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roachboy · 12-21-2006, 10:36 AM

the value of what is said lay in what is said, not in who is saying it.
i know as many "experts" as "ordinary people" who haven't got anything to say.
i know as many "experts" as "ordinary people" who have very insightful, interesting things to say.
deference to "experts" is servility.
deference to "ordinary people" is servility.
they are the same servility, reverse images of the same.

if you fetishize the position of the speaker, what you are really doing is looking for an excuse to not think about what is being said.
you want a speaker who occupies a position of uncontaminated authority, like what you imagined your parents to have when you were around 4 years old.

but, for better or worse, none of us are 4 years old: for better or worse, that way of seeing parental authority is at best a distant mirage.
for better or worse, you have to think critically about what is said.

of course you can "choose for yourself" to not do it.
but it is better to explicitly choose that, rather than to simply default into it: in my more pollyanna moments, i like to think that the moment of explicit choice undermines the choice itself. "i think i will surrender thinking now"---kinda ugly, aint it?

i find the time magazine choice to be vaguely interesting, but not for the reasons that have turned up here so far.
i think time is sweating about its readership.
i think time is also in something of a political bind, its run-of-the-mill support for whomever is in power having encountered limits that could damage it in terms of market share.
so i think time is tossing a kind of bone to its readership, appealing to its vanity:

you, anonymous consumer, are the Shit.
we like you. you like us.
keep buying time. we will keep liking you.
it doesnt matter if you are an idiot. when you buy time, you aren't an idiot. you can purchase not being an idiot every week. see how affirming consumption can be?
so keep buying time.
we like you.

12-21-2006, 10:36 AM	#14 (permalink)
roachboy Super Moderator Location: essex ma	the value of what is said lay in what is said, not in who is saying it. i know as many "experts" as "ordinary people" who haven't got anything to say. i know as many "experts" as "ordinary people" who have very insightful, interesting things to say. deference to "experts" is servility. deference to "ordinary people" is servility. they are the same servility, reverse images of the same. if you fetishize the position of the speaker, what you are really doing is looking for an excuse to not think about what is being said. you want a speaker who occupies a position of uncontaminated authority, like what you imagined your parents to have when you were around 4 years old. but, for better or worse, none of us are 4 years old: for better or worse, that way of seeing parental authority is at best a distant mirage. for better or worse, you have to think critically about what is said. of course you can "choose for yourself" to not do it. but it is better to explicitly choose that, rather than to simply default into it: in my more pollyanna moments, i like to think that the moment of explicit choice undermines the choice itself. "i think i will surrender thinking now"---kinda ugly, aint it? i find the time magazine choice to be vaguely interesting, but not for the reasons that have turned up here so far. i think time is sweating about its readership. i think time is also in something of a political bind, its run-of-the-mill support for whomever is in power having encountered limits that could damage it in terms of market share. so i think time is tossing a kind of bone to its readership, appealing to its vanity: you, anonymous consumer, are the Shit. we like you. you like us. keep buying time. we will keep liking you. it doesnt matter if you are an idiot. when you buy time, you aren't an idiot. you can purchase not being an idiot every week. see how affirming consumption can be? so keep buying time. we like you. __________________ a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear it make you sick. -kamau brathwaite Last edited by roachboy; 12-21-2006 at 10:41 AM..