“Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matthew 25:41
And so it went that within capital Dietzgen would come to describe the absolute sublimation of religion to Capital in the following way: “To the diverse modes of property and trade belong many Christianities. The Institution of slave-holding was Christian, and Christianity was slaveholding there.”¹ This feature was an early one of the Capitalist Spectacle, to turn religion, as it seeks to do with all things, into the service of capital, rather than in service of older Modes of Production. So, if, for The Spectacle, to turn christianity, once a force of reaction in favor of the aristocracy.² Let us begin, as it were, because clearly this has already begun, or it would be a hypothetical discussion, not a criticism of things as they stand.
So, where is the beginning? It begins with The Spectacle, and to this point, has only consisted of its maintenance. The Spectacle is the pseudo-reality, the Hegelian One³, the totality of all contradictions that holds them all, but which has no differentiations. In the realm of the The Spectacle, it comes to represent itself as both part of, response to, and the product of, Capital in the cinematic mode.⁴ ⁵ So, if The Spectacle is what we are seeing, what is it that actually is? If the Spectacle is not material if it is the fictitious result of a truly much larger, and more systemic system of capital, what is it?
Imagine for a second, that everything you consume (commodity), everything you produce (labor), and the interactions you have which relate to labor organization are input into a massive computer, larger than we can really imagine for a computer. This computer is constantly updating itself, responding to the things happening internal, in a kind of cowboy code⁶ where the programmers are not the workers feeding input, but the bourgeois manipulating a system. There are, like a computer, predefined rules, and limits to production, experiential or physical, that define the nature of how this is done. The output of this computer, the things that you experience, the Kantian verstand⁷, is The Spectacle.
This relies, rather intently on one thing, that like a work of art, the Spectacle can justify its own existence.⁸ The Spectacle without this justification ceases to be Spectacle, and becomes solipsism. The Machine reflecting itself back at itself, in an effort of isolation and alienation. The Language becoming an individual thing, and falling into contradiction with its own universal nature.⁹ It becomes an object qua object, or in this case a signified-solid qua signified-solid.¹⁰ It becomes defined by itself only, with no outside acknowledgement, and at this point is forced into two choices. The first, to reify itself to its observer. This, is the topic which we will cover at length later. The second, is to fall to fascism, the overarching practice of the bourgeois which seeks to abolish liberal democratic norms, and to wage war against the organized working class.¹¹ This, abolishes with it the need for Spectacle.
The Spectacle is ultimately a facet of liberal democracy, a production of it, the way by which the ruling class provides for the working class a vision of reality, the one which they desire. This is simply an abstraction of the truth of reality, a version of the truth at the core of which there may be or have been some aspect of truth, because without this there is no justification. It is an ideological stance purely, not just immaterial but actively anti-material it provides itself, like a ghost as a target for observation by materialists, but then, as is the intent of all ideology that is not valid⅕² or, in a more practical sense, that lower i ideology which is not “the defining superstructure of a historical epoch” (herein used as capital I).
So, when it is no longer needed, when we run to the point where the mystification of bourgeois praxis, when human practice¹³ is no longer needed for society, and the most idealist reality of the Hegelian Absolute Right exists- when Sorels, totalizing social law, comes to fruition, there is no need for The Spectacle, because the guarantee is in these bounds.¹⁴ This anti-democracy, this right qua right is in direct contradiction with the desire of the working class. It is inimical to us, not least of all because it becomes a close tautology of itself. I am right because I lead and I lead because I am right. At this point, it should be assumed that the working class has been so thoroughly subjugated that any relations of production have become mystified and abstracted, along with, in opposition to social experience, the human individual.¹⁵
Thus, we see, that the obfuscation of truth is no longer necessary, because the obfuscation of truth is complete. The abstracted Spectacle becomes the Absolute Knowledge of Great Men, and the strength of organized labor diminished. Truth becomes a secondary, and all that exists is Absolute verstand of a single class, this is the determinant of all sanctioned social relations. The death of spirit. There is no appeal to the sense-certainty¹⁶ of the working class, because the collective search for knowledge has become defined strictly by one class.
So, before this, the final moment of Bourgeois Praxis can come, there are safety nets installed to save the Spectacle. The primary of these, is the ideological enemy. The Spectacle requires a devil, as Debray tells us in The Critique of Political Reason, and the counter to this is prophet, the mage who can drive this evil out, and who mystifies all of the relations. So, who represents our modern prophets? How do they protect capital? What is their purpose?
