David Berman and Epistemological Closure in the Propaganda State
"There is no leisure with dignity in an unfinished world." – DCB, at NYU Writers House, 7/25/10
by Jeremy Schmall
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David Berman’s life has been one of failure and refusal. At least, that’s what he said at the very rare talk he gave at NYU on July 25th, the concluding event of the inaugural Open City Summer Writing Workshop. Although the idea of Berman being a failure was news to me—I am an enormous fan of his book of poems (Actual Air) and his former band (Silver Jews)—he does have a point. He didn’t follow up his book with another book, he refused to tour with his band for years, and when he finally capitulated, and the touring started to eke out money and win over a committed fan base, he quit music to fail at writing a memoir, and then nearly created a TV show based on his life, but walked away when he realized what that would look like. But both writing and music are behind him now. What he’s after instead—and which he communicated through a wide-ranging, associative, often sublime speech marked by long, meditative silences—focuses on his father, Richard Berman, a high-paid PR man who creates and disseminates misinformation on behalf of corporate giants. His work effects the choices we all make everyday.
It’s tempting to believe we have a wide spectrum of choices, and are operating at a zero-level, in which we receive information at a neutral remove—and then react—but is that possible? The amount of corporate (and other) propaganda already circulating in our minds—at the level of pre-conscious thought—is staggering. And that’s where the true power is. And precisely where that power is, you’ll find Richard Berman hard at work. There’s a detailed account up at Bermanexposed.org, but for the present discussion it’s enough to know that he goes straight to the public—with ghost-written editorials, TV ads, websites—fighting on behalf of the corporations who profit from (to name a few) genetically modified food, high fructose corn syrup, trans-fats, union busting, minimum wage stagnation, tanning beds, and puppy mills. Berman’s father is possibly the most evil man in America, according to Berman, working at the intersection of politics and industry, touching nearly every issue, and affecting how those issues are perceived by the public.
From defeatthedebt.com, a Richard Berman project
It is difficult to impose ideas onto people on the level of argument; people will resist, often outright and without consideration. The natural, critical, conscious mind serves essentially as a spam box, trapping and discarding the vast multitude of input we receive everyday. However, it can be bypassed. As advertisers and other propagandists have learned, there is a more effective (and more sinister) way to convince people of something: by hiding information, obscuring its true intention, delivering it through supposedly neutral mediums, and veiling it in Orwellian phrases (“The Center for Consumer Freedom,” a Berman shill company, for example, advocates on behalf of the gigantic food and restaurant industries, not consumers); the cloaking device sneaks information past the critical-conscious mind, and plants it in a place where it will unconsciously be used by someone when “deciding” how they feel about an issue. In other words, the subject’s zero-level becomes one of already siding with [blank] issue. And, crucially, at the same time, the self-reflective stance—I am an objective, rational, freethinking person—will appear unaffected and un-manipulated.
This is what I believe Berman means by “epistemological closure,” a phrase he used numerous times during his talk. It is essentially a closing-off of reality itself, the creation of a tight-fitting worldview produced by corporate propaganda in the service of corporate profits. This is propaganda that goes far beyond placing an argument into an “open” world where you are able to freely make up your mind on it. However, it is that experience (of “free thought”) which is how it must be perceived in order to work; and further, that perception is an extra dimension of the propaganda itself. That is to say, the full function of the propaganda creates the extra dimension of it being a simple, unadulterated “common sense” idea, freely and spontaneously generated “from within.”
When I produce a thought, personally, the experience feels spontaneous, willed, and unmanipulated. But is it? Though of course that’s how it feels, when I stop to consider the enormous amount of advertisements and other propaganda I unconsciously, and therefore uncritically, absorb on a daily basis, it becomes much more difficult to discern where “my” thoughts begin, and the “outside” manipulation ends. I have definitely had the experience of “independently thinking” that a certain style of (unavailable) clothing would look good, only to find it readily available in stores in a matter of weeks. Although I’d like to believe I have some bizarre fashion prescience, the much more likely scenario is that I had been somehow primed by subconscious advertising signals (clothing worn by actors on television and in magazines; some companies even employ attractive models to wear their brand’s clothing in visible locations in major cities); these signals reach an area in my mind from which I “independently” reach specific conclusions. Although this example might be a bit silly, I think it demonstrates how one is not necessarily “free” to make up one’s mind about something, how the influence can reach beyond the critical mind—bypass it altogether—and then suddenly appear as though independently created from within.
