Peter Lamborn Wilson speaks at the Libertarian Book Club at the Brecht Forum on June 22, 2011. He is introduced by Bill Weinberg and discusses the topic, “Does Anarchism Have A Future In The 21St Century”
Peter Lamborn Wilson
Communities of Resistance – Peter Lamborn Wilson Interview
Technology, the triumph of capital, what I call the technopathocracy, the rule of sick machinery, what looked like the absolute triumph of neo-conservative / neo-liberal global capitalism that suddenly, it was no longer possible to even criticize capitalism, suddenly this was just like water or air, now it’s to be a given in our society. And the internet, and other forms of modern communication technology, although most people seem to think that this increases community, in my view, it destroys it. Because community, to me, is based on physical reality, not on communication devices. And when I hear things about the internet community, it just makes me want to puke! It’s like talking about the law enforcement community, which is another favourite phrase of American journalism, as if these are all kindly neighbours lending cups of sugar to each other. This is a fucking armed occupation force! That we pay out of our own pockets — help the police, beat yourself up! And of course, America is at the forefront of this. We started the whole television-automobile-suburban culture, which its alienation, and the fact that you don’t know who you’re living next to. This is not society! This is the breakdown of society. This is atomization…
Interview With Peter Lamborn Wilson
If we take the net as a metaphor for that global society then it’s inevitable that Coca-Cola and Disney World will take over. Because that is the one world – if the net retains its anarchic quality, its egalitarianism, its horizontal structure, as opposed to its pyramidical structure, then a plurality of different personhoods are possible. True communicativeness, not so much communication as communicativeness, a quality of communication not just a spectacle of communication, with a deep heart to heart or what Sufi called a ‘breast to breast.’ It’s possible the net could be a tool for this, and that is why I have retained some interest in it, though I have become more and more cynical and pessimistic. In as much that the net will be taken over by the Coca-Cola culture, it’s just going to be another medium like all other media. If the net can resist the centralization of capital and the centralization of militarism then it could fight against false globalism for a real solidarity of peoples, but is this going to happen I don’t know.
