Fight back - resistance is the
refusal to obey, they say. Yes, I
agree - but I don't want to do
without my smartphone or my caramel
latte macchiato.
Some other definitions:
Paul Willis, English sociologist and representative of cultural theory, describes resistance as discontent against everyday and prevailing conditions.
Note on
everyday:
According to
Michel de
Certeau, everyday life
differs significantly from other areas
of life because it is almost entirely
unconscious and completely repetitive.
And it is precisely in everyday life
that the manifold comforts and
dependencies take place. This is where
desires and needs arise that want to be
satisfied. This is where one allows
oneself to be seduced, where to be
entangled in the web of obedience.
Michel de Certeau's theory of everyday life and the associated concepts of appropriation also expose the problem of resistance. Aren't we all already trapped in our own comfort zone, at least the generations that have been shaped by the "Western ideas of the world"? Who wants to imagine a world without the internet and smartphones? Too many already "play" with Alexa and pay without cash because it's so cool and convenient. Too many no longer dare to walk around a new city without google maps. All thinking is being outsourced. Too much trust in technology and progress - too little reflection on what technology and progress have really caused...
...but let´s continue with more definitions on resistence:
Michel Foucault defined resistance as an attack on relations of power and domination. He concludes that resistance and power are mutually dependent. Resistance is the antipole of power. But power relations can only exist through a multiplicity of points of resistance.
Guy Debord was radical critic of capitalism and the capitalist ideology of consumerism, which he denounces as the enactment of "false needs". And in this spectacle, everyone, boss or worker, man or woman, careerist or rebel, plays only their assigned role. Debord describes that reality becomes invisible behind an illusory world of advertising, cliches, propaganda, but these in turn have very real effects on people´s lives
Where right
becomes wrong, resistance becomes a duty
Resistance as a form of social and
political conflict has been anchored in
European political culture since ancient
times. In almost all forms of society,
there was or is a consensus that
resistance can be necessary and
legitimate in certain cases.
Resistance is the attack on relations of
power and domination, so it is primarily
directed against the state, against
governments, against any form of
authority. This definition includes any
form of anti-action against the state
and its authority...
Notes on civilisation
It is said that cultures are what has grown historically. This is where their strength, their distinctiveness, and also their injustice comes from. When cultures become reflexive, civilisation emerges.
...today, civilisation - that is pacification and taming of cultures
The task of "civilising" the subjugated peoples played a central role in the legitimising discourse on the colonialism of the great European powers.This strategy of their own territorial expansion continues to be carried through.
Resistance is not only a global challenge
Every single individual supports these philanthropic activities as consumeer, user, member etc.- you too! This is where the resistance begins.
Get out, don't take part any more. Research how the companies are interconnected. Cut back on yourself - as an individual - until new, more socially acceptable, sustainable and equitable options take root. There are already such companies, but they do not (yet) stand a chance against the big players. And that is due to the convenience of the individual user.
It ended up that we are all the storm, we cause it - with all our little daily desires.
With our desperate attempts to get out of our personal unhappiness. Still we want more, we always want something else. Even today, we can be made to feel that we need this or that. Advertising, manipulation is everywhere and the greed for everything is unbroken...
We have to free ourselves from this. Basically, we have to resist ourselves. That is the challenge. Being happy and satisfied is not something you achieve through hyperconsumption.
As the Invisible Committee wrote at the end of 2017:
"The destructive force of the revolutionary process can do nothing without that charge of quiet positivity inherent in any happy existence."
So the individual is addressed - it's about the question of happiness and new ways of living that enable the individual to escape the system. Refusal and silence instead of noisy proclamations. There will be no overthrow of the existing order without a commitment to a desirable life.
We have known this for almost two generations now. And it was seen coming, but successfully suppressed again and again.
And now it's here: the super disaster. The shelves are empty, the supply has come to a standstill, even though there is still a bit of production left. But resources are running out, the soil is drying out, the insects and bees are gone.
Nevertheless, you get even more happily shopping and consuming people on board. But hyperconsumption is collapsing because it is eating itself up.
And now they are desperately looking for someone to blame. Time to think of fetish....
