Acceleration is Annihilation: no, yes, both, neither
Not to withdraw from the process, but to go further, to ‘accelerate the process’, as Nietzsche put it: in this matter, the truth is that we haven’t seen anything yet.
Gilles Deleuze, Felix Guattari. Anti-Oedipus (1972)
Whatever ultramodernity places under the dominion of signs postmodernity subverts with virus. As culture migrates into partial-machines (lacking an autonomous reproductive system) semiotics subsides into virotechnics.
0010101011011100101101010101001100100010001010 1011101000010101100101001010001100100111001000100 000000010011111100010010010101010100001000010101 00111111001001000100011010010001010010101111000101 001000010001110100 Yes No Yes No Yes Yes No longer what does it mean? but how does it spread?
Nick Land. Fanged Noumena: Collected Writings (1987–2007)
Remark: I started this work a month ago, then abandoned. Many things changed since then, but even though the basic trajectory of thought I find now relevant. Maybe further consideration may be presented later.
The en/pan-demic situation happens sometimes. Take a look at Spanish flu, or Atypical pneumonia, or what’s called COVID-19. The main thing about the ongoing outbreak — the pace of spread. It goes really fast, for a simple reason all hominids should breathe, though it’s not the only thing.
The population of rats (and maybe rates in financial markets) behaves in the same way. They spread around, hiding from the ground, looking for the places to live and survive. The ultimate goal is to approach the safe place, be diversified, alter the reality of extinction. I think that’s quite how capitalism works. It cannibalizes the practices and rules it has founded, involves people to work more and more. That’s not bad indeed, and it’s not fucking me who the fuc k fuckkk first said about that.
According to a credible source of information, accelerationism is the idea that capitalism, or particular processes that historically characterized capitalism, should be accelerated instead of overcoming in order to generate radical social change. It evolves into something, the creature that consumes and digests any possible critique and obliges to produce and consume more and more. Eeee ternal eee volvement (volvere) of the same, reinvented and packaged.
The Cybernetic Culture Research Unit (CCRU) existed at Warwick University from 1995 to 1997. It gave birth to prominent thinkers of whom we now might not know. For sure expect Nick Land. It’s a bit a vkusovshina, though I think I can afford it in my blog. The collective’s research was closely tied to the work of Sadie Plant (around whom it was founded), Nick Land and their colleagues throughout the 1990s, and in particular the emerging cyberfeminism and excerpts from my beloved Deleuze and Guattari.
The basic idea that is in any way comes along the texts of Deleuze and Guattari is that capitalism is inevitable. That said, it’s not that we’re living one of the possible alternatives of re(virtu)ality, all that is possible is actually given already. For all Soviet-minded and sympathetic people I feel really sorry, go away working on your homework. It’s also funny since for Marx capitalism was inevitable too, and in this regard, his thoughts have lots in common of what accelerationism guys and girls say now.
My ultimate point of view is that the postmodern world is not ended. For all those who claim that we’re living in something brand-new world, metamodern (you get it, meta, Greek instead of Latin, ooookay) with cyber vacuum cleaners and “new honesty” — well I’m butthurted in any way since you exist but I suggest to pay attention to various books published in French in a period of 1968–1991.
Why is it important?
Capitalism has absorbed any critique that is possible. Take a look at the feminist movement or eco — explicitly I suppose you know about the Greta case. It’s not that feminist agenda or eco-awareness miss the point, the thing is that any sort of activism and “doing better for the world and people” now becomes nothing more but a thin wordings. It’s a flow — generally money flow that comes from merch and ads sold.
And it keeps accelerating the pace. You might have heard or even spread thoughts about self-efficiency, work-life balance and many other things. Being a squirrel in a wheel with an ability to post negative thoughts about society & your fff company in Twitter is okay, go further! I suggest you can make a petition on Change.org and many people around will support! Wonderful.
And that’s OK. It’s just designed by history and in some way, it’s needed right now. No way for ideas like “let take everything from wealthy and spread the fuck around!”. No morality here; it didn’t work before, it won’t then either. The thing is that left ideology doesn’t work today — for some time ago it helped to polish a savage grin of capitalism and prevent the world from turning to cannibals’ cage. But, as Luc Boltanski and Eve Chiapello pointed out, the creature has adapted and now can absorb any possible critique — like eco-activism, a thrill of LGBT+ movement, or whatever else.
But outside this process, it wouldn’t be possible to analyze and understand it. Not withdraw from the process, but go further. So do I.
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