Wilson is one of those philosopher types who seems crazy at first, then you listen and maybe he’s not so crazy after all.
Very clear and spot-on interview with Peter Lamborn Wilson on what he calls the Technopathocracy of modern society: complete disconnection, lack of community and Internet-mediated insanity, and the Intentional Community as the solution. Right on. He makes the incredibly salient point that “dropping out” of Internet culture now is the same as “dropping out” of the mainstream in the 60s.
Well, except that you couldn’t really drop out in the 60’s. The culture was always still there, and you needed what it produced to survive. And for many of us, especially for businesses, the Net isn’t optional any more. If you factor cell phones in the Third World into that, then there really is no practical way to drop out.
But even with that, Wilson has much to say.
From YouTube
Interview (Pt 1 of 6) with Peter Lamborn Wilson AKA Hakim Bey in his home in May 2009
“Technology, the triumph of capital, what I call the technopathocracy, the rule of sick machinery, what looked like the absolute triumph of neo-conservative / neo-liberal global capitalism that suddenly, it was no longer possible to even criticize capitalism, suddenly this was just like water or air, now it’s to be a given in our society. And the internet, and other forms of modern communication technology, although most people seem to think that this increases community, in my view, it destroys it. Because community, to me, is based on physical reality, not on communication devices. And when I hear things about the internet community, it just makes me want to puke! It’s like talking about the law enforcement community, which is another favourite phrase of American journalism, as if these are all kindly neighbours lending cups of sugar to each other. This is a fucking armed occupation force! That we pay out of our own pockets — help the police, beat yourself up! And of course, America is at the forefront of this. We started the whole television-automobile-suburban culture, which its alienation, and the fact that you don’t know who you’re living next to. This is not society! This is the breakdown of society. This is atomization…”
Amen! Though while I agree that the internet destroys community, I also disagree that we can (or should) pitch it entirely. Rather, recognize it for what it is: a tool, not a way of life.
What happens when we lose community? Selfish, household oriented consumer culture, and a sense of entitlement. And violence. Sound familiar?