First things first, to be a prophet, one has to arise the process of arising is never natural, whether your religion is Eastern or Western, something sets prophets apart. The answer, of course, is that their history, or at least portions of it, are manufactured. So, we’re going to juxtapose two specific individuals, both of them our enemies, but along with that, both of them are prophets, and with some overlap. Now, our virgin, Deborah, the great judge, the wise and powerful, who was the only female judge of the Israelites in the bible. Where, oh where, could she see her existence fulfilled in the modern day? The one and only, ignoble, detached, and infectious Greta Thunberg. Unlike Deborah, she does not actually govern, but she does, certainly, present herself as the adjudicator of the “tribe” so to say. In this case, and because of capital’s international character, she is the adjudicator for all of humanity, able to pass judgements, from the comfort of her luxury yacht on all of humanity. She began with a proclamation, and from there we have not seen her stop. "...people are dying, entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction."¹⁷ I can almost hear Debray echoing back in my head, “all prophets are doomsday prophets”.
Now, I said that there would be two prophets, so surely that means that I have more than one child. The other is the GrayZone sphere of influence, a defining feature of the “left”, the fools who demand that we acknowledge them as “dissident” journalists.¹⁸ They don’t quite seek to establish themselves as the same kind of doomsday prophets, you see, Goodman, Blumenthal, Prysner, Norton&co, they offer something important for the spectacle. An excuse, an outlet, they are the non threatening dissidents. They suffer no slander from the enemy class, report on their class enemies in absolute vagueries, and perhaps most importantly, make sure that they cup the state department just right.
So, these two are being stated as the same kind of enemy, which is a bold claim. They’re all good people, right? The kind of people who would actively work to disseminate the truth and fight for the right cause. Or, that’s what we’re told.
The reality is much more grim, first, the work of Cory Morningstar should here be considered required reading for the duration of this work, but for those unwilling please allow me to briefly summarize. Thunberg, and her mother, carefully crafted a celebrity sheen (her mother was already a celebrated international opera singer. They then used this to begin their current campaign. Here, I will deviate from Cory, as I will suggest that “leading us to emergency mode” is the overarching goal, and the theft of the pension funds is simply a short term cash grab.¹⁹ Getting money, is, unfortunately, easy when you are endorsed by the state, who we will remember are simply “committees for managing the affairs of the whole bourgeoisie.”²⁰
Norton, Blumenthal & co. are more insidious, you see, they put on a left veneer more than the young prophetess Thunberg does. They, however, likewise, mystify their background, and establish themselves as a false oppositional block. Blumenthal’s history, his childhood, his father, are all, conveniently, forgotten. This is not to say that everyone born in the family of an enemy of the working class is irredeemable. But it is telling that an “investigative journalist” failed to mentionthat his father was actively encouraging the overthrow of Col. Muammar Gaddafi. Or, seemingly more importantly, the conflict of interest in informing on “potential allies” within the Libyan government because they were his business partners.²¹
Benjamin Norton is more confusing, more elusive, a reporter for AJ-English, the Nation, and the Times, is, perhaps the greatest list of spooked up posturing available for one author. Now, that alone is not evidence, however, that combined with his pieces endorsing the ousting of President Bashar Al-Assad should, certainly raise some questions. Combine that with his ties to Blumenthal and his state department father, though, and all of a sudden the picture gains clarity. Grayzone’s own double-entendre may be worth mentioning here, it is intended to be used to refer to the phrase ISIS uses for regions in which muslims and non-muslims live together peacefully. The other meaning, the one worth mentioning here, is that, in German punk scenes, it represents absolute neutrality on the issue of fascists, instead opting to act as a neutral area, a grayzone.
In this case it is also important to mention that Blumenthal resigned from his post at the Lebanese news source Al Akhbar over “Assad apologia",²² spread the myth that the Libyan attack was somehow related to an ant-Islam movie²³ (writing sic here feels redudant, when it is so clear that it was weapons disputes by salafist elements²⁴). Norton who was correctly called by Professor Asad AbuKhalil for writing an article which would, “reproduce word-for-word the talking points of the Syrian exile opposition.”²⁵ Not to mention a tediously long list of hackneyed opinions which seem to be a caricature of trotskyist organizations in the 80s desperately hoping for relevance. I’d prefer them, at least they weren’t so god damn visible. Khalek, for her part, to round out the trio, would also write, denouncing president Bashar Al-Assad,²⁶ ²⁷ which she would later surreptitiously drop this stance.
