Since I was quoting Cynthia Chung on your other thread, Caitlin, you probably know she reposted your article on US Officials Admit They're Literally Just Lying To The Public About Russia. Two of the smartest women in the room! Any room!
The mythology of the United States is breathtaking. It has always been and still is a bastion of colonization and parasitism, and it has exported its morally and spiritually bankrupt ideas through propaganda and force. I cannot even look at a flag anymore without shaking my head. I have never been less proud to be an American than I am today. But this just makes me want to be even more radically aware and vocal. I will not stop speaking the truth. Every voice matters, even if we feel like we are in the minority. I can say from experience that I have gradually opened people's minds. The truth is always the truth, and it is reaching people on some level whether they are conscious of it that moment or not.
Of course, what could be more desirable than enslaved population that thinks itself to be free because there are no visible chains. Great piece Caitlin, thanks.
We know that dumbing down process has been long in time and complexed in
its aspects yet it is hard to accept the smooth progression and the culmination
Yup, which is why most westerners aren't worth the time of day, in the US our prisons are full of the abused and cheated, yet they still are patriotic and love their country what we used to call a psychopath/empathy relationship they now call codependent. About the same relationship that we have with livestock, and our government with us.
“The mainstream population whose numbers could be used to effect revolutionary change are herded into political factions which are designed to prop up status quo power at every turn … and corresponding media echo chambers which keep them from providing any meaningful resistance to the machine. “
TL;DR in Muh Free And Democractic West, you can say and do whatever you want, with no consequences whatsoever, as long as you don't challenge the Empire's wars and censorship, and you don't question the way the economic pie is sliced.
Right, Lady Gaga makes them gaga, fucks with their brains. The freedom: it's fantastic: she even eschews the toilet in preference for peeing on the floor. You can't get more unconventional than that. The Chinese stay up nights thinking of ways to combat her influence. And she even has the balls to call herself "Lady."
Would have loved to have seen Caitlin support freedom of thought, freedom of speech and individualism for all those fighting the totalitarian covid plandemic.
she's constantly writing about government/ media propaganda...which is true...yet she never ever mentions the covid fearmongering propaganda...I am just asking her why...simple question
That the most marketable persona practical for a young woman in the entertainment industry is one of mental disturbance and angry, ugly, weirdness says an awful lot. Freak-shows were once marginal in American life, now they are central to the countries understanding of itself. Part of me feels desperately sorry for Gaga. Trading your dignity for celebrity is a vile bargain and her career expresses a lot about the rottenness in our corporate-industrial culture. She performs the role of skank, thereby affirming the lifestyle 'choices' available to her fans. The aesthetics of her performance reveal that dignity and self-respect are now increasingly rationed and for too many simply unavailable.
For a useful contrast to Gaga, see the lovely and dignified Polina Gagarina performing a famous and uplifting Russian pop-song to a Chinese audience.
Flamboyant wierd gender bending charismatic performance has been an important part of popular entertainment for centuries. In and out of mainstream according to fashions and politics, but always appealing. There's nothing remarkable about LG other than her enduring sales numbers.
What's amazing about this Ben Macintyre is that he thinks this kind of mass market commercial product has ANYTHING to go with individualism. 50,000 people paid how much (?) to worship together at her alter and that's individuality? I don't get it.
Good point about flamboyance etc but there is nothing in Lady Gaga's persona to fortify or justify the weirdness and I do not find her in the least bit charismatic. Eccentric or transgressive behaviour in a performer has a complicated but obvious relationship to the wider culture. It can challenge convention or inspire people to question things. It may offer a life-affirming alternative to restrictive conventions.
Lady Gaga, however, does nothing of the sort and never has. She does not push back against the dominant cultural ethos, she fortifies it. The wider culture today is obsessed with demanding affirmation for what, for want of a better description, might be called performative deviance. Invocations of self-celebration are sinister when undertaken in a society in which all people are routinely exploited by consumerism and in which sexuality is just a hook for developing a state/corporate approved 'personal brand'. The transgressive posture is not just an act, it is fraudulent and malevolent. If Lady Gaga wanted to shock she could always call for the release of Julian Assange or call attention to the plight of the January 6 prisoners....she could even push the envelope and demand better pay and conditions for fast-food workers. Gaga's role is to provide impetus for the destabilised state of emotional release that young American are taught to confuse with freedom and to rake in cash while doing so.
Sorry for getting carried away, but I am not giving an inch of credit or respect to Gaga or what she represents.
I agree with a lot of what you say more or less. For example what you say about LG's role is sorta trueish. Her role is undeniably to make money for investors. She may also have the effect you mention but her role is much more banal. Just like her hackneyed song and dance entertainment.
