B is for bourgeoisie part 2

The bourgeois man depends upon the existence of a mythical mainstream to justify his way of life. He needs this mainstream because his social instincts are skewed in the same way his conception of democracy is: he thinks that whatever the majority is, wants and does, must be right. Nothing could be more terrifying to him than this new development, that he is beginning to sense: there is no longer a majority, if one ever was.

Our society is so fragmented, so diverse, that at this point it is absurd to speak of a "mainstream". This is a myth partly created by the anonymity of our cities. Almost everyone passed on the street is a stranger and one mentally relegates these anonymous figures to the faceless mass one calls the mainstream, to which one attributes whatever properties one thinks of strangers as possessing (for the smug salesman, they all envy him for being even more respectable than they are; for the insecure bohemian rebel, they must disapprove of him for not being like them). They must be part of a silent majority, that invisible force that makes everything the way it is; one assumes that they are the same "normal people" seen in television commericals. But, the fact is, of course, that those commericals refer to an unattainable ideal in order to keep everyone feeling left out and insufficient. The "mainstream" is analogus to this ideal, as it keeps everyone in line without actually making an appearance, and possesses the same degree of reality as the perfect family in the toothpaste advertisement.

No one worries more about this absent mass than the bohemian childern of the bourgeoisie. They bicker over how to orchestrate their protest to gain "mass appeal" for their radical ideas, as if there still was a mass to appeal to!!! Their society is now made up of many communities, and the only question is which communities they should approach.... And dressing "nice," proper language and all, is probably NOT the best way to appeal to the most potentially revolutiuonary elements of their society. "Dressing up" in conventional bourgeoisie clothing for demonstrations and political events is probably just the spectre of their bourgeois parents, engraved deep in their collective unconscious (collective psychosis) as a symbol of the adolescent insecurity and guilt they never got over. They would do better to cut their ties to the bourgeoisie entirely by feeling free to act, look, and speak in whatever ways are pleasurable, no matter who is watching - even when they are trying to advance some political cause: for no political objective reached by activists in camouflage could be more important than beginning the struggle towards a world in which people will not have to disguise themselves to be taken seriously.

Posted by Tyler at February 12, 2004 11:06 PM