Revolootion™
„Come on Trayvon, it‘s time to overthrow the societal order n sheiiit!“ — „Hell yeah, Imma seize the means of production and make some fresh beats.“
Despite its undeniable realism, this is a fictionalized account of a potential conversation during the recent US looting sprees. Nevertheless, we have to assume that some very similar conversations took place amongst the involved PoL (People of Loot). Because why else would one engage in blatant acts of theft, vandalism and violence? Clearly, this has to be about a deeper, a revolutionary message. We know it from the past — hungry, discontented masses seize control of a failing society, introducing new constitutional processes and laws to reflect their own, revolutionary view of the world. We saw it in France, the United States, Russia — looks like it‘s the United States‘ turn again.
Except not really. What is actually happening? The masses are not so much discontented as they are bored and only hungry in so far as they may be experiencing slightly longer queues for their chicken sandwich of choice. Give it a week or two and they will be back to normal, milling about their consuming grounds. That is not to say that looting does not result in some relatively significant damages — things are getting destroyed, people are getting hurt, social cohesion is called into question. But from a systematic perspective, these aspects are not threatening. Indeed, they may even turn out beneficial.
Most, if not all businesses involved in the looting are insured. They will recoup their damages. Insurance premiums may rise slightly. Customers will pay a few additional cents to receive their product. Big deal. You could even call it an economic incentive. Job creation through looting. Injuries and deaths may be tragic to the affected people, but how relevant are they in the grand scheme of things? A million deaths are a statistic, but is a single, non-televised death even a tragedy anymore? Social cohesion has been on the decline for a while now. Yes, you may trust your looting neighbors a little less than before. Perhaps you might be interested in some more public surveillance to keep you safe? A few tiny adjustments in gun laws? Biometrics check before you are allowed to enter a store? Just trying to help!
This is not a revolution. And I don‘t believe many people think it is. Yet it is remarkable that the system we live in is able to continually generate events like these without letting them escalate towards increasingly revolutionary activities. While some may be quick to point out that the type of people involved in these events (joggers, good boys, aspiring musicians) simply lack the IQ and low time-preference to engage in anything resembling a serious overthrow of the existing order, this analysis ignores the fact that events like this are not limited to the jogger community.
During the 2017 G20 summit in Hamburg, similar non-happenings took place. You may remember a few of your favorite alt-lite talking heads bawling their eyes out on various live streams because the protesters referred to them as Nazis. More importantly, the G20 summit had its very own looting spree. On July 7th, protesters looted a supermarket and several other stores. They also burned a good amount of cars and injured around 160 policemen in a single day. In total, 100.000 protesters were squaring up against 15.000 policemen.
Pretty big, right? Certainly this could be judged as significant by many standards. But what actually happened? To my knowledge, nothing came of it. A few arrests were made, most probably coupled with a similar number of subsequent releases. Absolutely nothing changed. This is peculiar, as with these types of events one would expect either an escalation, or significant negative repercussions for groups involved in the protests / riots. We observed this dynamic after the Charlottesville incidents — online shutdowns and deplatforming increased, arrests increased, real-world activism ground to an almost complete halt. Everything else being equal, the various Lootquest episodes should have resulted in comparable outcomes.
But of course they are not equal. Charlottesville was perceived as a threat to the system, however minor it might have been. Jogging through Target and discount shopping in Hamburg is nothing but an outlet for frustrated consumers. Trayvon & friends do not want to introduce any radical changes, they just can‘t afford a Smart TV to go with their Jordan's. European protesters at G20 are not interested in biting the hand that feeds them — they just want to nibble a bit and play at revolution. The people behind the screens just want something to talk about and feel superior to a bunch of thugs and/or dangerous radicals. With Revolootion, everyone wins.
Essentially, these non-happenings are yet another surrogate activity for the human power process. Some subjects may just not be content with video games, internet pornography and hyper palatable snacks. To the established system, discontent is dangerous, as it presents opportunities for (more or less popular) uprisings. By commodifying the act of revolt itself, the ruling elite is building yet another safeguard to protect their interests.
In a world that is increasingly decoupled from reality, we must recognize the elusive character of Revolootion™. Yes, they might serve as a good example for illustrating the problems of race relations. They will certainly make for some good talking points. But at their core, they are counterfeit experiences, propagating the fleeting illusion of living in significant times.
We must not be content with illusions.