Equally important to epistemological closure is the structuring of our “free” choices. We might be offered an infinite set of options, without quite realizing that what we’ve been offered is merely a subset, a range of choices that is acceptable only so long as it stays in that narrow range. The truly, fundamentally different choices are kept off the table, out of sight, invisible. For example, where I grew up, in a small suburb in southern Ohio, when I was hungry it often appeared to me that I had a wide range of choices. In my head I would literally go down the list of where I might eat: McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, Hardee’s, Big Boy, etc., trying to figure out what I was in the mood for. Although I was offered a high quantity of choices, the actual range of foods I had to choose from was pathetically limited; in fact, most fast food chains have nearly identical menus (small variations on the same meat-based sandwiches, french fries, and soft drinks), while adopting an outward stance of being radically different from their competitors. I’m free to choose, but my choices are structured in a very specific way. In that epistemological world, the truly revolutionary stance would be to choose what’s not offered as a choice, to eat only “free” food from my garden, or to adopt a so-called “freegan” lifestyle and eat only what’s discarded.
Sometimes one is only free to choose provided they make the “correct” choice. Was it not this kind of “choice” Saddam Hussein faced in 2002-2003? The ultimatum given to him was a) “fully” cooperate with the UN inspectors, or b) admit he had weapons of mass destruction, or c) face an armed invasion. There was no fourth option, that of “choosing” actually not having WMDs. So, even though he had no weapons of mass destruction (and therefore couldn’t “fess up” to having them), and although he was complying with UN inspectors (who could search his compounds indefinitely, only to be forever “kept away” from the “secret” WMD stash), his only real “choice” was to face an armed overthrow of his government. Similarly, recall how the Iraq war mantra in the US became that of “choosing” between “fighting them over there, or fighting them here.” Not fighting them at all was never given as an option.
Berman’s father is currently scaring people about the national debt in the guise of “nonpartisan” single-issue ads called “Defeat the debt.” Why? So that in the next presidential election, a full two years away, people will be “primed” for the inevitable GOP talking point of national debt (forget that the debt only matters when Democrats hold office). Abstract fear now (in the manner of “nonpartisan” ads, editorials about the debt, destitute-looking “Uncle Sam” actors in major cities theatrically asking people for help paying the debt) will translate into concrete action later (voting against Democrats), without the subject realizing the connection. In the lead-up to the election, therefore, when the voter hears Republicans speaking about fiscal restraint and the “ballooning” national debt, the thought (e.g. Democrats have irresponsibly created an enormous amount of national debt) will spring up in the subject’s mind as though they’d independently created it. The illusion of the willful, objective, rationally-thinking subject remains totally intact. This, of course, is effective mind control, of complete “epistemological closure,” as Berman would say.
Berman’s goal now is to become his father’s nemesis, to shame him into quitting his business, or to at least admit what he’s doing is wrong. To do this, Berman is creating a documentary film, which is something Berman doesn’t want to be doing. He doesn’t like it, just how he didn’t like writing, and how he didn’t like touring. He’d rather be at home in Nashville with his wife. But now he has a “mission.” He likes that word. He thinks we should have missions. “Fear of losing what we have prevents us from giving all we got,” he said a few times. He’s older now, he found God “for a little while,” he’s finished with writing and music, and now he’s thinking of the second half of his life. He knows he can’t change his father. He’ll concede that his cause may already be lost. He might break against the epistemological wall he’s throwing himself at, but in so doing he might also open up a gap in our reality, a glimpse at something beyond the possible. Perhaps now is the time to admit the possible has failed. The impossible remains.
.
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Jeremy Schmall is the founder and co-editor of the Agriculture Reader, and the author of the forthcoming book of poems, Jeremy Schmall & the Cult of Comfort (X-ing). His work has been published in PEN America, Laurel Review, Washington Square, and Forklift Ohio. His last essay for HTMLGiant was “Poetry as Site of Resistance” (6/18/09) He lives in New York City.
Tags: David Berman, epistemological closure, Jeremy Schmall, Open City, Richard Berman
This is great Jeremy.
This was such a good event. Not the reading from Actual Air I expected, but something entirely different and–maybe? probably?–better.
DB is on a mission from G-D.
Great piece. So basically Daddy Berman has the same job as Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception, only he doesn’t have to go in people’s dreams to do it. Skillz.
The event really shook me. Hard to capture the bizarre atmosphere in the room, but I left feeling equally broken and inspired. Thanks for this analysis.
