In Other News

"When our man after the day's work comes twitching, tired, off the assembly-line into what are called without a shred of irony his 'leisure hours,' with what is he confronted? In the bus on the way home he reads a newspaper that is identical to yesterday's newspaper, in the sense that it is a reshake of identical elements . . . four murders, thirteen disasters, two revolutions, and 'something approaching a rape' . . . which in turn is identical to the newspaper of the day before that . . . three murders, nineteen disasters, one counter-revolution, and something approaching an abomination . . . and unless he is a very exceptional man, one of our million potential technicians, the vicarious pleasure he derives from paddling in all this violence and disorder obscures from him the fact that there is nothing new in all this 'news' and that his daily perusal of it leads not to a widening of consciousness, [but] to a species of mental process that has more in common with [the] salivations of Pavlov's dogs than with the subtleties of human intelligence." - Alexander Trocchi, A Revolutionary Proposal: Invisible Insurrection of a Million Minds

I've always found this passage interesting, and to be honest, I haven't entirely made up my mind to what extent I agree or disagree. But it's a bit provocative, isn't it? Bearing in mind that I think Trocchi may have some valid points, here's a somewhat different take....

Occasionally, while reading the news - something I do much less frequently or thoroughly than others - a few stories will "team up" in order to produce a strong effect on me, an effect that only exists in response to the sum of the multiple of stories. The articles in the set may have a vague connection, and enough to induce a reaction in me that I want to share (examples here and here). In that sense, it may be as simple as A + B = C, with C being my reaction.

In other cases, the effect may be purely dissonant. No synthesis at all. I can think of one example, because I happen to have written it down. Not sure exactly what I was reading at the time, but it might have been Vaneigem's "Total Self-Management" ("We want the enjoyment of all rights, or what amounts to the same thing, the right to all enjoyments"). In any case, I had something on my mind that had me thinking about "living subjectively and creating art (while also fighting imperialism)." Then, in the Boston Metro on 11/17/08, I noticed two articles: one about a selection of music streaming services on the web; the other about horrible situations across the African continent, third world countries where too many people die every day. Three elements - anti-imperialistic subjective living, music streaming, and untold deaths in the third world - with seemingly no common ground. This apparent lack of connection is what produced such a strong effect on me.

And then there are times when I read a string of articles that seem to be connected somewhere... somewhere out in the cosmos. In other words, I have no idea how they are connected, but I have a feeling. It's a feeling I cannot - and do not wish to - elucidate, but it's somewhere. Perhaps you felt it too?

I got a feeling while reading this past weekend's edition of the Metro (11/5/10). In order to try to illustrate this feeling that I can't describe, I have taken a selection from each of the articles I noticed. No editorial, just quotes:

1. "Somerville officials are examining a band (sic... okay, one editorial) on an alcoholic and caffeine mixed drink popular among college students. The Board of Alderman wants to see if it can ban Four Loko from store shelves..."

2. "A pair of books, 60 years overdue, were returned in a mailed package to the Boston Public Library's Copley Square Branch Tuesday[...] The returned books were the 'Autobiography by John Stuart Mill' and 'The Writings of Henry David Thoreau.'"

3. "[Senate Minority Leader Mitch] McConnell said Republicans, who will hold a majority in next year's House of Representatives, should aim to hobble the health care law by 'denying funds for implementation' of the measure."

4. "Two days after congressional elections, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs signaled that Obama might consider a compromise with Republicans that would keep tax breaks not only for the middle class, but for wealthier Americans as well."

5. "At this point, Zach Galifianakis knows a thing or two about how to make an unstable character funny. 'People who are like a truck with no brakes are inherently funny...'"

That's all. Somewhere out in the cosmos it all makes sense.