well, let's sum up so far: host posts an interesting enough question--why is it that so little goes on in the way of thinking about problems that attend capitalism, and of alternatives to the existing capitalist order that mioght address them. a pretty important question, really---i think it is at least.
it was linked to the conservative tic of constructing a hallucinated double of itself in "the left" and then giving content to that hallucination as a function of whatever the apparatus happens to be doing at a given time.
ok..then the responses came in: initially from the right--across the board, this was reducable to "there is nothing better, so shut up" and/or "if you think something could be better, you are obviously not amongst the adult population" and that kind of thing.
no complaints.
then powerclown does his thing--which was funny, you know, but was also a sustained ad hominem designed to completely discredit anything anyone says who writes in the style he chose to parody. "this is what things look like when i refuse to read" kind of thing--what roland barthes called deaf and dumb criticism--i dont get it therefore you are an idiot.
it was not thought out, not constructive, kinda malicious, really--but no matter.
the point seemed to be "lah lah lah i'm not listening and its your fault"
exchange exchange exchange
then i post something that wonders about what is going on in this thread--complaints about "information overload" and "long posts" are directed against host and probably against myself as well---so i wonder aloud (in print) what the implications are of this complaining about long posts, and decided to use ustwo's opening salvo as a jump-off point for basically posing another question: is this complaining about "information overload" working as a de facto selection mechanism, one that privileges types of analysis that requires less in the way of set-up because they rely more on television-land types of terms for their frame?
and this was understood as an ad hominem, judging from the post that followed it.
great.
and then the "we are going to clean up dodge" thing comes in.
maybe i am paranoid, but i find the timing of that bizarre.
is the complaining about "information overload"---which to my mind is simply laughable--linked to the various avowals concerning "cleaning up dodge"?
or are they unrelated, brought together simply by curious timing features?
someone care to explain?
__________________
a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear
it make you sick.
-kamau brathwaite
Last edited by roachboy; 05-29-2005 at 12:28 PM..
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