Tiago Mata

History of Social Science, Journalism and Opinion

Yes or no, neither

Posted by Tiago On August - 16 - 2009

What is left after satire corroded all possibilities? In the last few days I have become addicted to the song below. Its euphoric positiveness and the counterpoint of negativity. It parodies truthfully a certain way of being political and Portuguese.

Agora sim, damos a volta a isto!
Agora sim, há pernas para andar!
Agora sim, eu sinto o optimismo!
Vamos em frente, ninguém nos vai parar!
Yes, now, we will turn this around!
Yes, now, it has legs to walk!
Yes, now, I feel the optimism!
Ahead, nobody can stop us!
Agora não, que é hora do almoço…
Agora não, que é hora do jantar…
Agora não, que eu acho que não posso…
Amanhã vou trabalhar…
Not now, it’s lunch time…
Not now, it’s supper time.
Not now, I don’t think i can make it…
Tomorrow I have to go to work…

Once you place enthusiasm against its inverted self, does enthusiasm survive? One could say it’s simply dialectics, one ravages the other. But I don’t see the next step in the progression.

I see a hollow, dark place, of silence, neither positive, nor negative, instead indifferent and laughing and displaced. Maybe it is nothing to do with the song, and everything to do with where I listen to it. I am no longer there, where this satire happens with conviction and without self-perspective, so I cannot be in it, and resolve it.

Insurrection printed

Posted by Tiago On August - 5 - 2009

The new manifesto on the left: L’Insurrection qui vient has sparked great controversy more about the authorship than the content. Today I was surprised to find it published by semiotic Princeton University Press, with a blurb by Glenn Beck:

“I am not calling for a ban on this book. It’s important that you read this book. [...] And let me tell you something: Don’t dismiss these people. Don’t dismiss them.”

Violating copyright, the text is also pdfed online.

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About Me

I am an historian of recent Economics. I am interested in the impact the ideas of economists have had on public imagination and our democracies. I am a very occasional blogger, an even more erratic twitter. You might see me cycling in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

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