Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Monday, April 10, 2006
Shut up and drink your beer
thats funny… i usually find the celebratory “we’ve not been arrested” beer after a protest is one of the best ones
Posted by michael on from exile 04/10 at 07:12 AMI just read something about the symbols like hammer and sickle in Secret Societies and Psychological Warfare by Michael A Hoffman (can´t recommend highly enough):
“What the Alchemical managers have bred over a millennia is a human race of the most wretched stupidity and ignorance unrivalled in thousands of years. These blind slaves are told they are “free” and “highly educated” even as they march behind signs that would cause any medieval peasant to run screaming away from them in panicstricken terror. The symbols that modern man embraces with the naive trust of an infant would be tantamount to billboards reading “This way to your death and enslavement,” to the understanding of a traditional peasant of antiquity.
I doubt any medieval man would have much difficulty in feeling a sense of overwhelming forboding in the face of the Soviet hammer and sickle symbol. Yet most modern, literate people obviously don´t know a thing about what that symbol actually represents except on the most profane level as the implements of the farmer and worker.”Posted by owen on from gyarrcelona 04/10 at 08:22 AMGood morning Mickey, Michael and Owen… Owen you make a good point about the symbolism of agricultural implements, especially since this is a nation ruled by a guy from the “Skulls and Bones” society.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 04/10 at 08:27 AMGood analysis. And while it can’t be directly deduced, there is another implied lesson: Communists/Anarchists don’t drink this brand of beer, and it’s converse: People who drink this brand of beer aren’t Communists/Anarchists.
So what kind of beer do Communists/Anarchists drink?
What an intoxicating commentary on the advertisement. I found it beery amusing. I had a stout laugh over it. Laughing is good for what ales ya, you know. It always helps if you’re feeling brew.
Posted by Jeremy on from Taiwan 04/10 at 08:31 AM‘Lo Mickey. I think the concept of anarchism holds a greater fascination for the “security conscious” than communism, which is identifiable with, and can be understood, in terms of the state.
I do like beer, but I don’t drink much at all these days. I value the memory more than the experience nowadays
Posted by J. Alva Scruggs on from 04/10 at 08:39 AMMy ushanka came this morning, its Soviet Air Defence stylee (allegedly) and came with three hammer-and-sickle badges of various sizes to pin on the front - which I haven’t yet. I’m waiting for some peasants to show up so I can terrify them. Shouldn’t judge from one excerpt I know - but isn’t it part of the definition of a symbol that its meaning is not fixed?
If I’m happy, beer makes me happier, if I’m low it makes me lower.
Posted by mew on from not london, hooray! 04/10 at 08:45 AMtheres nothing like a depressant to chase the blues away
i think that was in the simpsons
Posted by michael on from exile 04/10 at 08:49 AMI think Anarchy may be the most misunderstood, misused word in the English language. I once sent a letter to the NY Times to explain its meaning, as they had once again misused it, they replied with a form letter saying they were working on a reply...that was about 6 months ago.
captcha:morning...to all.
Posted by JOS on from Chicago 04/10 at 09:04 AMOf course, a symbol is part of a language and means whatever we assign it to mean. Point is, the components of the Soviet flag had been used for centuries as occult symbols for the bisection of heaven and earth and the destruction of the planet before getting gussied up as a movement for a worker´s paradise.
Posted by Owen on from gyarrcelona 04/10 at 10:55 AMHi Mickey, I get something else from that. Besides mixing up anarchism with communism, the clear point of the commercial is mainly to disparage any sort of anticapitalist thinking (of course, there are the ridiculous “anarcho-capitalists"). Anyway, regular beer-drinkin’ workin’ joes are supposed to be all for being exploited, goddamit!
However, classical Marxist and Anarchist thought are actually share some thoughts in common. I thought I’d through out some old-school quotes for the theory nerds.
Engels: “Society, which will reorganise production on the basis of a free and equal association of the producers, will put the whole machinery of state where it will then belong: into the museum of antiquity, by the side of the spinning-wheel and the bronze axe.”
