Alien Intelligence (III)

This is the third installment of "Alien Intelligence". (see post1 and post 2) Although many have come to some conclusions, I’m going to proceed with this.

The subject of decline and mediocrity began with a discussion of Eric Larsen’s book A Nation Gone Blind which has been covered here, here, here , here and here respectively by Deborah Fisher and Christopher Jagers. In my previous posts I presented Morris Berman’s Twighlight of American Culture as an older and distinct investigation into the subject of collapse which I am admittedly, slavishly delving into quite deeply.



The subject of collapse was recently cited by Tyler Green in an interview with mnarts.org:

Tyler Green in response to this question:

What is the single non-art-world factor that is the greatest influence on art made today? (For instance, environmentalism, animal rights, worldwide feminism, the spread of digital technology?

TG:

This is a big and excellent question. Degeneration, particularly of societies, cultures, and political systems. Regardless of whether I’m in New York, LA or in between, I see artists making art about things falling apart. Look at last year’s top news stories: Iraq, Katrina, the London bombing, the Indian Ocean tsunami, the BTK serial killer, the continuing struggles of the Bush presidency, even the death of Terri Schiavo. They’re all about degeneration.
I’m surprised that no contemporary art curator has seized on this and created a big group show about it. It could be a great example of an artist-driven show that mixes contemporary art with contemporary life.

“Alien Intelligence II” left with this synopsis from Morris Berman:

The conclusion is that there are 4 basic tenets of collapse:

1. Accelerating social and economic inequality
2. Declining marginal returns with regard to investment in organizational solutions to socioeconomic problems
3. Rapidly dropping levels of literacy, critical understanding, and general intellectual awareness
4. Spiritual death – that is, Spengler’s classicism: the emptying of cultural content and the freezing (re-packaging) of it in formulas- kitsch

Berman continues with his parallel of the contemporary situation with that of that late Roman Empire. We have heard this sort of thing a lot but look at just these brief but striking parallels:

“During Nero’s rule all taxes were going to the military and all land in the empire was owned by 2000 men. The economic and cultural life of the cities collapsed for lack of funds. For centuries the aim had been to Hellenize or Romanize the rest of the population – to pass on the learning and ideals of the Greco-Roman civilization. But as the economic crises deepened, a new mentality arose among the masses, one based on religion, which was hostile to the achievements of higher culture.”

We see this played out in Islam over the past couple of centuries and a parallel dynamic which began to gain strength within the US during the 1970’s evangelical movement. The American fundamentalist movement also happens to parallel the steady decline of middleclass incomes as a result of the shift from a manufacturing economy to a service and investment economy. Hostility towards intelligence is now a part of American political culture as well as the culture at large. Amazing how powerful politicians such as Tom DeLay, the mainstream media, Mega-Churches and the general pop citizenry call intellectuals – who have no power at all – elitist, or worse. Yet somehow remain ignorant or silent on the real elitists – the oligarchic class, the “corporate hegemony”.

Berman: “A concern for literacy and critical thinking is only democratic. Society can’t function if everyone is stupid. Dumbing down is the formula of a doomed society and not a vital one.”

Berman continues:

“This was the most conspicuous development in the ancient world during the Imperial Age, primitive forms of life finally drowning out the higher ones. The truth is civilization is impossible without the hierarchy of quality. By the Third century if not before, there was an attitude among many Christians that education was not relevant to salvation, and that ignorance had a positive spiritual value”.

We hear this echoed directly and indirectly so often now. Even more ominous is the Christian marketing and consumerism that is on the rise. People are increasingly equating their spiritual life with materialism and economic gain. It is no so distinct from what you see in the secular church of the Artworld. Interiority is now discarded for more outward rituals of acquisition, spectacle and praise. Money as proof of spiritual success or Godly favor seems to be the perverse message that is now being accepted by millions under the guise of “investing” in likeminded, faith-based products and politics. It’s a dangerous breeding ground and a certain death for any mainstream Faith not mention cultural freedom as a whole. We certainly see the rise in “mysticism” throughout popular culture and a general belief in special knowledge – a knowledge by revelation (Da Vinci Code, all the bad psychic TV shows). Americans overwhelmingly believe in angels and overwhelming reject Evolution.

Retruning to “Twilight” - Berman looks at structural inequality first. World Systems analysis contends that world inequality is structural. To paraphrase, this draws the distinction between core and periphery. Core countries are those in privileged of the northern Hemisphere such as the United States and Western Europe (increasingly China). In these regions financial, technical, and productive power is concentrated power – power controlled by an elite. The periphery on the other hand contains exploited regions that sell their resources and labor to the core without ever having access to the latter’s wealth. The enrichment of the core is structurally dependent on the impoverishment of the periphery.

Ex. Pacific periphery: Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc.
EU Periphery: Africa, Middle East
US Periphery: Central and South America, Middle East

The structural inequality that we see or don’t see today, in what is likely the third and perhaps final wave of globalization, is argued by Christopher Chase Dunn to have “its historical roots in the “Commercial Revolution of the 16th century – plunder of the Americas was crucial to the emergence of industrial capitalism in the core, and the direct use of coercive force eventually evolved into institutionalized economic power based on law and private property”

Berman adds that today “a network of independent markets is the main glue of our global system, bolstered, when necessary, by the military power of the core states. Today the political coercion coming from the core has become less central to the structure of exploitation and the domination, since the core can rely on local coercion – that is authoritarian client states in the periphery to do its dirty work in exchange for economic aide to the elite in the periphery. Economic exploitation, organized through the production and sale of commodities, is a more effective, less dirty means of control."

Think - World Bank, IMF, NAFTA, GATT, etc. I think it is also important to notice how Saudi Arabia and Israel are used within the Middle East and directly benefit from $billion arms deals from the US and the EU. They are the strongmen in the region but it remains to be seen as to how wise or applicable this will be in the long term – history has a way of biting back.

It's easy to recognize these patterns of coercion and influence within periphery zones, especially as it relates to shrinking energy sources and the desire to open new international trade markets and exploit cheap labor to those ends. This seems a natural extension of colonial structures that worked largely to do the same albeit for more nationalistic reasons rather than corporate ones.

Christopher Dunn Chase goes on to state:

“Both the penetration of a peripheral nation by foreign investment and the creation of debt dependency by means of foreign credit actually serve to damage that nation’s economic development, and to increase inequality within that country. The net effect is the replacement of direct colonial control by neo-colonial economic mechanisms. The structure of dependency provides support for elites in the periphery and keeps wages low relative to the income of the elite. (see dozens of elections since 2000) These elites are in fact linked to the interest of the transnational corporations and the international economy – NOT to their own nation or peoples.”

One can conclude quite quickly from news reports that no only does this apply to the international situation, but these "feudal" boundaries are also set up at home. These peripheries are established within one’s borders as they are imposed outside one’s borders. The psychology and implementation within this dual dynamic is rigorous, impacting everyone one of us on a daily basis - not in just economic terms, but in terms of personal/collective liberty which affects the very nature of creative solutions for growth and human progress. You can see that this kind of inequality will eventually be able to destroy the entire social fabric as it nearly has in the case of public schools, inner cities, rural communities. It is spiritually corrosive and demoralizing.

Berman: “A concern for literacy and critical thinking is only democratic. Society can’t function if everyone is stupid. Dumbing down is the formula of a doomed society and not a vital one”.


to be continued....


image Gilbert Garcin