Carnivalesque Rebellion Nov. 22–28: A sudden unexpected moment of truth, a mass reversal of perspective, a global mindshift – from which the corporate/consumerist forces never fully recover.
Tactical Briefing:
Our rebellion against a future that does not compute is only two weeks away. Things are heating up. The recent protests in Greece, Toronto, Spain and France all started off full of gusto, but in the end yielded little. Activists around the world take note: massive 1960s style protests now only reinforce the existing order – without these spectacles of resistance, capitalism would lose its dynamic spark.
So this November let's try a new tactical beginning: A week of myriad little local actions flaring up spontaneously all over the world. We attack capitalism – not at officially sanctioned protests – but like a swarm of bees attacking a wounded beast: with a billion incessant stings. Day after day, week after week, we keep escalating our actions until the cost of doing business as usual becomes impossible to bear … and the bloodied beast finally falls to its knees.
Organize a local action at MeetUp.com/Buy-Nothing-Day and get resources for the week at Adbusters.org/bnd.
Inspiration:
With any genuine act of rebellion, it is normal to feel pangs of anxiety and a few butterflies in the belly. Instead of suppressing these emotions, cherish and amplify them. They are nothing but the healthy indication that you are finally living. And when you are most afraid, remind yourself that every great revolution has been sparked by those who felt trepidation moments before victory. So, do not shy away; prepare yourself for the necessity of action by meditating on the following sage words:
"Take flight each day! At least for a moment, however brief, as long as it is intense. Every day a 'spiritual exercise,' alone or in the company of a man who also wishes to better himself … Leave ordinary time behind. Make an effort to rid yourself of your own passions … Become eternal by surpassing yourself. This inner effort is necessary, this ambition, just. Many are those who are entirely absorbed in militant politics, in the preparation for the social revolution. Rare, very rare, are those who, in order to prepare for the revolution, wish to become worthy of it." —Georges Friedmann
Action: Announce the Rebellion to the World!
From now till the Carnival begins let's plaster the planet with our call for insurrection. Grab a sign from Adbusters.org/bnd and nail up a dozen on your street, campus, everywhere …
Adbusters #93: The Big Ideas of 2011
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14 comments on the article “A Week of Living Without Dead Time”
Displaying 1 - 10 of 14
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patosch
There are a couple of current resistance movements in Germany that actually work and help change things:
Anti-Stuttgart central station movement:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/1005/1224280400563.html
German anti-nuclear movement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-nuclear_movement_in_Germany
The new phenomenon about these movements is that they actually reach the whole spectrum of the population and not students / artists / leftists only
I also doubt a "Carnivalesque" Rebellion will have any impact. Good luck anayway!
patosch
There are a couple of current resistance movements in Germany that actually work and help change things:
Anti-Stuttgart central station movement:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/1005/1224280400563.html
German anti-nuclear movement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-nuclear_movement_in_Germany
The new phenomenon about these movements is that they actually reach the whole spectrum of the population and not students / artists / leftists only
I also doubt a "Carnivalesque" Rebellion will have any impact. Good luck anayway!
Anonymous
Trust me, I'm all for a global mindshift. It is bound to happen anyway, so I will accept it in whichever form it ends up taking.
But change is inevitable. When we rush the process using anger, don't we merely speed up the process – and at a cost: more destruction*?
* Because when the natural process is disturbed – pulled towards one extreme – it is bound to cause a more extreme counter-reaction. It's a law of nature.
Anonymous
Trust me, I'm all for a global mindshift. It is bound to happen anyway, so I will accept it in whichever form it ends up taking.
But change is inevitable. When we rush the process using anger, don't we merely speed up the process – and at a cost: more destruction*?
* Because when the natural process is disturbed – pulled towards one extreme – it is bound to cause a more extreme counter-reaction. It's a law of nature.
M...M / C...C /...
But now you're assuming that the impetus for the process has already been introduced: a classic mistake is political economics. In physics, for example, the impetus is often gravity, a natural force set in motion countless years ago by whatever theory or God(s) you care to believe in (no one knows for sure). With a revolution, or any other political epoch, the events must be begun by outside, always to some degree voluntary, human-induced forces (protest, assassination, economic depression, etc.). There is no "inevitable" change as long as everyone assumes it to be inevitable. Hopefully this helps clear up your unfortunately fuzzy logic.
M...M / C...C /...
But now you're assuming that the impetus for the process has already been introduced: a classic mistake is political economics. In physics, for example, the impetus is often gravity, a natural force set in motion countless years ago by whatever theory or God(s) you care to believe in (no one knows for sure). With a revolution, or any other political epoch, the events must be begun by outside, always to some degree voluntary, human-induced forces (protest, assassination, economic depression, etc.). There is no "inevitable" change as long as everyone assumes it to be inevitable. Hopefully this helps clear up your unfortunately fuzzy logic.
Anonymous
any lasting meaningful change can only happen from within.
so the Revolution must start inside.
Anonymous
any lasting meaningful change can only happen from within.
so the Revolution must start inside.
Deon Genes
We would all prefer change we can manage at a pace we can deal with - it rarely happens that way. We don't change (inside) unless we absolutely have to, until it is just a dream.
Deon Genes
We would all prefer change we can manage at a pace we can deal with - it rarely happens that way. We don't change (inside) unless we absolutely have to, until it is just a dream.
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