Considering Commodification

About a year ago I worked on a research project for my qualitative research methods class where I spent time with members of the electro dance music scene. When I started the project I had no idea what it meant and what it still means to be a raver or even what a 'real rave' was. After about a month of spending time in the scene I started to believe that the venue, people, and scene I was studying were not the things I thought they were. I entered the project with the understanding that I was studying ravers; it wasn't until I spent some time studying and observing the subjects did I realize that I was studying the product of a commodified subculture. The venue wasn't an authentic venue for 'real raves,' instead of a warehouse the events I attended were hosted in clubs. Instead of cultural beliefs like PLUR (peace, love, unity, and respect) constituting the collective conscious, drugs, sexual activity, etc. were. And instead of collective self-organization playing a role in the events, business owners were planning and throwing the events. Despite the fact that raves lost many of their core qualities, electro music was never able to be kicked out of the culture.

This is the role of commodification; to turn something, a service or item, into something that can be sold -- but more importantly, sold to the masses. Throughout history we have seen the commodification of products, services, and subcultures (punk culture), destroy the things we loved and needed. This was my reaction when I realized the rave scene had been commodified, packaged, and sold to the masses. But what I have recently realized is that by commodifying raves, electronic music -- one of the pillars of the rave scene, electronic music was able to enter the mainstream -- something that I assume the first DJs thought never could happen. Even though raves have been commodified for the masses, 'real raves' still exist and are being sought out by individuals who were reeled in by commodified raves.

Drawing from this example and the idea that commodification is the act of turning a product or service into something that can be sold to the masses, I feel that political subcultures can gain political power by commodifying their ideas for the masses.

COMODDIFY YOUR POLITICAL SUBCULTURE!

Occupy Wall Street Might be the Precursor to US Socialism

I feel that there are a few main issues raised by OWS. The first would be the role the government played in the economic collapse. Their role included not regulating the actions of economic actors or financial institutions, and bailing out the banks that were too big to fail. As a result the mantra "money out of politics" and "our government is a plutocracy" have made their place at the forefront of the OWS movement.
The second issue would be the ubiquity of wealth inequality and social inequality -- wealth inequality referring to the income disparity in the US, and social inequality referring to the discrepancy of life opportunities between the wealthy and the poor.

I believe that these two issues, if addressed adequately, can only lead to socialist-like public policy.

I am not saying that the OWS movement will turn the US into a socialist state

, I believe that we are far from that day. However I do believe that the issues raised by OWS, and the solutions to the problems will lead to a socialist atmosphere that may be the precursor to a futuristic socialist society.

The Effects of Mormonism on Romney's Politics

coming soon

1. Branding the Constitution with Capitalism and Minarchism.

Libertarians and Republicans argue that the constitution and minarchism are directly connected. However, I think that they have made a misassociation and as a result have fabricated a mainstream misunderstanding of what the constitution states. The constitution claims that democracy should be defended, not minarchism and more bluntly neoliberalism.
Their incessant use of the words 'socialism' and 'unconstitutional' are successful because they have associated the constitution with capitalism, minarchism, and neoliberalism. However, for the sake of argument, based on the constitution, the country could become a communist state through democracy, or any political system. It is valid to point out that democracy and capitalism are not defended by the constitution, and that only democracy is.

To be continued...

The Middle East

Damn, I know this is a so-what point, but there is so much conflict in the middle east.
What will the future look like? And what does it mean for the rest of the world?
Will the middle east become more democratic? Will the Baath party spread across the region? Will factions break apart from current states and form new ones?
I don't even know how to end this post. It doesn't help that I know very little about the region and it's history.
Will the internet be a tool for change in the region?

Macro Economic Forces

I'm not saying anything profound, but I just realized that the economic policies of a country's prime political figure will affect the global market. That's not worded very well, but I wanted to at least get my thoughts down. Any thoughts?

The Youth and Ron Paul: Holding on to The American Dream.

I'm going to write this later.

Here's another video to help you understand the economic catastrophe

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.