Debord around the web

Situationist Guy Debord and his thoughts on the Spectacle are enjoying a sustained social currency, having popped up around the web recently.

I think Debord underestimated the more basic systems of control which underlie the “spectacle,” paying less attention to how the basic disciplines of work and worklessness keep capitalism together. The corporate emperors’ grip on society relies on the way they control bread as well as circuses.

In my opinion Society of the Spectacle is evergreen, as relevant in 2012 as it was in 1968. Technology changes, and the specific content of the media diversions and distractions changes, but the social relation of the Spectacle remains constant.

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