You want Lady Gaga to be an earnest liberal? Maybe she is in her private life, but that's not going to sell many tickets. But her audience _is_ free; they're free to imitate one another to the extent possible, and apparently this leads to the ecstatic release you mention. Thank God they're not pushing war and fascism the way their elders do. As Mr. Carlin famously said, "This is the best we can do."
I do not care what Lady Gaga's politics are. It is her conformism, predictabilty and earnestness that disgust me. Mass marketed transgression is bad art and downright creepy. It is also boring. Gaga is simply cashing in on the tail end of an exhausted aesthetic trend. As for war and fascism...I have no doubt that Gaga would be gagging for any war that pretended to promote whatever is approved by the wider culture.
There's a certain contradiction there between transgression and conformity. It's almost ironic enough to be interesting. However, your passionate engagement with the subject mystifies me. If you don't like it, why don't you stay away from it? The way I stay away from _Times_ articles.
The transgression/conformity contrast is pretty banal...the transgressive aspect is being transmuted...what was once controversial is becoming normalised. Lady Gaga is simply exploiting the lag in time between the two conditions, taking advantage of the rapidly diminishing shock value while it lasts, and she is doing this with the assistance of socially and culturally powerful institutions that form the corporate entertainment industry.
I do stay away from it, believe me. I am not a fan of Lady Gaga and never have been. As for passion...that is just me.
Evidently, that's what they like. It's precisely the opposite of individuality, which they don't happen to like. I'm tempted to attribute their feelings to the pressures of capitalism, but I've noticed many other cultures enjoy mass gatherings for quasi-religious choral behaviors. It's probably something that goes back to the our monkey ancestors and may serve some important survival purpose.
Mass gatherings provide the opportunity for developing collective affect or emotion. Once generated, this is a powerful force and is essentially impervious to rationality, which can make it very dangerous.
From the perspective of evolution, collective emotion would have heled cement bonds, cohesion, trust...even when directed against rival groups or internal scapegoats. Definitely important for survival.
I think there is a continuum in every society between conformity and non. Even nonconformists typically want love and respect or at least to not be judged. I think being your authentic self is more important than doing what you want. Since freedom in one sense is a state of mind one can be free anywhere.
We have freedom of movement in the US if we have money - the means to travel. Since, for example, the currency in Nepal is only good in Nepal, most Nepalese cannot travel.
I imagine there are free and critical thinkers in every society. The majority are focused on day to day living and struggles.
I remember hearing about the Iron curtain as a child in the 60s. I imagined a super tall iron curtain, light on our side and dark and terrible on the other. It was a scary image.
"... the means to travel. Since, for example, the currency in Nepal is only good in Nepal, most Nepalese cannot travel... "
The ignorance, it burns. I have exchanged (purchase and sold) Nepalese physical money in Singapore, Hong Kong, etc. It's even easier to do an electronic transfer. The reason most Nepalese don't travel is they are poor, kept poor and needful by India's ruling elite who together with CIA own Nepal's elite, and who want to control Nepal as a buffer state and useful tool.
Here in the west, how alarmingly conformist most people are can be demonstrated with tattoos, at one time people who had them were considered to be on the fringes of society ("free thinking people"), now tattoos are so mainstream, your grandma might have one, those who don't have them are the free thinkers who probably didn't get their covid shots.
Since I was quoting Cynthia Chung on your other thread, Caitlin, you probably know she reposted your article on US Officials Admit They're Literally Just Lying To The Public About Russia. Two of the smartest women in the room! Any room!
The mythology of the United States is breathtaking. It has always been and still is a bastion of colonization and parasitism, and it has exported its morally and spiritually bankrupt ideas through propaganda and force. I cannot even look at a flag anymore without shaking my head. I have never been less proud to be an American than I am today. But this just makes me want to be even more radically aware and vocal. I will not stop speaking the truth. Every voice matters, even if we feel like we are in the minority. I can say from experience that I have gradually opened people's minds. The truth is always the truth, and it is reaching people on some level whether they are conscious of it that moment or not.
Of course, what could be more desirable than enslaved population that thinks itself to be free because there are no visible chains. Great piece Caitlin, thanks.
We know that dumbing down process has been long in time and complexed in
its aspects yet it is hard to accept the smooth progression and the culmination
of it to such degree of absurdity.
Yup, which is why most westerners aren't worth the time of day, in the US our prisons are full of the abused and cheated, yet they still are patriotic and love their country what we used to call a psychopath/empathy relationship they now call codependent. About the same relationship that we have with livestock, and our government with us.
