mild misanthrope

I have been a fan of Guy Debord for some time, ever since a friend (who subsequently shot himself – oh, the irony) lent me a copy of The Society Of The Spectacle. The man (Debord, not the suicide friend) was a bitter old drunk, and I have a strange admiration for bitter old drunks, so that was it, I was hooked.

One thing that always intrigued me at the time was the huge point everyone who ever said anything about him made of describing some game he enjoyed tremendously, called Kriegsspiel (“War Game”), and the tiny amount of actual information about it. But life went on (as it does), years went by and I forgot all about it.

A few days ago, while ordering some books on Amazon (of which Comments On The Society Of The Spectacle is a part), it suddenly came to me that now, in the age of Google and Wikipedia, I might find a lot more info on the elusive Kriegsspiel. And find it I did. It was an actual board game, which Debord himself created. He and his wife designed the board and pieces and wrote a rule book and eventually released it as Le Jeu de la Guerre. It kind of flopped, and I still think he killed himself over his failure as a boardgame designer (he shot himself; hence the “oh, the irony” comment above, for those that didn’t get it).

Of course, the actual boardgame is nearly impossible to find (or play, judging by the amount of math that goes into each move), but a kind soul came up with this – a digital version, playable online, with my trusty MacBook Pro taking care of all the boring calculations. There’s a Windows version too, for all you heathens out there.

My handle is aWopBop, see you on the battleground.

The Concise Intellectual Metaclass Manifesto

Ever since we came down from the trees and started playing with fire, there have been a myriad of ways to identify and separate the rich from the poor. I use the definitions of “rich” and “poor” loosely; it might be more appropriate to say dominant and submissive, but primates had (and have) that, so it somewhat destroys the delicate balance of what the rest of this post is about, so deal with it. Citizens vs. slaves, nobility vs. peasants, bourgeois vs. proletariat, upper class vs. working class and so on.

These classifications have been the bread and butter of social order. However, by defining all humans as their job titles and income ranges, one ignores a whole group of essential people. Those educated, well-read, interesting and culturally significant people who aren’t really obsessed with climbing a ladder or amassing wealth. It is a class disconnected from the Produktionsmitteln of normal life. People who may be poor or rich, but are not defined by that.

To solve this dilemma, the brilliant Jay Beaman coined (or borrowed, I’m not actually sure, but it doesn’t make him any less brilliant) the term Intellectual Metaclass, (from the Greek meta, “with, across, after, beyond”), which sums up perfectly the idea of a group existing outside the norm of human standardization.

It’s not a difficult concept to grasp (and if it is, please don’t give yourself away, you simpleton). Like George Carlin said, “think of how stupid the average person is, and imagine that half the people are even stupider”.

Most people lack even the most basic cognitive abilities. They see a banana peel on the floor in front of them nd cannot understand that they will fall. The terrible confusion arising from this concept is the frequently false assumption that a financial elite is also an intellectual one. In some cases it may be true, but being a business savant does not necessarily imply extreme intelligence or admirable cultural significance.

The Intellectual Metaclass is the group of people that can step back from the system and understand it. People who comprehend the driving forces in life. People who are able to understand the connections between events. People who play understand how to play human connect the dots, and quickly learn how to play it without the numbers. Then without the dots.

Vote Like a Motherfucker

With all the hoopla surrounding the American presidential election, some Brazilians appear to forget that we’re also voting this year, for mayor and city council. Granted, it’s not as glamorous as electing the first black president (and, to be honest and shallow, the best looking one ever – sorry, Clinton and Kennedy fans, but Obama is a seriously handsome dude), but it’s still important shit.

If any American thinks that Palin has the absolute hands-down monopoly on insanity, check out some Brazilian politicians. They are some crazy-assed motherfuckers, really scraping the bottom of the barrel here. And, as a cherry-on-top added bonus, we’re required by law to vote. All of us.

Here are some of the (surprisingly coherent and intelligent) suggestions and guidelines for voting, by our Electorate Ministry (This rational outlook on the election process will make any future posts about insane candidates even funnier, believe me):

1. Don’t forget to vote;
2. Vote according to your own opinions and outlooks;
3. Remember that your vote will shape your future, as well as that of your family and community;
4. Try to discuss your candidate’s platform with friends, colleagues and family;
5. Never negotiate your vote, your right to choose your own future, in exchange for anything;
6. Always vote for the best proposals and ideas;
7. Try to understand your candidate’s true motivations;
8. Do not base your decision on polls;
9. Voting is your right, enabling you to choose who will run your city, state and country.

Brazil can be pretty fucked up at times (as can the resto of South America, North America, Europe, Asia and Africa – I think Antarctica may be the only reasonable place on Earth), but these pointers are fairly intelligent.

The only one that creeps me out a bit is the 7th – I would think it requires a lot more explanation than THAT, and the kind of people who need to be reminded of that scare the shit out of me. It’s like saying, “remember that people lie at times, and just because they look nice and smile a lot, they might actually be ruthless, greedy assholes”.

Maybe if you need to be reminded of that, you shouldn’t really vote. Hell, I think the right to vote for all citizens is a little bit wrong, but that’s just me.

Tu Vuo Fà l’Americano

Every once in a while, my otherwise very easygoing American friend Jay is quite miffed at brazilian anti-americanism. For some reason, it has become quite fashionable for the Brazilian upper middle class to hate Americans.

Hatred of a people is somewhat indicative of a limited intelect. Imagine lumping together every Brazilian; that would mean my actions, world views and opinions, as a college-educated polyglot who’s lived on three different continents, are shaped by the same forces that govern those of an illiterate sugar cane farmer.

But even my firm belief of individual value disconnected from geopolitical situations falters when confronted with delightful gems, as the glorious Q&A with the Miss Teen USA contestant from South Carolina. As Dylan Moran once said, “The problem is, American stupid people sound stupider than stupid people from anywhere else”.

It’s OK to have bumbling idiots in a country, just don’t stick them in front of a TV camera (or in the Oval Office, for that matter).