THE SHOW SO FAR Dispatches from the fringes of Late Capitalism/ notes on the propagation of rare trees. |
Friday, April 18, 2003 My mother surprised me today. She has been trolling the internet and snagged an interesting link to an article by John Pilger in Z Magazine entitled 'We See Too Much, We Know Too Much. That's Our Best Defense' in which he basically asserts that our broad access to information has fundamentally changed the power dynamic, creating a problem for the hegemony in promoting propaganda. I hope he's right. Anecdotally it seems to ring true but the consensus building mechanisms of polling and compliant mass media are extremely powerful within the US. How much 'alternative' information about Iraq is filtering down to the bulk of the population? Only time will tell. Tuesday, April 15, 2003 I am seeking solace in observing ruderal ecologies. I took my class to the local garbage dump today, where we saw broad and lanceolate leaved plantains (plantago), dock (rumex), bitter cress, crysanthemum leucanthemum and buttercup growing (and in fact thriving) in gravel soaked with toxic waste. Oddly, some of these are the very plants that are useful in cleaning toxins out of the human body, especially plantago and dock. Monday, April 14, 2003 This is the sort of thing that keeps me up at night: American Marines interviewed in the ruins of one of Saddam's opulent palaces (on tonights BBC World TV News) say they are awe struck by the contrast between the wealth of Saddam and the rest of the Iraqi people. They should feel very much at home in Iraq because America has one of the greatest income inequities in the industrialized world. Could it be that the American military is starting to promote class struggle? posted by oliver | 12:56 AM |
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