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Title: Imagination and Escapism Author: Shane Ross Date: 10/29/21 Language: en Topics: escapism, imagination, deleuze, proudhon, dual power, agorism, taoism
Our society is one of failure. Fetishized futures, fetishized pasts, and
yet a horrifying and never ending present. A Lovecraftian beast of
sorts, a machinery that mustn't be gazed into for too long, for the
observer may begin to go insane. Or perhaps they aren’t going insane at
all. Perhaps the machine whispers to those who choose to keep their
blindfolds on that if they take a peek, they’ll fall away from the
comfort and stability that the loud and bland ticks and puffs the
machine emits over and over again provide them. Without the noise, we
may go mad. Without the stability of our own pain, without forcing
ourselves to embrace the world around us and all of it’s ugly, we lose
the comfort of the cave. We are a fetus surrounded by a seemingly
ever-engulfing ocean of amniotic fluid. Should we be ripped from the
womb, who knows what we may face? You mustn't have hope. For your own
survival in this society, you must accept what is before you. This is
the Orwellian nightmare that capitalists have so long thrown at radical
movements to discourage outside thought. This is the security state, the
spectacle, the society of control. Of course, this is no womb. Womb’s
provide real comfort, no mere illusion. This is a prison
This is an ode. An ode to escapism.
When Deleuze spoke of building a new world.
When Proudhon theorized the construction of positive relations in spite
of it all.
When Laozi told us to keep moving forward.
When they told us anarchy was impractical.
When they told us power was inevitable.
When they told us to grow up.
When they told us to look better for work.
When they told us to respect our boss.
When they told us to respect the cops.
When they told us borders matter.
When they told us we need war.
When they said poverty is a state of being.
When they told us it was our fault.
And after all that, it is only anarchists. It has only ever been the
anarchists. It is us who look beyond systems of domination and
authority. Who dream of a society of liberty, of reciprocity, of love.
They’ll tell you to stop imagining, kid. But why?
We will gaze into the machine. We will sing songs outside of it’s ticks
and sputters. It is our job to inform people of the other world waiting
for them, and we will in due time. But before that, it is our job to
build it. And before that? We will imagine it.
“The direction of escape is towards freedom. So what is escapism an
accusation of?”
-Ursula K LeGuin.