“So basically Daddy Berman has the same job as Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception.”
Real talk.
I wonder what his conversations with his father are like.
Not to mention his conversations with his therapist!
Incidentally, poet Chris Stroffolino was briefly a member of the SJs.
Very nice: “Perhaps now is the time to admit the possible has failed. The impossible remains.” Jesus would be proud. Great post.
It’s really interesting that David Berman’s plan of attack is a documentary. I guess it’s a more direct plan of attack than poetry or music, and probably more immediately effective. But not more impossible, right?
I came of age in the 90s and was immersed in the indie world of that decade. Silver Jews was huge to me. But I thought the last two albums were pretty weak and sort of felt he had exhausted the creative limits of that band. But I really wish he would have written a follow up to Actual Air because that book was just so awesome. I was lucky enough to see him give a couple of readings in NYC after it came out though, so I’ll always have that. I also met him after one of the readings and he couldn’t have been nicer.
Get ready for some Fahrenheit 9/11 shit. He’s gonna Michael Moore this shit.
The difference between Democrats and Republicans is the same as that between McDonald’s and Burger King. Both are bad for you and for society.
Looks like Baby Berman lost his way somewhere deep in a Freudian limbo. Down there, daddy issues overwhelma clear understanding of one’s cultural contribution.
Seriously though, Berman said at the talk that his decision to take on his father signaled his movement from a mode of “reflection” (meaning, his life as a musician and writer) to a mode of “action.” Is he suggesting that muckraking (his word) is more productive or valuable than music or poetry? Does he know just how influential his music and his single book of poems have been? Does he fail to recognize the shortcomings of “oppositional” politics as they play into the resistance to propaganda machines like the one operated by his father? Does he want to be Michael Moore?
Poetry, though it won’t stop people from buying cigarettes, is a better way to teach us how to see and respond intelligently to insidious public relations consulting. Actually, poetry gives us a way to buy cigarettes with the awareness that the freedom we express in killing ourselves with them is fed to us by the tobacco industry–a way to recognize the value of profligacy and waste and commerce and error etc… A way to deal with our complicity in pervading forces of reification–at least, the poets I like offer this… David Berman is one of them.
Nice article Jeremy Schmalls! I wonder what opinions you less publicly harbor over Berman’s decision to get out of your favored medium…
i fucking hope not.
The documentary would be very interesting if it openly negotiated the son/father conflict, rather than just being a regular political documentary.
sounds like david berman has some great pr behind him.
While I was away at college my dad decided to fuck my high school sweetheart. I didn’t know about it until years later, when my dad and I, estranged, decided to meet for breakfast at Hugo’s in West Hollywood. “I fucked C_____,” he told me. I didn’t know what to say. I thought he was joking. Then he told me about how he became obsessed with her. I said I understood. He paid for my waffles and juice. I haven’t spoken to him since. But I have become interested in the Situationists, and sometimes, when I’m feeling ambitious, I think about learning how to make a Molotov cocktail.
If the guy has already made music and poetry that is so influential, is he really obligated to keep doing it if he doesn’t want to? Hasn’t he already made his artistic contribution? If poetry “gives us a way to buy cigarettes with the awareness that the freedom we express in killing ourselves with them is fed to us by the tobacco industry–a way to recognize the value of profligacy and waste and commerce and error etc… A way to deal with our complicity in pervading forces of reification,” at the end of the day, it’s still just a poem — whose purpose is always simply to be aesthetically pleasing. Are important poets protesting when the G8, the G20, the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank meet? Or are they sitting in their office gazing at their navels?
I am a fan of navel gazing, mind you. I’m just also a fan of political action.
The impression I got is that it’s going to be a very straightforward piece of work. He’s not going to want to fight his father’s bullshit with more bullshit. Interviews between him and his father’s tentacle-people. Looking forward to it. If Actual Air and the SJs are an indication, the doc will be excellent and leave us wanting more. But there won’t be more.
art is fake revolution yall
internet is fake revolution yall
This is great Jeremy.
This was such a good event. Not the reading from Actual Air I expected, but something entirely different and–maybe? probably?–better.
DB is on a mission from G-D.
Great piece. So basically Daddy Berman has the same job as Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception, only he doesn’t have to go in people’s dreams to do it. Skillz.
The event really shook me. Hard to capture the bizarre atmosphere in the room, but I left feeling equally broken and inspired. Thanks for this analysis.
“So basically Daddy Berman has the same job as Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception.”
Real talk.
