Morning Comrades.
Apologies for a slightly delayed dispatch today, there is a vicious flu ( on top of the ol’ roni ) floating around Hamburg, everyone around me and myself have been out cold for 10 days or more, concentration is out of the window and work does not stop.
This is most likely going to be a multi-part story with this part not dwelling too much on what these so called culture wars actually are but more on what to do about them.
The term culture war is a loan translation of the German Kulturkampf ('culture struggle'). In German, Kulturkampf, a term coined by Rudolf Virchow, refers to the clash between cultural and religious groups in the campaign from 1871 to 1878 under Chancellor Otto von Bismarck of the German Empire against the influence of the Catholic Church. The translation was printed in some American newspapers at the time and thus the idea made its way into capitalist agenda of conservatism. I will get into the history and the lineage from Kulturkampf to Anti-Woke later. Essentially, or rather superficially, it is an engagement between various societal ideas and plans between two or more groups within that society.
That, however, I will call bullshit on.
Essentially, “culture wars” are a manufactured phenomena by the ruling classes, propagated by their media empires - and yes, 99% of all consumed media is owned by the ruling classes and used entirely for manufacturing consent - to divert attention from the oppression of working classes, the subsequent destruction and looting of our resources and to cause division between all working people to then, further, avert attention away from the capitalist enslavement and destruction.
Additionally, I understand Culture Wars not only as manufactured but as an additional tool of the ruling classes to stop social progression towards an egalitarian, sustainable and fair society, one that not only stands in direct opposition to their power, but furthermore, is the exact opposite to the world we live in today. Again, quoting Graeber, “Everyday we wake up and collectively make a world together; but which one of us, left to our own devices, would ever decide they wanted to make a world like this one?” - collectively, I would argue, it would most definitely head towards the scientific utopia we have often talked about here.
Plainly speaking, none of the topics in the Wester Sphere that were manufactured in said culture wars are anything but revolutionary, and left to our devices, we would have arrived at their conclusion non violently centuries ago: from slavery, child labour, equal rights to drug criminalization, secularism, anti-war and universal healthcare. Whatever your choice of topic, it most of the time comes down to common sense and care vs. unhinged exploitation for profit by unhinged, psychopathic mf’ers.
With that, let’s get to the important parts facing us today. It is without a doubt that these days, everyone and their pet, is bombarded with these so-called culture wars, especially since post-work entertainment has moved from collectivism ( going to the pub ) to hyper-individualism, i.e. social media and traditional “news” media. Again, it is absolutely vital to understand that none of these platforms, from Disney to TikTok, are here to provide anything other than manufactured consent to support the narrative demanded of the ruling classes. That’s it. Logically, the majority of “information” ( and it is anything but ) we consume - a phenomena in on itself in capitalism worth talking about -1 isn't materially relevant to our life's but exists for the above mentioned reasons: distraction and division.
Our engagement with all this has to be discussed, understood and dealt with delicately, however, as with everything else that is important, it is not a clear binary case of do this and don’t do that, but a rather nuanced multi-dimensional reality.
If we agree that the ruling classes utilize culture wars, that specifically use linguistics we have to learn what their use of language means. It is rare that the ruling classes actually create new languages but they and their fascist puppets are extremely effective at co-opting existing counter-capitalist narratives and using them for their own purposes: the word originally comes from the U.S. African American community and dates back to the 1930s. Huddie Ledbetter, a.k.a. Lead Belly, uses the phrase near the end of the recording of his 1938 song "Scottsboro Boys", which tells the story of nine black teenagers accused of raping two white women, saying: "I advise everybody, be a little careful when they go along through there – best stay woke, keep their eyes open." This represents that "Black Americans' need to be aware of racially motivated threats and the potential dangers of white America". These days after a few years of manufacturing, you have psychopaths like Musk doing this:
The point being in order to understand what our so-called leaders are doing, saying and not telling us, we have to study and understand their weaponized vernacular. This comes with out a doubt and I tip my hat to those comrades that spent their time doing so. Media analysis, since “media” being their tool of division and distraction, and the subsequent education of their findings are a definite part in countering the continued oppression of these people.
This is where it gets a little difficult for me though and begets a nuanced discussion. Any analysis without subsequent action is irrelevant for the cause of liberation, more so, if the analysis is all that takes place, it becomes counter-revolutionary.
Again, plainly speaking, yes, we have to understand what is being used against us, but it cannot be the end and be all of the reaction and furthermore demands a clear action against this abuse of power. Or, don’t become a pawn in the “discourse” of any or all culture wars, but understand them, engage when needed ( usually when some fascist does some fascist shit in your local and you need to put the prick in their place ) but do not waste all of your energy fighting a pre-determined “war” within pre-determined confines, such as social media. Not only is the utterly counter-revolutionary but you will loose, utterly and always. It’s as if you were to go to Las Vegas and believing you will win. No. The game is always rigged against you and the same goes here. The platforms, the topics and the players are all pre-determined, paid for and supported by the ruling classes and exist solely to occupy you from the actual workings and events being pulled by the 1% that actively work against you.
In short: Culture Wars are manufactured events engineered by the ruling classes for both maintaining power and diversion/division. If you find yourself agreeing with the establishment on any issue, the first question you have to ask yourself is: “How are my beliefs being weaponized against me to serve wealthy interests?”
Learn their vernacular to increase awareness of fascist dog whistles and tell-tales aka Know Your Enemy.
Remain actionable and avert reaction by giving in to a rigged game you cannot win. Hit them where it hurts. Education, Agitation and Organization.
Thank you for your time, attention and rage.
Yours, warmly,
V.
Ok, just briefly, the narrative that we “consume” information is wild in the sense that “information” isn’t meant to be eaten and shat out, but shared, discussed and used for a progressive development, and betterment, of society. Information is not a commodity but an essential part of the natural world. But that’s capitalism for you.