The readings and discussion this week about virtual gaming and e-waste were ones I found to be quite interesting, and yet also quite product focused. I feel that in our attempts to deconstruct production, we left out two important pieces of evidence, that of the corporation and the individual mind. I know that the argument has been made against corporations in the past, however it seems as though we place more emphasis on the effect the product has on our lives, than the actual corporations who make them. Are they so far removed from responsibility that we no longer take notice of them? The Yes Men, in their social experiments, have tried to shed light on corporate activity and in fact have done a very good job at it.Yet how much resistance do we actually pose against the corporation?
In 1886 corporations were granted personhood, meaning that they have the same rights as humans do. This legal arrangement has posed many problems for us as citizens whose main discourse, production and prosperity relies on a type of capitalist framework. Oftentimes I feel as though competing against commercialism is a helpless cause. Is there really any way to stop the “global hierarchy of power” (Dyer-Witheford and de Peuter) of corporations?
Call me idealistic, but I want to say and believe that there is a way and one organization leading the way is Adbusters.
Adbusters is “a global network of culture jammers and creatives working to change the way information flows, the way corporations wield power, and the way meaning is produced in our society” (www.adbusters.org). Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz, founders of Adbusters, believe in the movement. They also believe that Western culture has been overcome by infotoxins. They propose that those fed up with consumerism join the Mental Environmentalism Movement. This movement “draws a connection between the pollution of our minds by commercial messaging and the social, environmental, financial and ethical catastrophes that loom before humanity” (www.adbusters.org). I want to pose a challenge to us, well actually two challenges. The first is a challenge to participate in National Buy Nothing Day (the day also known as Black Friday in the United States). Secondly, I want to propose that we participate in Digital Detox Week, a week where you literally take a week off of using digital devices. Can we separate ourselves from things such as Facebook, Twitter, cell phones or laptops for an entire week, 168 hours, 7 whole days?
While it may seem that ceasing to shop on Black Friday or participating in a digital detox week may not have an effect on consumerism, it could. If everyone in North America was serious about bridging the digital divide, caring for the earth and lessening the gap between rich and poor, these events would not be a hidden secret to social movements, but more so a national holiday. Are we willing to stand up against the corporation? Or will we simply going to sit back passively, taking in the commodities, ideals and lifestyles these entities promise to give us in exchange for our silence?
I agree that many strides have been taken in order to shed light on the fact that we are living in a highly controlled society which is ruled by an elite group of (lets be honest) old white men. But how many people know where to buy an Adbuster magazine? If we weren't students of communications would we understand or feel the need to resist as much?
ReplyDeleteThursday in the Concourse I noticed it was "Oath of Silence" day as a model of resistance. Once its placed in such a high popularity/traffic venue, the resistance becomes more effective. With other forms of resistance which are decentralized or "all over the world" (as the event location on Facebook) its much more difficult to be taken as seriously than a resistance with a tangible place.
I agree with your comments about prominence, but feel that to go mainstream, would be against Adbusters' motto of anti-corporatization. What type of place would classify as non-corporate? A school maybe, but even they run off of a certain capitalist model. I think a neutral place for Adbusters to maybe promote their magazine would be the Internet.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that in order to partake in things that are alternative, the effort and timing is much greater than those things that have been popularized by mainstream media. It's kind of like the idea of an indie band you love making it big, but once they do, the nostalgia and resistance of liking them for their 'difference' wears off.