This is way too polite to Obama and kinda tones down how representative Trump's reactionary nature is of the US.
Stage five: the sign becomes reality and the truth is discarded.
this should be the fourth stage in a baudrillard sign-order meme where the first stage is Simulation and Simulacra and the middle two are variations on this meme
This is wrong. Stage one is Reagan
11 terms
With a 12th undisputedly on the way.
History repeats itself, first as Reagan, second as Reagan, third as Reagan, and so on.
This stuff is too abstract for me. I am too dumb to understand this kind of idk what to call it.. social science? philosophy?
I've got to say, philosophers in general, and Marx in particular, are very non-rigorous in their works. In particular, these passages make no sense if read literally.
Also, on this note, I have started going over Marx' works in my 'spare' time, and have begun making notes regarding how poorly he writes. I'm honestly not sure why I don't see anybody else criticise him for saying stuff like 'a commodity is a use-value' or 'a commodity is an exchange-value' and related things. This stuff, if read literally, is contradictory to other things that are said in the same paragraphs, and makes understanding what he means more difficult for no good reason.
Is this a “continental philosophers operating as normal before Wittgenstein” thing or is this a “Marx is particularly bad” thing?
The former (kind of - if memory serves, philosophers at least kept doing so after Wittgenstein). I am not at all calling Marx especially bad. Marx is singled-out because he's important when it comes to topics related to socialism and, well, given who we are, he's important when it comes to our views.
like 'a commodity is a use-value' or 'a commodity is an exchange-value'
How are those contradictory? Or what other things do they contradict?
Those statements do not contradict each other directly, but it's very clear that a commodity is not its own use-value, nor is a commodity its own exchange-value. Use-value is very clearly meant to be the property of a commodity to satisfy a need, and exchange-value is meant to be a property of a commodity to be exchanged for something in a given context. That obviously makes use-value and exchange-value in the latter senses not synonymous with the term 'commodity', nor with each other.
I'd like to chalk it up to issues stemming from translation, but yeah I have a love-hate relationship with Marx's writing style. I'm waiting to see if the new Capital translation coming out next month makes it easier to get through.
This is how
can win the presidency.I wish this was a joke.
I, We, Waluigi: a Post-Modern analysis of Waluigi by Franck Ribery
Kamala Harris is the ultimate example of the individual shaped by the signifier. Harris is a woman seen only in mirror images; lost in a hall of mirrors she is a reflection of a reflection of a reflection. You start with Obama– the wholesome liberal president superman, you reflect him to create Biden – the same thing but slightly less. You invert Obama to create Trump – Obama turned septic and libertarian – then you reflect the inversion in the reflection: you create a being who can only exist in reference to others. Harris is the true nowhere woman, without the other presidents she reflects, inverts and parodies. She has no reason to exist. Harris' identity only comes from what and who she isn’t – without a wider frame of reference she is nothing. She is not her own woman. In a world where our identities are shaped by our warped relationships to brands and commerce we are all Kamala Harris.
she exists in the context of everything that came before her, what do you think she just fell out of a coconut tree?
I don't understand how this is meaningful. It's not like you actually started with Obama, he was just a reflection and inversion of people who came before him. Bush was the same, Clinton was the same, and so on. They're all nowhere people, their identities come from who came before them either as reflection or inversion.
Isn't this just history? Everyone only ever exists in reference to others. None of us were born from the Sun.