“The mainstream population whose numbers could be used to effect revolutionary change are herded into political factions which are designed to prop up status quo power at every turn … and corresponding media echo chambers which keep them from providing any meaningful resistance to the machine. “
Which is why we are grateful to have YOU here.
TL;DR in Muh Free And Democractic West, you can say and do whatever you want, with no consequences whatsoever, as long as you don't challenge the Empire's wars and censorship, and you don't question the way the economic pie is sliced.
and they will even help you, give you a platform, if you promote or serve their world order.
100% right!..... good old G. Carlin was, is , and will be forever RIGHT about America!.....my first and biggest shock .... still to this day!
Right, Lady Gaga makes them gaga, fucks with their brains. The freedom: it's fantastic: she even eschews the toilet in preference for peeing on the floor. You can't get more unconventional than that. The Chinese stay up nights thinking of ways to combat her influence. And she even has the balls to call herself "Lady."
That's right, sarky lol
Individualism is the theology of consumer capitalism.
Would have loved to have seen Caitlin support freedom of thought, freedom of speech and individualism for all those fighting the totalitarian covid plandemic.
But she didn't....
Wonder why?
It's your fight, go fight it. Lazy.
its your fight? go fight it? lazy?...that sounds like something Joe Biden would say...come on man
Admitting she's a hypocrite?
Lazy "argument". Coward.
Two Haiku just for you.
so short, the answer,
few sparks the brain
Dead is Locke
Dead is Locke's conscience.
there ya go again mimicking Joe Biden...come on man
We can't agree on everything. Caitlin is peerless in her opposition to imperialism and war.
HEAR HEAR...I've been calling her out about this for months... no reply...I think she got scammed just like the millions of other propagandized covidiot sheep...and also got the clot shot....shes constantly writing about their propaganda but never mentions the obvious scam regarding the "covid" and the clot shots...I think she fell for it and also got the clot shot now shes in denial...thats just my guess...if you claim to be a journalist you cant ignore this...https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/covid-vaccine-injuries-vaers-boosters-omicron/?utm_source=salsa&eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=07ea062a-85ab-42bd-bf24-9357236f220a
We all have different opinions. Maybe she saw it differently.
then why doesnt she explain her opinion...I'm waiting
You're not her keeper. She's not obliged to explain anything to you or to anyone else!
she's constantly writing about government/ media propaganda...which is true...yet she never ever mentions the covid fearmongering propaganda...I am just asking her why...simple question
That the most marketable persona practical for a young woman in the entertainment industry is one of mental disturbance and angry, ugly, weirdness says an awful lot. Freak-shows were once marginal in American life, now they are central to the countries understanding of itself. Part of me feels desperately sorry for Gaga. Trading your dignity for celebrity is a vile bargain and her career expresses a lot about the rottenness in our corporate-industrial culture. She performs the role of skank, thereby affirming the lifestyle 'choices' available to her fans. The aesthetics of her performance reveal that dignity and self-respect are now increasingly rationed and for too many simply unavailable.
For a useful contrast to Gaga, see the lovely and dignified Polina Gagarina performing a famous and uplifting Russian pop-song to a Chinese audience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1Co32bmmRw
Flamboyant wierd gender bending charismatic performance has been an important part of popular entertainment for centuries. In and out of mainstream according to fashions and politics, but always appealing. There's nothing remarkable about LG other than her enduring sales numbers.
What's amazing about this Ben Macintyre is that he thinks this kind of mass market commercial product has ANYTHING to go with individualism. 50,000 people paid how much (?) to worship together at her alter and that's individuality? I don't get it.
Good point about flamboyance etc but there is nothing in Lady Gaga's persona to fortify or justify the weirdness and I do not find her in the least bit charismatic. Eccentric or transgressive behaviour in a performer has a complicated but obvious relationship to the wider culture. It can challenge convention or inspire people to question things. It may offer a life-affirming alternative to restrictive conventions.
Lady Gaga, however, does nothing of the sort and never has. She does not push back against the dominant cultural ethos, she fortifies it. The wider culture today is obsessed with demanding affirmation for what, for want of a better description, might be called performative deviance. Invocations of self-celebration are sinister when undertaken in a society in which all people are routinely exploited by consumerism and in which sexuality is just a hook for developing a state/corporate approved 'personal brand'. The transgressive posture is not just an act, it is fraudulent and malevolent. If Lady Gaga wanted to shock she could always call for the release of Julian Assange or call attention to the plight of the January 6 prisoners....she could even push the envelope and demand better pay and conditions for fast-food workers. Gaga's role is to provide impetus for the destabilised state of emotional release that young American are taught to confuse with freedom and to rake in cash while doing so.
Sorry for getting carried away, but I am not giving an inch of credit or respect to Gaga or what she represents.