None of this group would issue any rebuttals of their former statements, or, even in the most liberal sense, take responsibility for their roles.
Now, why do these people, who have the following in common, all insist on presenting themselves as some sort of noble-dissidents.
A past which is shrouded in mystery, or outright lies.
A history of flip flopping opinions, changing their views, or family suggesting that their positions have changed (Greta’s mother winning a WWF award & her father saying that she was never environmentally involved, for example).
An inexplicably large platform seeming to emerge from state funded sources, and without any real justification based on credentials.
The answer, for better or worse, presents itself as many times before, as the explanation that can only be held logically. They are all pushing a narrative. It was mentioned several paragraphs ago that the bourgeois will ultimately seek to remove all tendencies of democracy, and to universalize their ideology. It was also mentioned that I disagree with Cory about the overarching goal of the Thunberg camp.
First, the goal of capital is always to expand to new, and underdeveloped markets to combat the falling rate of profit. During this time, Greta has served as an impetus. She appears, from nowhere, Arab Spring style, to encourage the overthrow of Evo Morales. In turn, she walks around talking about how “Big Oil” (as if small oil would not play the same games) wants you dead, because they hate you. Blumenthal&Co. Prophesize, at the same time, that your primary enemy is Trump, say no to the orange man, he is bad.
They are not, necessarily incorrect on the latter count, but both forces seek to do the same thing. They make the relations that shape and form the goal mystical. Untouchable, we are left with several options, impeachment, sit around and wait, and revolution. Seeing as they all seem to view working class movements as being pointless, or at least their friend Mike Prysner does,²⁸ a reflection of their petit-bourgeois class stand. How typical for this set, their permitted march, surrounded by their enemies on all sides during it, and left sterile by a complete detachment from any working class efforts, is revolutionary, but those infuriated by violence against a young man and fighting back are the weaker force.
This mystification is targeted, it is driven, and it serves a specific purpose, to make sure that class relations are always so tied up in farcial language that it can not be engaged with meaningfully. Greta, our little judge-prophetess, and Blumenthal&Co. the glorified NGO with a desire to flip-flop more often than a see-saw.
This is the fail-safe mechanism of bourgeois praxis. Until their power is consolidated enough for the kind of direct and open warfare against us they desire, they have to keep the left distracted. Do not attack the bourgeois or their institutions. Attack “Big Oil” attack Trump, make sure you don’t find out anything deeper than that, or you’ll be a real god damn threat. The efforts at maintaining the spectacle are a fail-safe, it requires the maintenance of certain things to continue its status as justified.
When these fake lefts try to establish themselves as the arbiters of truth, using their massive state department funded platforms they gain a title. Authenticity without ever having to be authentic. They are not an organic outcropping of the masses²⁹, but rather they are a response to a system of workers empowering themselves They represent the ideas that once led Antonio Gramsci, that all important philosopher of praxist to say, “through their actions so far, both in Parliament and in the country, the Popolari have demonstrated what social democracy will be like: the way in which the new regime will combine all of the features of our traditional political cliques with new characteristics of the social democratic state— unprincipled, unscrupulous, corrupt, and corrupting.”³⁰
We have seen, time and time again where these so-called “leftists” (of course, they never call themselves communists, or god forbid utter the name of Marx, as to do so would be to undo their own mystification) fall to line. They fight amongst the ruling class, but ultimately they fail to ever address the root of the problem, and if you are not radical in this most definite sense of the word then you are certainly never going to be able to do any real damage to the heart of the imperial project, and certainly, never going to damage capital.
So, who benefits from this mystification? From the removal of class? Well, the answer is clear, as our Deborah Thunderbrain, and indeed, her co-prophets and prophetesses Ocasio-Cortez (the political wing of the eco-fascist offensive), and the genocidaires who back her like Bill Gates³¹ and Jane Goodall,³² who seem to always have enough to say about the population of the imperialized world, but never seem to have anything to say about the massive environmental cost of military. The cover being run here is destructive, it is a source by which these elements can gain political and social power, and best of all, by manufacturing panic, they will be cheered on as they do it.
