Popular culture

[Ramachandra]

A)This thread is based on the concept of popular culture.First of all I would like to get know the opinion of the comrades of the rev left on the subject.

B) As I see and of course that is the reality that popular culture is been used to carry on and impose the hegemonic power of the imperialist capitalism. This subject is not local it has overcome national boundaries and expanded all around the world. The thing is global capitalism as a socio economic structure has failed. Every fucking problems we see, from global warming to the high and increasing rate of poverty (both absolute and relative), proves it. Even terrorism is an expression of the crisis of capitalism. There are thousands of reasons for a revolutionary uprising. But unfortunately we cannot see a significant revolution. {There may be exceptions such as Venezuela and Bolivia}But I’m referring to the general situation. During the economic crisis {which is an essential result in capitalism} we saw massive workers uprisings in 1929.But a worse crisis was occurred in East Asia around 1997 but were there any huge revolt? The reason I see is global capitalism has a strategic weapon and it has been developed through last few decades that weapon is the so called popular culture. The so called sex revolution and stuff is used to hypnotize not even the youth but the entire class. A young worker, who is oppressed bitterly, now has 2 options.
1. Revolting against the system
2.Watching the sextape of paris Hilton and masturbating
What will he choose?
Generally the second.As I see this is one of the serious challenges the left has to face in this century.

C)And I also should add that popular culture is a knife which has two sides.A creative approach can use this knife against it’s inventor.John lennon’s movement against the Vietnam war is an example.But the problem is can we see even the slightest figure who can even get closer to Lennon among fucking whores who calls them “artists”?

[RedAnarchist]

My personal opinion on pop culture is that its not necessarily something that is anti-leftist. Yes, a lot of it is influenced by capitalistic values and beliefs, but running way from what is popular can alienate the workers from our movemnet. For instace, primitivists reject technology, something very few people would think necessary (or even possible to do in practice). I'm not saying that we should all immerse ourselves in pop culture, but that we should not think we are better and reject it outright.

[Robespierre2.0]

The way I see it, there will always be pop culture. However, what shape it will take depends on which class is the ruling class. In our capitalist system, often artists are forced by their managers to produce a product that will sell. Since it is proven that excess sells in America and other consumerist countries (sort of like fast food), you can expect American movies to be full of as much pointless sex and violence as possible in hopes of raking in money.

This is not to say that sex and violence in the media, or fast food are bad things in themselves- they can be good when used properly, but its our system that encourages this style-over-substance excess. (You know... having some people fuck or having their heads blown off just for the hell of it rather than to advance the storyline).

[IAmLeviathan]

i think this is really interesting. Pop culture is so prevalent, especially in the UK, that if you dont engage in it you are cut adrift of the rest of your peers. I love music, as im sure we all do, but it grates tremendously that i have to pay to listen to what is, after all, an expression. The image of "popular culture as weapon" is a very good one too; we are increasingly bombarded with new TV channels, TV shows that we "must" watch, just in order to fit in. TV, Music, Cinema are increasingly being used to distract, particularly in countries like Britain where its easy for a lot of people to ignore the problems the rest of the world, or even the underpriviledged in their own country have, because they have it pretty good (ie. they have 50 tv channels, access to the internet, and enough money to go out for a couple of jars a couple of times a week. I certainly dont think its any accident that the common interest in politics and world events is at its lowest at a time when there is so much else available to people. I also think the reason a lot of people would rather watch endless TV shows rather than take an interest in world events is not so much through apathy, as through a sense of helplessness. As a close friend of mine said the other day "i cant change anything, got my own life to live without worrying about others." I think this sums up a lot of peoples attitudes - world events are so easy to ignore when there are so many other distractions which are frequently much more enjoyable.

By the same token the very reason i have taken an interest in world events and politics recently is throuh popular cuture and throught the effect bands like The Clash, The Sex Pistols and people like Bob Dylan and Billy Bragg have had on me. None of these people would have been anywhere without the mediums of mass communication, owned by capitalists.

[Schrödinger's Cat]

The market crisis of 1997 primarily affected Indonesia, Thailand, and South Korea. I wouldn't compare it to the Great Depression, though; the markets were on the track to recovery by 1999. There were riots in Indonesia. I think blaming pop culture is a stretch.

Popular culture is a result of the expanding entertainment business, not capitalism, although without it [capitalism] we probably wouldn't have as many artisans making a living off their work as we do.