Re: <nettime> the silence on the rising fascism

[Brian Holmes via nettime-l <nettime-l@lists.nettime.org>]

Obviously I agree with Pod. There's a gigantic lurch to the right. I
recommend the second part of that Forensic architecture interview:

https://granta.com/once-again-germany-defines-who-is-a-jew-part-ii

Similar to Germany, the center left and right have come together in the US
to seal off any public discussion about the war, despite polls showing that
a majority is against sending arms to massacre Palestinians. Meanwhile the
big discussion in the press is literally about dictatorship, how much
dictatorship would be possible under a second Trump presidency. It's eerie,
because at the same time you have Milei assuming power in Argentina and
devaluing the peso by 51% on the first day, with his security minister
saying that previously existing restraints will be abandoned, police on the
street will carry live rounds and protests will be confined to the
sidewalk. That's a recipe for a social explosion on a very short timeline.
In short this is the heaviest atmosphere I ever lived through in the
Americas.

It seems that climate change, the Russo-Chinese challenge to US hegemony,
and at the same time, boundary-busting technological innovations and
twisted perspectives of yet another capitalist growth binge have all opened
up a nihilistic sense of the need for states and elites to make a move. The
geopolitical crisis and paradigm shift that Armin Medosch and I were so
keen to analyze a decade ago is happening now. It's already on a huge scale
and it could get bigger. At the same time I think civil society has only
begun to speak, and there is an incredible amount to be said. The Empire
itself is naked barbarism. What are we gonna do?

yours for a viable tomorrow, BH

On Thu, Dec 14, 2023 at 9:38 AM podinski via nettime-l <
nettime-l@lists.nettime.org> wrote:

> Liebe nettimers,
>
> The XLterrestrials have been wanting to write the list for some time, to
> restart a thread that oddly never got any traction, Brian's post about
> World War 3...
>
> And was going to write "The Silence on World War 3"... or " The Silence
> on The Latest Genocide" ...
>
> But now things are getting a bit more specific... And it's time to get
> LOUDER !
>
> Here in Berlin, we just attended a press conference this morning for the
> Oyoun cultural space in Neukoelln, which on Nov. 20th had its 4-year
> funding program abruptly terminated by Cultural Senator Joe Chialo (
> CDU) during a livestream of the cultural committee.
>
> This was due to one of those ridiculous unfounded accusations of
> Anti-semitism. And the absurd irony is that these accusations +
> termination came as a response to hosting an outspoken jewish group
> called Judische Stimmung. There's been alot written about this, and
> other cancellations the last couple weeks so i won't take time to go
> into more detail on that topic...
>
> Perhaps one of the best perspectives we came across is this is Granta
> article from George Prochnik, Eyal Weizman & Emily Dische-Becker titled
> " Once Again, Germany Defines Who Is a Jew | Part I "
>
> https://granta.com/once-again-germany-defines-who-is-a-jew-part-i
>
> This link came to us via a fantastic Reading Group here on these issues
> in Berlin, which if your interested, please Pm me and will give you more
> details. Don't want to overexpose them here.
>
> Interesting to note that Forensic Architecture is now also getting
> cancelled. just last week in Netherlands ( on an unrelated topic )
>
> ...
>
> Don't have time to go into alot of details on all this, the
> XLterrestrials are in the midst of putting together an article for our
> *Subslack* called *XLterrestrials Radar*.
>
> More importantly we wanted to alert you about here is that this is
> triggering some very dramatic resistance(s). Sophiensaelle perfomance
> art space also had a fierce open assembly last nite, and it will
> continue on thursday nights ( we think ), next one being hosted by the
> publishers of Art of The Working Class ( street sheet ) publishers.
>
> https://www.artsoftheworkingclass.org/
>
> And Oyoun is now launching a 3-day festival in the midst of their own
> crisis, with an extremely courageous defiance...
>
> talks, workshops, performances, etc. starting TONIGHT called THREADS OF
> RESILIENCE !
>
> Full program here:
>
> https://oyoun.de/en/unsere-arbeit/threads-of-resilience/
> <https://oyoun.de/en/unsere-arbeit/threads-of-resilience/>
>
> It feels incredibly urgent to show our solidarity for this space and its
> staff ! So please share this news... AND their fundraiser to keep going
> while they build their challenges to the Senate decisions. OYOUN has now
> filed a lawsuit against them !
>
> ...
>
> Just to quickly add some XLt analysis / perspective...
>
> There is also a danger to lose sight of the BIG PICTURE. For example we
> saw the tendencies of the art sector ( last nite at Sophiensaelle ) to
> focus more on fighting for their specific arts + culture territories,
> jobs, freedom of expression, artistic expression, etc....
>
> And perhaps too little about what arts+media + cultural workers can be
> doing to show their solidarity and strategize on : STOPPING THE WARS,
> THE WAR CRIMES , THE GENOCIDAL ACTS and putting pressures on the various
> levels of political figures and on the war-profiting machinery itself
> that direct this gruesome trajectory into the fascist abyss.
>
> Of course we will need to fight these things simultaneously, because
> what also became apparent from the many deep-thinking speakers from the
> Sophiensaelle mileu, was that this shutting down of the diverse
> plurality of voices + the much-needed open discourse is how the
> narratives get controlled ! And how the nationalist agendas get pushed,
> and how populations are then funneled and forced into silence and
> complicity !
>
> ...
>
> much more to report...
>
> but that's all for now,
>
> the XLterrestrials
>
> p..s.. Just wanted to add the quote from Brian... as a reference to
> where this conversation thread started in our heads... and the above is
> where we are now... in the local situations... and trying to remember
> that Berlin is still very much a bubble ... where these things can still
> be made so visible, and where we can mobilize these kinds of refusals to
> comply with the Flood of Bullshit... and all the Bloodshed !
>
> >>
>
> the point is that the conduct of the Western countries has contributed to
> the hostilities, and rather than setting off
> on a jingoistic warpath, it's our responsibility to change that conduct. We
> watch bloody murder every day, we stand on the verge of a world war, and
> behind that is the Anthropocene abyss. It is time to cease thinking that
> it's all someone else's business, and I'm just gonna do my job and have my
> fun. It's equally time to cease thinking that because of collective guilt
> over the Holocaust, Israel should be supported in everything and at all
> costs - including that of creating a world full of enemies.
>
>
>
>
> --
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# <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism,
# collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets
# more info: https://www.nettime.org
# contact: nettime-l-owner@lists.nettime.org