I haven’t had a chance to see it yet but the reviews suggest #ascension may be worth seeing in light of David’s analysis of Xi Jinping’s *Hobbesian* Chinese state. Official trailer: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ojRgr6h68IQ
> On Feb 12, 2022, at 6:00 AM, nettime-l-requ...@mail.kein.org wrote: > > Send nettime-l mailing list submissions to > nettime-l@mail.kein.org > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > nettime-l-requ...@mail.kein.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > nettime-l-ow...@mail.kein.org > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of nettime-l digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: The Meaning of Boris Johnson (David Garcia) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2022 10:26:56 +0000 > From: David Garcia <d.gar...@new-tactical-research.co.uk> > To: patrice riemens <patr...@xs4all.nl>, > <bhcontinentaldr...@gmail.com> > Cc: "nettim...@kein.org" <nettim...@kein.org> > Subject: Re: <nettime> The Meaning of Boris Johnson > Message-ID: > <ba51fe5f-9329-4300-a9d5-53a985f31...@new-tactical-research.co.uk> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > Many thanks Brian and Patrice? When Johnson came on TV as head of state and > did not advise but ?instructed? me, my family and the rest of the country to > ?lock down? I experienced the actual fact and reality of state power as never > before. Much as I despise Johnson and all his works I supported this use of > state power as a uniquely powerful means of supporting the value of mutual > dependency over the value of individual freedom, (this was very difficult for > Johnson as a libertarian Tory as we now realise in the wake of partygate). A > new and intense awareness of mutual dependency and the collective agency of > which we are capable was the great revelation of the pandemic and our only > hope of survival. > > > > But the debate over state power and where we might seek to draw the line goes > well beyond traji/comic Johnson sideshow. Anyone claiming, as Patrice, does > that the state is merely an impotent ?conveyer belt? steered by corporate > forces has to explain the effectiveness of Xi Jinping?s Hobbesian Chinese > state in reigning in their own corporate giants. The last 18 months has seen > Xi cracking the whip and imprisoning (and doing anything else required) to > re-assert state sovereignty over corporate hubris. This even extends to > legislating time allowed to kids for gaming not to mention tinkering with the > education policy as Xi has decided that the tech and finance sectors are > sucking too many talented graduates away from more tangible forms of > manufacturing. > > > > Some European/western political actors are looking with envy at the perceived > effectiveness of the Chinese (and other proactive Sth East Asian states) in > their forthright nation-wide actions in containing Covid. The likelihood is > that this is just a foretaste of an increasingly loud debate over the limits > and role state power will play as the climate crunch really starts to bite. > This is when we will return to the earlier postings on this thread that spoke > about the science wars. > > > > David Garcia > > > > > > From: patrice riemens <patr...@xs4all.nl> > Date: Saturday, 12 February 2022 at 08:51 > To: <bhcontinentaldr...@gmail.com>, David Garcia > <d.gar...@new-tactical-research.co.uk> > Cc: "nettim...@kein.org" <nettim...@kein.org> > Subject: Re: <nettime> The Meaning of Boris Johnson > > > > Aloha, > > > > Let me (allow me to) take Brian's rejoinder as an opportunity to address > David's and his argument in face of the (dangerous) shenanigans in 10, > Clowning Street (-Marina Hyde, TG) ... and beyond. > > > > There is absolutely no doubt that Boris Johnson is a very 'special' character > and political animal (Rory Stewart too, btw - but then in a positive sense), > but as David says, his clowneries are froth while 'his administration is less > of an outlier than it appears' - and this with deadly consequences. > > > > I however do differ with David where he ascribe the current > political-ideological imbroglio to the 'return of the state' as a consequence > of the pandemic. According to me, to put it bluntly, nothing of the such has > happened. The state has become more impotent than ever, and it are the > corporate forces which have and are steering the decision-making process, > with the state as mere conveyor belt. There is no confusion there, and even > if it appears to happen more by default than by design, it is still entirely > deliberate.We have truly and wholesomely entered the era of 'govcorp' where > the administrative apparatus is merely, albeit indispensable, exo-squeleton > of global corporate governance, with, in accordance with the spirit of the > times, 'hyper' - and hyper rich - individuals at the helm. Welcome to > neo-feudalism. > > > > I am afraid that is such a dispensation, clowns like Boris Johnson, and his > exceptionally 'gifted' motley crew ('Jakey' Rees-Mogg, 'Mad Nad' -ine > Dorries, & the many such) are mere props (the extent to which they are > conscious of it is unclear) in the tragedy which are embroiled in for quite a > while: that of post-politics, that is a system where the powers are not what > they look and are not located where they seem to be, and the ongoings take, > for the people at large, every appearance of a puzzle palace. I think this is > one of the reason for populism: desperately trying to make sense where it has > vanished from the political scene (which has vanished too in the process) . > > > > & With regard to Brian's derive of the unhappy pranksters towards a military > expedient: he is completely right, while at the same time, to parakeet Jean > Marie Le Pen's totally infame dismissal of the Shoah as a footnote, it is, > 'ontologically speaking', a mere side-show. Even though, with a war in Europe > at our doorstep, we might very well die in it for real. > > > > Yeah, it's a fine mess indeed. > > > > Cheers all the same , and happy week-end > > > > > > On 02/11/2022 9:17 PM Brian Holmes <bhcontinentaldr...