I wonder what his conversations with his father are like.
Not to mention his conversations with his therapist!
Incidentally, poet Chris Stroffolino was briefly a member of the SJs.
I really like SJ, but I have to say (sorry) that ACTUAL AIR is THE most overrated book of all-time. Is it a good book? Sure. Plenty of neat poems. And, hopefully, it leads readers into checking out Berman’s teachers and sources: James Tate, Kenneth Koch, Russell Edson, Charles Simic, Kenneth Patchen, Merwin, Bly, Julio Cortazar and on and on and on. And yes, absolutely–Berman has always (in interview and reading)pushed people to this stuff. It’s a fine, cool book–not THE ILIAD, people.
Very nice: “Perhaps now is the time to admit the possible has failed. The impossible remains.” Jesus would be proud. Great post.
It’s really interesting that David Berman’s plan of attack is a documentary. I guess it’s a more direct plan of attack than poetry or music, and probably more immediately effective. But not more impossible, right?
I came of age in the 90s and was immersed in the indie world of that decade. Silver Jews was huge to me. But I thought the last two albums were pretty weak and sort of felt he had exhausted the creative limits of that band. But I really wish he would have written a follow up to Actual Air because that book was just so awesome. I was lucky enough to see him give a couple of readings in NYC after it came out though, so I’ll always have that. I also met him after one of the readings and he couldn’t have been nicer.
Get ready for some Fahrenheit 9/11 shit. He’s gonna Michael Moore this shit.
The difference between Democrats and Republicans is the same as that between McDonald’s and Burger King. Both are bad for you and for society.
[…] are going to read one essay today, it should be Jeremy Schmall’s piece at HTMLGIANT, “David Berman and Epistemological Closure in the Propaganda State“. “Berman’s goal now is to become his father’s nemesis, to shame him into quitting […]
Looks like Baby Berman lost his way somewhere deep in a Freudian limbo. Down there, daddy issues overwhelma clear understanding of one’s cultural contribution.
Seriously though, Berman said at the talk that his decision to take on his father signaled his movement from a mode of “reflection” (meaning, his life as a musician and writer) to a mode of “action.” Is he suggesting that muckraking (his word) is more productive or valuable than music or poetry? Does he know just how influential his music and his single book of poems have been? Does he fail to recognize the shortcomings of “oppositional” politics as they play into the resistance to propaganda machines like the one operated by his father? Does he want to be Michael Moore?
Poetry, though it won’t stop people from buying cigarettes, is a better way to teach us how to see and respond intelligently to insidious public relations consulting. Actually, poetry gives us a way to buy cigarettes with the awareness that the freedom we express in killing ourselves with them is fed to us by the tobacco industry–a way to recognize the value of profligacy and waste and commerce and error etc… A way to deal with our complicity in pervading forces of reification–at least, the poets I like offer this… David Berman is one of them.
Nice article Jeremy Schmalls! I wonder what opinions you less publicly harbor over Berman’s decision to get out of your favored medium…
i fucking hope not.
The documentary would be very interesting if it openly negotiated the son/father conflict, rather than just being a regular political documentary.
sounds like david berman has some great pr behind him.
While I was away at college my dad decided to fuck my high school sweetheart. I didn’t know about it until years later, when my dad and I, estranged, decided to meet for breakfast at Hugo’s in West Hollywood. “I fucked C_____,” he told me. I didn’t know what to say. I thought he was joking. Then he told me about how he became obsessed with her. I said I understood. He paid for my waffles and juice. I haven’t spoken to him since. But I have become interested in the Situationists, and sometimes, when I’m feeling ambitious, I think about learning how to make a Molotov cocktail.
If the guy has already made music and poetry that is so influential, is he really obligated to keep doing it if he doesn’t want to? Hasn’t he already made his artistic contribution? If poetry “gives us a way to buy cigarettes with the awareness that the freedom we express in killing ourselves with them is fed to us by the tobacco industry–a way to recognize the value of profligacy and waste and commerce and error etc… A way to deal with our complicity in pervading forces of reification,” at the end of the day, it’s still just a poem — whose purpose is always simply to be aesthetically pleasing. Are important poets protesting when the G8, the G20, the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank meet? Or are they sitting in their office gazing at their navels?
I am a fan of navel gazing, mind you. I’m just also a fan of political action.
The impression I got is that it’s going to be a very straightforward piece of work. He’s not going to want to fight his father’s bullshit with more bullshit. Interviews between him and his father’s tentacle-people. Looking forward to it. If Actual Air and the SJs are an indication, the doc will be excellent and leave us wanting more. But there won’t be more.
