hahahahahaha Although many would argue that the establishment and globalization of corporatism and corporate meritocracy are neither political nor social movements, it is my opinion that it is this particular monoculture which has most permeated our collective understanding and activity and therefore the most influential sociopolitical movement of this and the previous century. Throughout the twentieth century, and indeed into the twenty-first, the establishment of a new and separate type of sociopolitical organization has quietly been building; the corporation. From its not-so-humble roots in the near-monarchies of monopoly, the hierarchies of corporatism have been consolidating energies (resource, money, power) into increasingly singular circles. Where once there stood oil and steel barons, now stand CEOs. Where once reigned cronyism, now reigns brand loyalty and lobyists. is you is, or is you aint my constituents? The rally cry echoes from all sides. put your money where your mouth is! As if the use of the dollar in place of the ballot could make the vote somehow just. For, just as the means of production are controlled by vested interests, so too is the productions ends; capital and interest. From time to time there have been those who have been able to see the game for what it is, a losing one for all but the few,and yet Andrew Jackson couldnt kill the Federal Reserve Bank, and Eisenhower revelation of the military-industrial complex fell largely on deaf ears. This is known, for had these heroics been effective, subsidies for oil would surely be lesser than government funded education grants, and copyright lawyers would be paid less than college professors. Instead, the Facebook corporation owns my image in exchange for the privilege of participation in their community, while simultaneously collecting funding from thousands, if not millions, of advertising partners. Perhaps the greatest irony is that these corporate entities thrive off of the attention and participation of the common human. Although the crushing weight of their avarice swiftly depletes resources both natural and human, they require the participation, consenting or otherwise, of those very same individuals, and participate we do! Though it does not serve the best interests of the global human and non-human community we continue to participate by de facto because this system has become our most common central referent. Consider this: how well could any given individual communicate with the average global citizen without using language or images referential to the corporate monoculture? More to the point; when was the last time you overheard a group of youths laughing at something other than Family Guy references or the ilk? Through the prevalence of corporatism and monetary meritocracy throughout the past century and into the present, the entirety of our lives, from material and physical life to mental and emotional life, have been largely commodified and monetized into a global monoculture. It is for this reason that I posit corporatism as the most influential movement of the twentieth century.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 20:43:37 +0000
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