Kropotkin: “Communism, being an eminently economic institution, does not in any way prejudice the amount of liberty guaranteed to the individual, the initiator, the rebel against crystallising customs. It may be authoritarian, which necessarily leads to the death of the community, and it may be libertarian, which in the twelfth century even under the partial communism of the young cities of that age, led to the creation of a young civilisation full of vigour, a new springtide of Europe.The only durable form of Communism, however, is one under which, seeing the close contact between fellow men it brings about, every effort would be made to extend the liberty of the individual in all directions.”
Breton & Trotsky: “The aim of this appeal [Towards a Free Revolutionary Art] is to find a common ground on which may be reunited all revolutionary writers and artists, the better to serve the revolution by their art and to defend the liberty of that art itself against the usurpers of the revolution. We believe that aesthetic, philosophical, and political tendencies of the most varied sort can find here a common ground. Marxists can march here hand in hand with anarchists, provided both parties uncompromisingly reject the reactionary police-patrol spirit...”
Posted by Theo on from Greece 04/10 at 12:02 PMSorry, I mean “throw” not “through.”
Posted by Theo on from Greece 04/10 at 12:04 PMFirst of all: YES!!!
As for the absurd advertising...really? You mean advertisers are stooping to the absurd to sell products now? Someone call someone. Seriously though I have been lamenting for some time the facts that
(1) the symbols and imagery of discredited institutions (like the Soviet Union, like Lenin, like the American flag) have become useful for selling products;
(2) advertisers not only take advantage of existing ignorances when utilizing certain symbols, but actively encourage and create them
(3) if I drink beer, I get fat.Posted by Keir on from The Hague 04/10 at 12:13 PMOh, I forgot my favorite bit from TFRA:
“If, for the better development of the forces of material production, the revolution must build a socialist regime with centralized control, to develop intellectual creation an anarchist regime of individual liberty should from the first be established. No authority, no dictation, not the least trace of orders from above! Only on a base of friendly cooperation, without the constraint from the outside, will it be possible for scholars and artists to carry out their tasks, which will be more far-reaching than ever before in history.”
Take care!
Posted by Theo on from Greece 04/10 at 12:32 PMHello Expendables...and hearty welcome to Mr. Scruggs and Theo. For some odd reason, I’m not getting my usual e-mail notification that comments are being left here today. Thus, I’m not having an easy time keeping up with the conversation. I’ll backtrack soon and take it all in.
Until then, remember: The only thing we have to fear is beer itself.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 04/10 at 01:10 PMThe recent protests against anti-immigration laws have amazed me...500,000 marched in Dallas over the weekend. There are massive protests planned for today including in NYC:
More than 100 organizations, labor groups and religious institutions have planned a massive rally from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. in City Hall Park and north along Broadway.
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/407609p-345007c.html
I think the lesson here for anti-war protesters are sheer numbers and message focus.
Posted by JOS on from Chicago 04/10 at 01:33 PMA really stupid commercial, Mickey - one would have to agree. Thanks for sharing your impressions with the reader, Herr Zezima.
It is 4:4 am on a Tuesday morning, so I am still in the process of waking up. Nevertheless, a warm ‘welcome’ to my fellow expendables Michael, Owen, Rosemarie, Jeremy, J Alva Scruggs (there is an interesting name), Mew, JOS, Theo and Keir - as always, I hope I have not forgotten anyone.
This episode of one of my favourite shows aired on Australian TV last night:
http://www.hbo.com/sixfeetunder/episode/season5/episode54.shtmlHope you have a pleasant day/afternoon ..
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 04/10 at 01:45 PMOh, and are Germans still the biggest beer-drinkers on this earth? Just wondering - although Australia, my adopted country, comes in second or third in the beer rankings.
Like that ‘gyarrcelona’, Owen.
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 04/10 at 01:54 PMAnd JOS, form letters are all one gets if one writes tothe NYT - although Bob Herbert once sent me a (brief) personal note, something I really appreciated.
captcha: ‘ahead’. More wars ahead?
