper' - and hyper rich - >>> individuals at the helm. Welcome to neo-feudalism. >>> >>> >>> >>> I am afraid that is such a dispensation, clowns like Boris Johnson, and his >>> exceptionally 'gifted' motley crew ('Jakey' Rees-Mogg, 'Mad Nad' -ine >>> Dorries, & the many such) are mere props (the extent to which they are >>> conscious of it is unclear) in the tragedy which are embroiled in for quite >>> a while: that of post-politics, that is a system where the powers are not >>> what they look and are not located where they seem to be, and the ongoings >>> take, for the people at large, every appearance of a puzzle palace. I think >>> this is one of the reason for populism: desperately trying to make sense >>> where it has vanished from the political scene (which has vanished too in >>> the process) . >>> >>> >>> >>> & With regard to Brian's derive of the unhappy pranksters towards a >>> military expedient: he is completely right, while at the same time, to >>> parakeet Jean Marie Le Pen's totally infame dismissal of the Shoah as a >>> footnote, it is, 'ontologically speaking', a mere side-show. Even though, >>> with a war in Europe at our doorstep, we might very well die in it for >>> real. >>> >>> >>> >>> Yeah, it's a fine mess indeed. >>> >>> >>> >>> Cheers all the same , and happy week-end >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> On 02/11/2022 9:17 PM Brian Holmes <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> David, your second paragraph sums up a really complex situation in a few >>> words, thank you. >>> >>> >>> >>> It's fairly easy to understand how right-wing populists raise the anger of >>> the people. They do it with fear, born largely of their own mismanagement. >>> Fear of the pandemic, of economic disruption, of war, of climate change - >>> and maybe most of all, fear of the "return of the state" that's >>> more-or-less required by all that. But you put your finger on something >>> else, which is that these populist (and yet usually upper class) >>> politicians have to go on *pretending* to believe in their old conservative >>> lines about lowering taxes and shrinking government. Where will the >>> pretence lead them? Right now BoJo is trying to save his political ass by >>> exploiting the fear of war, and more, the nationalist pride of militarism - >>> which would be the logical supplement to the old conservative lines. In >>> fact he's pretty much openly claiming a military role for post-Brexit >>> "Global Britain." >>> >>> >>> >>> How do you see this latest development? Is it going to work? Could >>> warmongering nationalism be the new rhetorical resource of the right, >>> beyond Johnson? Or is this just his last desperate gambit on the way out? >>> >>> >>> >>>> From my viewpoint it is sickening to see this kind of political theater >>>> played in the face of genuinely dangerous situations. >>> >>> >>> >>> best, Brian >>> >>> >>> >>> Rory Stuart, one of the old-style Tories purged by Johnson and Cummings has >>> created a fabulous taxonomy to illustrate Johnson?s gifts ?as the most >>> accomplished liar in British public life ?perhaps the best liar ever to >>> serve as prime minister,? >>> >>> >>> >>> ?He has? according to Stuart ?mastered the use of error, omission, >>> exaggeration, diminution, equivocation and flat denial. He has perfected >>> casuistry, circumlocution, false equivalence and false analogy. He is >>> equally adept at the ironic jest, the fib and the grand lie; the weasel >>> word and the half-truth; the hyperbolic lie, the obvious lie, and the >>> bullshit lie ? which may inadvertently be true.? >>> >>> >>> >>> But despite all of this it is just about possible to argue that Johnson has >>> read the runes better than many other Tories and that much of the weirdness >>> of UK politics is to some extent froth. His administration is perhaps less >>> of an outlier than it appears. He is a man of few fixed ideological beliefs >>> which is how (like Merkle) he has held together a coalition with >>> contradictory ideologies.. The ?greased piglet? is hard to pin down. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Like many countries and regions, Johnson has had to respond to the biggest >>> change brought about by the pandemic which has been to accelerate a shift >>> in favour of a greater role for the state. Including the nation state in >>> part because of the pandemic pressure to close boarders. Unlike other >>> Tories Johnson is at ease with this along with other aspects of an >>> interventionist state, despite frequently pretending otherwise.. The return >>> of the nation state is part of what is becoming a more geo-politically >>> charged world which includes a new awareness of the entanglement of supply >>> chain pressures with questions of security and risk (e.g. Russian >>> pipeline). The newly empowered state is also a consequence of the >>> eye-watering amount of borrowing required to keep our economies from >>> flat-lining. So even for Tories on the right of the party any return to the >>> old fiscal narrative will be pretty much impossible. And Johnson has been >>> quicker to recognise this than other Tories. Despite Thatcherite n >>> ostalgia there can be no going back to the Cameron Osbourne response to the >>> 2008 crisis. Johnson?s conservatism recognises that there can be no return >>> to small state with low taxes conservatism. His claims to NetZero ambitions >>> means that world has gone..(But of course he often has to pretend >>> otherwise) The post-covid mad Johnsonian UK has the appearance of a >>> hyper-weird outlier. But wipe the froth of the Johnson Cappuccino and he >>> maybe less of an outlier than it first appears. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> David Garcia >>> >>> >>> >>> -------------- next part -------------- >>> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... >>> URL: >>> <http://mx.kein.org/pipermail/nettime-l/attachments/20220212/3af433f1/attachment-0001.html> >>> >>> ------------------------------ >>> >>> # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission >>> # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, >>> # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets >>> # more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l >>> >>> End of nettime-l Digest, Vol 173, Issue 13 >>> ****************************************** >> # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission >> # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, >> # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets >> # more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l >> # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: [email protected] >> # @nettime_bot tweets mail w/ sender unless #ANON is in Subject:
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