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > David, your second paragraph sums up a really complex situation in a few > words, thank you. > > > > It's fairly easy to understand how right-wing populists raise the anger of > the people. They do it with fear, born largely of their own mismanagement. > Fear of the pandemic, of economic disruption, of war, of climate change - and > maybe most of all, fear of the "return of the state" that's more-or-less > required by all that. But you put your finger on something else, which is > that these populist (and yet usually upper class) politicians have to go on > *pretending* to believe in their old conservative lines about lowering taxes > and shrinking government. Where will the pretence lead them? Right now BoJo > is trying to save his political ass by exploiting the fear of war, and more, > the nationalist pride of militarism - which would be the logical supplement > to the old conservative lines. In fact he's pretty much openly claiming a > military role for post-Brexit "Global Britain." > > > > How do you see this latest development? Is it going to work? Could > warmongering nationalism be the new rhetorical resource of the right, beyond > Johnson? Or is this just his last desperate gambit on the way out? > > > >> From my viewpoint it is sickening to see this kind of political theater >> played in the face of genuinely dangerous situations. > > > > best, Brian > > > > Rory Stuart, one of the old-style Tories purged by Johnson and Cummings has > created a fabulous taxonomy to illustrate Johnson?s gifts ?as the most > accomplished liar in British public life ?perhaps the best liar ever to serve > as prime minister,? > > > > ?He has? according to Stuart ?mastered the use of error, omission, > exaggeration, diminution, equivocation and flat denial. He has perfected > casuistry, circumlocution, false equivalence and false analogy. He is equally > adept at the ironic jest, the fib and the grand lie; the weasel word and the > half-truth; the hyperbolic lie, the obvious lie, and the bullshit lie ? which > may inadvertently be true.? > > > > But despite all of this it is just about possible to argue that Johnson has > read the runes better than many other Tories and that much of the weirdness > of UK politics is to some extent froth. His administration is perhaps less of > an outlier than it appears. He is a man of few fixed ideological beliefs > which is how (like Merkle) he has held together a coalition with > contradictory ideologies.. The ?greased piglet? is hard to pin down. > > > > > > > > Like many countries and regions, Johnson has had to respond to the biggest > change brought about by the pandemic which has been to accelerate a shift in > favour of a greater role for the state. Including the nation state in part > because of the pandemic pressure to close boarders. Unlike other Tories > Johnson is at ease with this along with other aspects of an interventionist > state, despite frequently pretending otherwise.. The return of the nation > state is part of what is becoming a more geo-politically charged world which > includes a new awareness of the entanglement of supply chain pressures with > questions of security and risk (e.g. Russian pipeline). The newly empowered > state is also a consequence of the eye-watering amount of borrowing required > to keep our economies from flat-lining. So even for Tories on the right of > the party any return to the old fiscal narrative will be pretty much > impossible. And Johnson has been quicker to recognise this than other Tories. > Despite Thatcherite n > ostalgia there can be no going back to the Cameron Osbourne response to the > 2008 crisis. Johnson?s conservatism recognises that there can be no return > to small state with low taxes conservatism. His claims to NetZero ambitions > means that world has gone..(But of course he often has to pretend otherwise) > The post-covid mad Johnsonian UK has the appearance of a hyper-weird outlier. > But wipe the froth of the Johnson Cappuccino and he maybe less of an outlier > than it first appears. > > > > > > > > David Garcia > > > > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > <http://mx.kein.org/pipermail/nettime-l/attachments/20220212/3af433f1/attachment-0001.html> > > ------------------------------ > > # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission > # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, > # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets > # more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l > > End of nettime-l Digest, Vol 173, Issue 13 > ******************************************
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