Endnotes
1. Dietzgen, Joseph “The Religion of Social Democracy”
2. Hebert, Jaques “Fuck the Pope”
3. Jameson, Fredric “The Hegel Variations” pg 49
4. Debord, Guy “The Society of the Spectacle Ch. 1 section 6
5. Beller, Jonathan “The Cinematic Mode of Production”
6. Katz, Kenneth “In Defense of the Waterfall”
7. Kant, Emmanuel “The Critique of Pure Reason” “System of Principles of Pure Understanding”
8. Adorno, Theodor “Aesthetics” “Lecture 16”
9. Hegel, William “Phenomonology of Spirit” “Self Consciousness”
10. Debray, Regis “Critique of Political Reason” “The Creation of the Beast”
11. Zetkin, Clara.
. www.marxists.org.
12. Gramsci, Antonio “Validity of Ideologies”
13. Marx, Karl “Theses on Freurbach”
14. Sorel, Georges “Reflections on Violence” Ch. 1
15. Marx, Karl “Theses on Freurbach” “VI”
16. Hegel, William “Phenomonology of the Spirit” “Sense Certainty”
17. Staff, NPR. “Transcript: Greta Thunberg's Speech At The U.N. Climate Action Summit.” NPR. NPR, September 23, 2019. https://www.npr.org/2019/09/23/763452863/transcript-greta-thunbergs-speech-at-the-u-n-climate-action-summit.
18. I was genuinely unsure of where to put the scare quotes here, because I can’t tell if them being dissidents or journalists is more laughable to me.
19. Morningstar, Cory. “The Manufacturing of Greta Thunberg - for Consent: The Political Economy of the Non-Profit Industrial Complex [ACT I].” Wrong Kind of Green, January 15, 2020. http://www.wrongkindofgreen.org/2019/01/17/the-manufacturing-of-greta-thunberg-for-consent-the-political-economy-of-the-non-profit-industrial-complex/.
20. Marx, Karl “Communist Manifesto” Chapter 1
21. Schmidt, Michael S. “What Sidney Blumenthal's Memos to Hillary Clinton Said, and How They Were Handled.” The New York Times. The New York Times, May 18, 2015. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/19/us/politics/what-sidney-blumenthals-memos-to-hillary-clinton-said-and-how-they-were-handled.html.
22. Max, Blumenthal. “Part I> Blumenthal> The Right to Resist Is Universal: A Farewell to Al Akhbar and Assad's Apologists.” Rise Up Times, July 31, 2012. https://riseuptimes.org/2012/07/31/part-i-blumenthal-the-right-to-resist-is-universal-a-farewell-to-al-akhbar-and-assads-apologists/.
23. Blumenthal, Max. “Inside the Strange Hollywood Scam That Spread Chaos across the Middle East | Max Blumenthal.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, September 13, 2012. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/sep/13/egypt-libya-hollywood-film.
24. Donati, Jessica. “The Adventures of a Libyan Weapons Dealer in Syria.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, June 18, 2013. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya-syria-idUSBRE95H0WC20130618.
25. AbuKhalil, Asad. “Ben Norton on Yarmouk Camp.” Ben Norton on Yarmouk camp, January 1, 1970. https://angryarab.blogspot.com/2015/01/ben-norton-on-yarmouk-camp.html.
26. “News Media Too Busy Covering Spectacle to Do Its Job.” Rania Khalek. Accessed January 19, 2020. https://raniakhalek.com/news-media-too-busy-covering-spectacle-to-do-its-job/.
27. Khalek, Rania. “Ignored By Western Media, Syrians Describe the Nightmare the Armed Opposition Brought Them.” Alternet.org, June 1, 2017. https://www.alternet.org/2017/05/ignored-western-media-syrians-describe-nightmare-armed-opposition-brought-them/.
28. Goff, Kelly. “More Trayvon Martin Rallies Scheduled in Southern California.” Daily News. Daily News, August 28, 2017.
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29. Gramsci, Antonio “Validity of Ideologies”
30. Gramsci, Antonio “The Nature of the Current Crisis”
31. Levich, Jacob. “Bill Gates and the Myth of Overpopulation.” Medium. Medium, April 26, 2019. https://medium.com/@jacob.levich/bill-gates-and-the-myth-of-overpopulation-ca3b1d89680.
32. Ramsay, Adam. “The Charity Which Campaigned to Ban Syrian Refugees from Britain.” openDemocracy, September 23, 2015. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/charity-which-campaigned-to-ban-syrian-refugees-from-britain/.
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