Two Minutes: On the Dissident Louk DeSalam

For about five minutes, everyone knew his name. Then they did not remember.

Louk DeSalam, branded a dissident by the state, had, one day questioned the widely accepted wisdom that socks had to be burgundy on Wednesday and be labelled with the day of the week. He had been able to continue his subversive charade unnoticed for years, so the legend goes, by hiding his socks underneath his trousers. The day he finally snapped, fifty guardians had pursued him through the back alleys of the city, the chase ending on Square 83. After a brief, but impassioned speech, they piled on him, pulled the offensive sockware off his feet and led the barefoot anticitizen to Redefinition Context 12a. People posted the arrest on Media, but quickly desisted when they realised Media would not amplify the story- it was unimportant. And so it became unimportant to them.

Though he was forgotten, socks were now puce on Wednesdays. And Wednesday was now called Medwekken, which took some getting used to. And then it had always been called that, and Wednesday was no more. Socks had always been puce on Medwekken, no-one quite seemed to remember why…

Comments

IGAF: Utopia- Les Jours Meilleurs

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote this post, titled Dystopia , containing a dark version of the future, a look at the negative outcomes that might crawl out of the COVID-19 crisis. It has, by now been described as "9/11 in slow motion". Someone else broke a golden editorial rule to describe it as "2008 on crack". Media outlets, including Youtube, have warned of the long-term effects of this, on civil rights, labour and employment, surveillance and press freedom. And some, most notably Mr Orban of Hungary, have used this excellent opportunity to pass new, restrictive legislation that concentrates power in their hands. There have been calls for the elusive COVID cure not to be patented. And yet… And yet… It's easy to lose yourself in a media bubble, following the news and media 24/7, following, queuing in line to get into expensive shops, just walking into discount stores and the constant desire for many drinks (preferably with 10 friends or more, in a park...

IGAF: Disappearing the inconvenient.

This IGAF (Is Goodness a Fashion) series explores, from a non-expert point of view, the social, economic and narrative ramifications I see developing from the COVID-19 crisis, worries, but also hopes for a future that the current shock to the system may result in. It's a pity that random things happen when random people interact. That a person might be exposed to unexpected, or unpleasant sights when they leave the house. That we might see trash, homeless people, the effects of gentrification, closed stores in polluted streets, trees withered by mercurial weather, people in environmental suits, afraid of the diseases lurking within the safe confines of those suits. The world divided into those who have to face the streets, the Outside, and those who are safe Inside. It's a pity that these still interact. Our measure as a species that claims moral, ethical and intellectual hegemony over this planet will be two-fold as we deal with the COVID-19 crisis: On the one hand, socie...

IGAF: An ahistoric crisis?

One of the many reasons I have grown to appreciate interviews with Arundhati Roy over the last year of what I'm calling her book tour is that, in contrast with many speakers at conferences and interviewees, I never have the feeling she is trying to sell me something. She speaks in a calm, collected voice, full of knowledge, experience and occasional wisdom, without being desperately full of herself. One of my favourite sayings is, so far, goes something like "The most successful revolution was the secession of the rich onto a global planet, wherefrom they cannot see the poor. There is no more India, no more USA, no more Europe- there is planet Rich, then there is planet Poor, and both are global."* Carers at their limits- now more than ever. For €2400 and some chocolates? A month or so into what may be a new normal, my life is still pleasant- with some adjustment, I am, so far, privileged in this absence of change and an ability to follow the crisis as I would fol...

Caramblogage

Search This Blog