Der Schizophrene und des Kaisers neue Kleider

Slavoj Žižek über den angeblichen Gebärdendolmetscher bei der Mandela-Trauerfeier, Auszug:

"I remember how, in the first "free" elections in Slovenia in 1990, in a TV broadcast by one of the leftist parties, the politician delivering the message was accompanied by a sign language interpreter (a gentle young woman). We all knew that the true addressees of her translation were not the deaf but we, the ordinary voters: the true message was that the party stood for the marginalised and handicapped.

It was like great charity spectacles which are not really about children with cancer or flood victims, but about making us, the public, aware that we are doing something great, displaying solidarity.

Now we can see why Jantjie's gesticulations generated such an uncanny effect once it became clear that they were meaningless: what he confronted us with was the truth about sign language translations for the deaf – it doesn't really matter if there are any deaf people among the public who need the translation; the translator is there to make us, who do not understand sign language, feel good.

And was this also not the truth about the whole of the Mandela memorial ceremony? All the crocodile tears of the dignitaries were a self-congratulatory exercise, and Jangtjie translated them into what they effectively were: nonsense."

(den ganzen Text findet man auf der Webseite des Guardian)

All the world's a stage...

...and all the "anarchists" merely players:

(via François Tremblay)

Ein bitterer Sieg für Naomi Klein

Andrew Potter schreibt zur Neuausgabe von No logo (anlässlich des 10. Jubiläums):

"For all its faith in a transformative grassroots political movement, the principal legacy of No Logo was that it served as a research manual for corporations looking to sell their products to consumers looking for meaning, integrity, and purpose in their shopping cart. Ten years on, still waiting for the revolution, Naomi Klein scarcely seems to notice that she's providing invaluable marketing advice to her opponents."

("The revenge of the brands. How Corporate America turned Naomi Klein's anti-branding manifesto on its head" aus der Mai-Ausgabe von Reason).

Tja. Wie schrieb schon Bob Black: "Diversion can also recuperate, recuperation can also divert." (Quelle)

A propos postmodern

Alles was zum Gipfel in Kopenhagen noch zu sagen ist, sagen Michael Schellenberger und Ted Nordhaus in einem sehr unterhaltsamen Essay auf dem Blog des Breakthrough Institute. Zwei Auszüge:

"With all hopes of a treaty abandoned months ago, diplomats and greens are in a state of serious cognitive dissonance, attempting to resolve the seriousness of the problem with the total lack of a meaningful government response. They do so, not by asking hard questions about the viability of the Kyoto framework, but rather by creating a simulacrum of action to substitute for any meaningful action to reduce emissions or adapt to a warmer world. 

In this, Copenhagen represents the first truly postmodern global event in human history. Other generations had Versailles, Yalta, Bretton-Woods -- agreements that re-organized nation states and shaped the modern world. We, by contrast, have Copenhagen, which has no power to do anything. In reality, Copenhagen is no more effectual than the made for media confabs like Davos. But the United Nations, multinational green groups, and sympathetic reporters have succeeded in creating the impression of action where there is, in fact, none at all. (...)

Yet, from London to Canberra to Washington, D.C., liberals and greens sell business-as-usual policies as the keys to averting ecological apocalypse. And everywhere conservatives and skeptics warn that these same policies will lead to economic ruin. The denialists' pas de deux continues, the multiple echo chambers spinning in unison.

In this environment, skeptics and greens alike make hallucinogenic statements and create bizarre media stunts. The president of the Maldives, a nation of 300,000 people, summoned the press corps to a 'cabinet meeting' -- under water, in scuba gear -- based on the apparent belief that such media stunts will persuade China and India, nations of two billion people, to fundamentally alter their development paths. Youth climate activists sing 'Give Peace a Chance' not because global warming is like war but because it's the best protest song they knew.

Skeptical conservatives insist that Copenhagen, a Davos-style green media event, is in fact the beginning of a new, secret global government. And Senator James Inhofe, who not only denies man-made warming but also believes that it was invented by a vast conspiracy, announced that he would travel to Copenhagen to act as a one man 'truth squad'."

(via Roger Pielke Jr.)