A little bit of self-celebration can be a good thing when you have done something, large or small, that you're proud of.
Too much is attempted self-justification of things you don't like about yourself.
I agree with a lot of what you say more or less. For example what you say about LG's role is sorta trueish. Her role is undeniably to make money for investors. She may also have the effect you mention but her role is much more banal. Just like her hackneyed song and dance entertainment.
You want Lady Gaga to be an earnest liberal? Maybe she is in her private life, but that's not going to sell many tickets. But her audience _is_ free; they're free to imitate one another to the extent possible, and apparently this leads to the ecstatic release you mention. Thank God they're not pushing war and fascism the way their elders do. As Mr. Carlin famously said, "This is the best we can do."
I do not care what Lady Gaga's politics are. It is her conformism, predictabilty and earnestness that disgust me. Mass marketed transgression is bad art and downright creepy. It is also boring. Gaga is simply cashing in on the tail end of an exhausted aesthetic trend. As for war and fascism...I have no doubt that Gaga would be gagging for any war that pretended to promote whatever is approved by the wider culture.
There's a certain contradiction there between transgression and conformity. It's almost ironic enough to be interesting. However, your passionate engagement with the subject mystifies me. If you don't like it, why don't you stay away from it? The way I stay away from _Times_ articles.
The transgression/conformity contrast is pretty banal...the transgressive aspect is being transmuted...what was once controversial is becoming normalised. Lady Gaga is simply exploiting the lag in time between the two conditions, taking advantage of the rapidly diminishing shock value while it lasts, and she is doing this with the assistance of socially and culturally powerful institutions that form the corporate entertainment industry.
I do stay away from it, believe me. I am not a fan of Lady Gaga and never have been. As for passion...that is just me.
"I want to be an individual just like everyone else!"
So much better to be a cat.
miaow!
Mrowp?
FFS, don't use that foul language here! (joke)
Evidently, that's what they like. It's precisely the opposite of individuality, which they don't happen to like. I'm tempted to attribute their feelings to the pressures of capitalism, but I've noticed many other cultures enjoy mass gatherings for quasi-religious choral behaviors. It's probably something that goes back to the our monkey ancestors and may serve some important survival purpose.
Mass gatherings provide the opportunity for developing collective affect or emotion. Once generated, this is a powerful force and is essentially impervious to rationality, which can make it very dangerous.
From the perspective of evolution, collective emotion would have heled cement bonds, cohesion, trust...even when directed against rival groups or internal scapegoats. Definitely important for survival.
Think different!
The difference between their dictatorships and our dictatorships: we commoners are prevented from seeing just who is doing the dictating...
If Lady Gaga was Julian Assange, China would lock her up without trial. Hang on a minute...
I think there is a continuum in every society between conformity and non. Even nonconformists typically want love and respect or at least to not be judged. I think being your authentic self is more important than doing what you want. Since freedom in one sense is a state of mind one can be free anywhere.
We have freedom of movement in the US if we have money - the means to travel. Since, for example, the currency in Nepal is only good in Nepal, most Nepalese cannot travel.
I imagine there are free and critical thinkers in every society. The majority are focused on day to day living and struggles.
I remember hearing about the Iron curtain as a child in the 60s. I imagined a super tall iron curtain, light on our side and dark and terrible on the other. It was a scary image.
What happened to love your enemies?
"... the means to travel. Since, for example, the currency in Nepal is only good in Nepal, most Nepalese cannot travel... "
The ignorance, it burns. I have exchanged (purchase and sold) Nepalese physical money in Singapore, Hong Kong, etc. It's even easier to do an electronic transfer. The reason most Nepalese don't travel is they are poor, kept poor and needful by India's ruling elite who together with CIA own Nepal's elite, and who want to control Nepal as a buffer state and useful tool.
Interesting that you do not mention the elephant in the room to the north... a lot of Chinese propaganda in these comments.
The elephant is in your mind, just like the Dalai Lama's family wasn't the largest slave holders in Tibet.
It is not a traded currency on the exchanges from what I understand. When I was there I was told it was worthless outside the country.
I see, you believe what you are told when it agrees with your point of view.
Yeah, I'm on a rage, but religious fanatics burned most of my father's family alive, and that was in the USA.
So sorry. Who burned your father's family?
I have studied world religions and am not an adherent to any or to any guru. I believe in judging specific actions, not people.
Here in the west, how alarmingly conformist most people are can be demonstrated with tattoos, at one time people who had them were considered to be on the fringes of society ("free thinking people"), now tattoos are so mainstream, your grandma might have one, those who don't have them are the free thinkers who probably didn't get their covid shots.