Love this. “The amount of corporate (and other) propaganda already circulating in our minds—at the level of pre-conscious thought—is staggering. And that’s where the true power is.” — aka, the Unknown Knowns
art is fake revolution yall
internet is fake revolution yall
I really like SJ, but I have to say (sorry) that ACTUAL AIR is THE most overrated book of all-time. Is it a good book? Sure. Plenty of neat poems. And, hopefully, it leads readers into checking out Berman’s teachers and sources: James Tate, Kenneth Koch, Russell Edson, Charles Simic, Kenneth Patchen, Merwin, Bly, Julio Cortazar and on and on and on. And yes, absolutely–Berman has always (in interview and reading)pushed people to this stuff. It’s a fine, cool book–not THE ILIAD, people.
gawd
Love this. “The amount of corporate (and other) propaganda already circulating in our minds—at the level of pre-conscious thought—is staggering. And that’s where the true power is.” — aka, the Unknown Knowns
gawd
I hear he also wants to sleep with his mother.
[rimshot]
Please, God, make his dad retire so we can get back to those lovely songs and poems…
I hear he also wants to sleep with his mother.
[rimshot]
Please, God, make his dad retire so we can get back to those lovely songs and poems…
What a fascinating character David Berman is. I thought the Silver Jews breathed desperatly needed new life into American country music (even if they cannot neatly be taxonomized as country. Maybe ‘country/not-country” is about right). I’ll not soon forget the memory of his gaunt face on stage, finally singing those excellent songs so many of us had never really expected to hear live…
The senior Mr. Berman evidently is promoting some awful causes. But let us not think for a moment that epistemic closure is a phenomenon chiefly of the Right, despite the amazing amount of squid-ink corporate flacks emit daily. It is much harder to keep an open mind, to do justice to what used to be understood as “liberal”, than one might surmise. One good trick is to imagine what would Plato do when issue x comes up? When you hear people on FOX or CNN or NPR or at the bar throw out terms like “patriotism” or “socialism” or “racism” “or social justice” or “conservatism”or “bigot”, imagine Socrates reply: what do you mean by these words? How do you define them and how do we recognize in the world what you are referring to? How do you know this to be true? What evidence must you deny? Can you argue against your own position convincingly? Are you defining these ideas in a way that their partisans would maintain is accurate and thorough?
One other trick to avoiding epistemic closure is one I believe is attributed to GK Chesterton, the English man of letters: make yourself seek out publications with ideas you disagree. (in some alternative dimension, David Berman has drinks with Chesterton, an even more literary and more eccentric man who “usually wore a cape and a crumpled hat, with a swordstick in hand, and had a cigar hanging out of his mouth. He would sometimes carry a knife and a loaded revolver.”
[…] time to admit the possible has failed. The impossible remains. – Jeremy Schmall on David Berman at HTMLGiant SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "", url: "http://annalemma.net/news/4371.html" […]
What a fascinating character David Berman is. I thought the Silver Jews breathed desperatly needed new life into American country music (even if they cannot neatly be taxonomized as country. Maybe ‘country/not-country” is about right). I’ll not soon forget the memory of his gaunt face on stage, finally singing those excellent songs so many of us had never really expected to hear live…
The senior Mr. Berman evidently is promoting some awful causes. But let us not think for a moment that epistemic closure is a phenomenon chiefly of the Right, despite the amazing amount of squid-ink corporate flacks emit daily. It is much harder to keep an open mind, to do justice to what used to be understood as “liberal”, than one might surmise. One good trick is to imagine what would Plato do when issue x comes up? When you hear people on FOX or CNN or NPR or at the bar throw out terms like “patriotism” or “socialism” or “racism” “or social justice” or “conservatism”or “bigot”, imagine Socrates reply: what do you mean by these words? How do you define them and how do we recognize in the world what you are referring to? How do you know this to be true? What evidence must you deny? Can you argue against your own position convincingly? Are you defining these ideas in a way that their partisans would maintain is accurate and thorough?
One other trick to avoiding epistemic closure is one I believe is attributed to GK Chesterton, the English man of letters: make yourself seek out publications with ideas you disagree. (in some alternative dimension, David Berman has drinks with Chesterton, an even more literary and more eccentric man who “usually wore a cape and a crumpled hat, with a swordstick in hand, and had a cigar hanging out of his mouth. He would sometimes carry a knife and a loaded revolver.”