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 04/10 at 01:59 PMYeah, I can’t say I expected anything more, Helga. Wow, that’s pretty cool about Bob Herbert. I’ve read some things of his that hit home.
This nuclear option against Iran is pretty f’ing scary. Talk about new and more dangerous ways of distracting the masses and controlling power…
Kurt Nimmo is really going off on this subject right now…
Posted by JOS on from Chicago 04/10 at 02:21 PMHello everyone...nice group here today.
Here is my quote of the day....
“Yur not supposed to talk about classified information, so I declassified the document.” George W BushIsn’t that something like saying war crimes are illegal so I will decriminalize them. (Oh yes, he did that too.)
If it wasn’t just 4 PM, I would have a beer right now.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 04/10 at 03:14 PMThat Bush quote sounds part of fostering a double mind in the public, his speeches are full of things like that passed off as idiocies. He may be dumb as a mule but those writing his dialogue are pretty sharp.
Bill Hicks: “The War on Drugs is hypocrisy, man...it’s okay to drink your drug; we meant those other drugs -those untaxed drugs. Nicotine, alcohol: good drugs. Coincidentally, taxed drugs...thank God they’re taxing alcohol, man. That means we’ve got those good roads we can get fucked up and drive on.... We’d be doing donuts in a wheat field.”
Posted by owen on from gyarrcelona 04/10 at 03:22 PMOwen....I agree that those government guys are pretty sharp. They have accomplished everything they wanted and more. The transfer of wealth in the USA is remarkable and those guys did it with hardly a whimper out of the masses.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 04/10 at 03:31 PMThis is off topic, but too good not to share. It’s Robert Fisk speaking to Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! last Friday. Listen to the segment or read it out loud yourselves---it’s performance poetry :
...we see everything being sourced and re-sourced back to American officials, as if the U.S. administration is the center of world truth. I’ll give you an example. I was actually doing the book tour in Los Angeles, picked up my morning L.A. Times. Here’s a story about Zarqawi, who may or may not exist, of course. “U.S. authorities say,” “U.S. officials said,” “Said one Justice Department counterterrorism official,” “U.S. authorities say,” “officials said,” “U.S. officials said.” It turns to page B-10. It gets worse and worse. Look. “Several U.S. officials said,” “those officials said,” “U.S. officials confirmed”—stop me when you want—“American officials complained,” “U.S. officials stressed,” “U.S. authorities believe,” “Said one U.S. senior intelligence official,” “U.S. officials said,” “Jordanian officials said”—Amy, see, there’s a slight difference here—“Several U.S. officials said,” “U.S. officials said,” “U.S. officials say,” “say U.S. officials,” “U.S. officials said,” “The American officials said,” “One U.S. counterterrorism official said.” Welcome to American journalism today in Iraq. This is what’s wrong.
Posted by Keir on from The Hague 04/10 at 04:36 PM“In ancient Rome, the state farmed out the collection of taxes. The right to collect tax was auctioned off to the highest bidder. Tax collection agents, known as publicans, employed lower-level collectors who made best use of their license. For their severe extraction of taxes, publicans were widely despised. Now, if a publican is a tax collector, what is a [R]epublican?”
Anu Garg, A.W.A.D. sage and commentator
Posted by Mudge on from Austin 04/10 at 04:39 PMNewspapers over here are quite like Fisk sez too, “official sources” this and “official sources” that, though it´s about five years since I used one for something other than lighting fires or cleaning up dogshit.
Posted by owen on from gyarrcelona 04/10 at 05:35 PMSorry I missed the conversations today but it was a pleasure to read through the comments.
I’ll see you all tomorrow. Bring your truisms.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 04/10 at 09:05 PMSpeaking of antiquity, come to think of it, wasn’t beer the beverage handed out to all those slaves that built the pyramids?
Posted by Theo on from Greece 04/11 at 09:51 AM
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