12/02/2008
Conclusion
Annotated Bibliography
"Counter Culture." British Library. The British Library Board.
An encyclopedia entry about the term “counter-culture”. It defines and gives examples of what counter-culture is and different ways that it is expressed.
Haddow, Douglas. "Hipster: The Dead end of Western Civilization." Adbusters 7929 Jul 2008
The author talks about his experience with “hipsters” – youth that dress alike and reject “popular culture”. He talks about their so-called rebellion and the fact that it isn’t rebellion at all, just another form of consumerism. The author concludes that hipsters are the result of a detached materialistic western civilization.
Hoover, Michael. "Starbucks: Selling out the Counter-Culture?." MRZine
The author talks about what tactics the Starbucks company has used in the present and in the past to sell its product and image. He shows how the “counter-culture” image that Starbucks has is not a coincidence, but the result of deliberate marketing tactics to create an image that would appeal to young consumers.
Mishra, Guarav. "Hipsters: Counter-Culture or Consumer Group?." [Weblog Guaravonomics Blog]
The article identifies hipsters as a consumer group rather than a trend. The author compiles various quotes and articles that have to do with this idea. He calls them “ironic hipsters” because although they claim to hate the “mainstream”, hipsters are essentially just that.
The author talks about the buying power of “hipsters” and how some companies are targeting this generation of consumers especially. The new generation of consumers is one of the biggest yet, with an estimated 2 trillion dollars of buying power. However, the author says that this group has not yet really come into their full buying power since they don’t yet have access to “real money”.
Introduction
Every generation has its counter-culture - a group that rejects and opposes the accepted values of mainstream culture. ("Counter Culture") These are the people that are unsatisfied with the way things are, that disagree with the society that they were born into. One of the most famous examples of counter-culture is the hippy movement in the
However, these movements are not made to have long lifespans. They are either not strong enough to survive, or (as it happens most of the time) are accepted and adopted by society. Of course, the versions of these movements that society accepts are watered-down and most often stripped of their original purpose. As soon as popular culture takes any movement and turns it into a stereotype (usually by making it seem ridiculous, or changing it completely to better fit their needs) they make it so that it is easy to digest for the general public. As soon as the general public accepts it, then they can start dealing with it in the terms that society most understands – money.
The marketing of counter-culture is not a new idea. It is a tried and true marketing technique that is highly successful. Starbucks, Urban Outfitters, Hot Topic – these are all businesses that have made themselves wealthy by basing themselves in this marketing technique. Even companies that seemingly have nothing to do with counter-culture use it in their advertisements to try to get the youth market into buying their products. One of the largest growing group of consumers is what is known as the "hipster"(Mishra). This is the growing trend of self-centered youth that's only use for counter-culture is in terms of fashion. As Haddow puts it in his article, "We’ve reached a point in our civilization where counterculture has mutated into a self-obsessed aesthetic vacuum. So while hipsterdom is the end product of all prior countercultures, it’s been stripped of its subversion and originality."
Right now, it is trendy to look like a revolutionary and wear a shirt with Guevara emblazoned across it, although it is not necessarily important to believe in the values of what wearing a shirt like this would seem to imply. It is interesting to note that this is a cycle. Once something becomes accessible and accepted by society, it is no longer “counter-culture” and a new counter-culture will emerge in response. It is important that people become aware of the techniques used by big business to silence us into complacency with the status quo, because it is the only way that we can break these cycles and hopefully avoid having future progressive movements turned into cash profit.
Stream of Conciousness
Buy and by we can sell the whole world to a mob of starving consumers looking to own themselves there’s nothing sadder than a blank screen so I will fill it with an image that is easily recognizable and even if I don’t know what or who it is I know that’s what I want I want to bury it all in my closet in terms I can understand like free flowing thought turned into cold hard cash that flows just the same into someone’s hands whos? I don’t really care as long as it’s there guiding me to oblivion of consumerism which is the only answer to chaos the only answer is to speak in your language because my working language doesn’t seem to translate dollars and euros pesos y libras is all the same word like self-imprisonment keep going towards the future keep it for yourself discard it when you use it a big rotting heap of ideas and voices calling from somewhere it could be you or your past but it doesn’t seem like you recognize it. So what? So where is the big after-party (after the show, after the blow and the ecstasy of finding yourself after having been kidnapped by that freak show) Now you question whether or not the price is even worth it, you weigh it against not knowing where you’re going and that never feels good so you take it even though it’s a stained hand me down that smiles when it should frown give me the mona lisa so I can eat her while I wear Buddha on my sleeve and a certified real soldiers bag that came from some fight for something or maybe this face that they told me was once someone is really no one anymore or maybe it has always been no one and belonged to the masses and that I can understand because the same thing happens to my reflection
Hardcore Hipster
This consumer trend has its origins in the underground music genres of metal and punk rock. Once the preferred forms of expression of a generation frustrated with and rebelling from society, now more commonly associated with the trivial preoccupations of the young bourgeois. They roam together in large groups photographically documenting their every movement and express their unending dissatisfaction with life and the world through online communities. This hipster can be typically spotted with any combination of body piercings, strange hair cuts, black themed clothing, heavy eye-makeup, and a dour expression. Look for the Hot Topic tags invariably hanging from one of their 20 articles of clothing to identify them.