I got as far away from the heart of the propaganda field as I could without ending up in a Third World country. Then I turned off the TV… and threw it away. I felt safer when they were calling this “Old Europe”.
The thing I notice now (beyond all the obvious false-flag operations) is how Pop is THE major vehicle for Normative Propaganda: the reactionary, materialist bullshit which pretends to be counter-cultural or edgy (Hip Hop, Gaga)… the blockbuster flicks about cops, war machines and super-powered vigilantes (Batman, Iron Man, Spiderman, Avengers) and the blockbuster flicks which are supposedly artifacts of some auteur’s Imagination Unleashed which are just, in fact, glorified Normative Video Games, designed by Committee and which make Real Life, in the end, seem too drab for anyone to care enough about to go to the trouble of Dissenting within or Resisting. And notice how everyone (even the Smarts and sort-of Lefties) talks about these films for exactly as long as the Marketeers decide we will talk about them? One minute, everyone is talking about the Dark Knight as if it’s the most important film of the decade… next minute, they’re not… they’re busy talking about Avatar. It’s as though everyone has a fucking keypad on the back of their head.
The Nazis were to propaganda as Ford (not exactly a beatnik himself) was to the auto: we’ve moved on a great distance since then. Propaganda you can recognize as propaganda doesn’t work. Eg: let’s see how quickly the Admen/Admin manage to diminish the image and appeal of Assange… while confirming the subconscious, quasi-religious right of the US to invade other countries and kill in the name of Americaforming the planet.
http://staugustine2.wordpress.com/2010/01/30/the-endless-thread-4-0/
I got as far away from the heart of the propaganda field as I could without ending up in a Third World country. Then I turned off the TV… and threw it away. I felt safer when they were calling this “Old Europe”.
The thing I notice now (beyond all the obvious false-flag operations) is how Pop is THE major vehicle for Normative Propaganda: the reactionary, materialist bullshit which pretends to be counter-cultural or edgy (Hip Hop, Gaga)… the blockbuster flicks about cops, war machines and super-powered vigilantes (Batman, Iron Man, Spiderman, Avengers) and the blockbuster flicks which are supposedly artifacts of some auteur’s Imagination Unleashed which are just, in fact, glorified Normative Video Games, designed by Committee and which make Real Life, in the end, seem too drab for anyone to care enough about to go to the trouble of Dissenting within or Resisting. And notice how everyone (even the Smarts and sort-of Lefties) talks about these films for exactly as long as the Marketeers decide we will talk about them? One minute, everyone is talking about the Dark Knight as if it’s the most important film of the decade… next minute, they’re not… they’re busy talking about Avatar. It’s as though everyone has a fucking keypad on the back of their head.
The Nazis were to propaganda as Ford (not exactly a beatnik himself) was to the auto: we’ve moved on a great distance since then. Propaganda you can recognize as propaganda doesn’t work. Eg: let’s see how quickly the Admen/Admin manage to diminish the image and appeal of Assange… while confirming the subconscious, quasi-religious right of the US to invade other countries and kill in the name of Americaforming the planet.
http://staugustine2.wordpress.com/2010/01/30/the-endless-thread-4-0/
[…] To that end, David’s currently working on a documentary about his notorious dad and recently spoke at NYU’s Open City Summer Workshop about our current propaganda state, one in which the elder […]
It is facinating to learn how deep of a role corporations play in our daily thinking. who would have a thought.
Anyone who really believes that is almost as foolish as those who believe there’s no difference between the parties.
It is facinating to learn how deep of a role corporations play in our daily thinking. who would have a thought.
Anyone who really believes that is almost as foolish as those who believe there’s no difference between the parties.
anyone by chance have a video of that memorable open city talk?
[…] Homogenisation, desire/death drive, the Silver Jew and his Dad. http://htmlgiant.com/author-spotlight/david-berman-and-epistemological-closure-in-the-propaganda-sta… […]
[…] Perhaps now is the time to admit the possible has failed. That doesn’t seem quite fair. No matter what our species does, it will eventually change or die. This is the sort of deeper understanding that future triumphs will be built from. Sometimes, later, we find things we’ve hidden from ourselves. You don’t have to dig very far before it all comes back to your loins. […]
Are you growing your own food or anything else in your life yet?
Great article. I wish I could have been there to hear him speak.
And yes, joseph’s comment just made me chuckle – David Berman sure does have some great PR behind him.
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