Earthy Hipster
This hipster looks to disguise their consumer preoccupations with more earth-friendly trends. Their watered-down views can be traced back to the original mindset of what was once a counter-culture by listening to the music of Bob Marley, who at one time was the voice of this revolutionary sect. Although their clothing style was originally the mark of creative lower-class seamstresses and tailors who eschewed the more common, more expensive popular brands, it is now the mark of “refined taste” as it now has its very own designer name (Valija Gitana) with price tags that only the privileged can match. What was once the every-day clothing of a people who shared ideals rooted in peace, closeness with nature and solidarity of man, has become the party-clothes of the fashion divas.
The Revolutionary
Evolving from a bloody history of revolutions in South and
Short poem
My money is my mouth
My kingdom for a personality
Sell it to me so I can buy my reality
It’s on my shirt but not on my mind, that’s fine
Now my brain is free to predict the next fashion craze
It’s not a maze; it’s a jungle out there
A revolutionary movement to decide what to wear
Recipe
Counter – Culture Soup
Ingredients
The main ingredients to this recipe are entirely up to the chef’s discretion. They should be elements taken from counter-culture movements a little past their prime, since counter-cultures in their prime are much too bitter for most. To make these flavors agreeable to popular society, take only the most easily digested elements such as music or clothing (here is where the tastes of the chef come into play). Discard the ideals and beliefs; leaving the barest hint is fine, but too much will certainly ruin the soup.
Salt and pepper to taste
Shredded dollar bills
Procedure
- Boil a large pot of water
- When water is boiling, add counter-culture elements
- Maintaining water level, continue cooking all elements until they are soft enough to dissolve into one homogenized mixture.
- Let simmer until the flavor is agreeable
- Add salt and pepper to taste and garnish with the shredded dollar bills to give it capitalist flavor
Serving suggestions
Serve with a large Starbucks coffee for those cold winter nights, or with a cold mocha latte for a refreshing power lunch.
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10/12/2008
Position Paper: Bad News
The situation begins in Georgia, a small country to the southwest of Russia. Georgia was once a part of Russia, but seceded from it in 1991. In Georgia, there is an autonomous region called South Ossetia. The people of South Ossetia claim citizenship of Georgia, Ossetia and Russia. There has been violent struggle between South Ossetia and Georgia for many years, stemming from the fact that the citizens of South Ossetia (which are a minority group in Georgia, Ossetians and Georgians are different ethnicities) claim that the Georgians marginalize them. There have been various violent and non-violent revolts throughout the years in South Ossetia, with the Ossetians aiming to either become independent or join with North Ossetia (which is a part of Russia) and Georgia not willing to give up territory.
This last summer of 2008, Georgia took advantage of the fact that the world was occupied with the Olympics and occupied South Ossetia with military troops. Hundreds of civilians died and thousands were forced to flee their homes. Russia responded to this threat to their citizens and invaded Georgia with its own troops. Now, compared to Russia, Georgia is a tiny speck on the map. Its army is absolutely no comparison to Russian forces. So then why would they make such a dangerous move? Why would they cause any trouble between themselves and their more powerful neighbor? Maybe because since the Bush administration, they have received ample US backing. Under the Bush administration they have received billions in funding – $151 million were given to them just in between 2004 – 2006. In fact, Georgia is currently the fourth- biggest recipient of US funds. On top of that, Georgian troops have received special training from US troops since 2002. Perhaps the reason that Georgia made such a bold move was because they had this western mega-power backing them up.
But why the US interest in Georgia? The US claims that they are supporting a “beacon of democracy”. More likely they are interested in having a foothold around Russian borders. Not to mention the issue that seems to shadow every move that the American government makes; oil. The Caspian Sea is an invaluable resource of oil and natural gas. To avoid dependence on Russian sources of these resources, the Clinton administration backed the building of a pipeline that did not run through Russia. This pipeline is called the BTC pipeline, and it just so happens to run through a certain “beacon of democracy” (you guessed it) – Georgia.
And so we come to the present conflict. Russia has missiles pointed to the United States, and has made agreements with Venezuela. The United States has missiles stationed in Poland pointed towards Russia.
The American media has said very little about the issue. In fact, all of the information gathered from this essay came from outside (mostly European) sources. You’d think that in between the presidential squabbles and Britney’s latest fight with Paris they’d manage to at least find 5 minutes to mention the fact that we are in a very tense state of affairs. This is happening right now. Right now, all it would take to cause a national tragedy (either in Russia or the US or anywhere else) is the push of a button (to be cliché). Why the lack of coverage? Why is it that almost nobody seems aware that anything is going on at all? If there is an attack on US soil, the public will be left in a state of confusion, followed by rage at what would seem to be an unprovoked attack. Just like what happened in Pearl Harbor and 9/11. In fact, the general public might cry out for a war…The truth is that the lack of coverage has nothing to do with the degree of significance. It has to do with the simple fact that the US government just doesn’t want the general public to be informed.
