It's been too long.
I recently got back from vacation and realized how much of a negative person I am. I also realized how much of a philosophical anarchist I've become. I took notes the entire time I was gone as if I was about to take a quiz when i got back. I found myself writing down phrases like,
"poor little conformist, she doesnt even know..."
and,
"congratulations on furthering indoctrinated sexism and gender hierarchy."
Whats wrong with me?
Anyways, I went on a cruise to florida and the bahamas.
I'm not sure where to begin.
Ken Knabb translates Guy Debord's Idea of tourism as such,
Tourism human circulation packaged for consumption, a by-product of the circulation of commodities is the opportunity to go and see what has been banalized. The economic organization of travel to different places already guarantees their equivalence. The modernization that has eliminated the time involved in travel has simultaneously eliminated any real space from it.
I felt sick to my stomach for most of the trip. Although I block the thoughts out of my head in order to put on a smile, I only felt like I was seeing events unfold and not participating in them; submitting to the spectacle.
Florida
Every where I went there were things to be sold. I should have expected all the rides at universal to a have the exit in the middle of the store adjacent and relevant to each theme ride. I should have expected the countless billboards exciting the individuals in my party to want to go on those rides. I should have expected nothing less from this advertised money-making machine. A theme park is built on absurdity of consumerism. Individuals attend theme parks to relive the memories of the movies, television shows, cartoons, and other commercials, and to praise these things. To have your photo with a 30 foot tall spiderman statue, to see a new car with logos and decorations of the incredible hulk, to be able to purchase souveniers with company logos and intriguing designs, is to partake in a giant advertisement.
The items sold represent the company in an advertisement. If these products were only advertisements then they would be sold at a price lower than the production cost, as these items are being distributed to the individuals they are advertising to, only furthering their advertising capabilities. But, as these products are sought in their ability to advertise, they are sold as indulgences and not as commodities. the prices are set at what the company believes the consumer will pay in order to indulge and submit.
I should have seen it coming. The radio on the bus ride over. The theme park maps placed on our seats before we entered the bus. The highway-adjacent strip malls. The billboards. Things I do not see on a regular basis in rural Vermont. One Giant Commercial.
If the residents of Florida cared about universal, it was solely for economic benefits.
Bahamas.
We first stopped at the cruise lines own private island. Nothing new, another advertisement. The individuals working there could have very well been residents of nearby islands. I wouldn't be until we got to Nassau that I was made aware of the history of the population of the Bahamas. According to Ron, our driver, the Bahamas were dead for about 100 years and completely non populated, until rich white people came over and brought an abundance of slaves. Soon after, slavery was abolished and the base for a growing economy was built upon.
I asked Ron if we could stop at a farmers market. Farmers markets happen almost daily in nassau, the reason for this being that the food is not grown by the individuals, but instead it is grown on another island, sold to individuals in bulk and then those individuals stay in a booth all day trying to sell the food they just bought. I purchased some bananas. a plantain, and a bag of tiny peppers, which I plan to cook with this week. She said that most of the food she sold was grown on the island of Andros, (I can't find any internet references that concur). I was discouraged to see that there was a chiquita sticker on the bananas with a nintendo wii symbol in the middle. I then realized that the booming economy of the bahamas was not only built on the prospect of slavery, but on tourism as well. The individuals living in the bahamas only have a few generations of culture, to stand behind. So the shirts with relaxing slogans, jamaican slang, and crudely drawn smiling faces are not the individuals on the island selling their historical culture, but instead are individual businesses selling manufactured culture in a tourism business. I don't know which one is worse.
The ship
I got a tour of the ship, upon which I lost faith in the "Environmental Officer," who was an engineer with a little bit of environmental policy training and a suddenly new and appealing job title. But more importantly, I saw the proof that I was looking for in the giant stage that was the cruise ship. A sign posted on all the public exiting doors from the service areas that said "you are about to go on stage, SMILE," with a large smiling face in the middle. I knew that this is what it was like but I never had a definite and obvious sign, therefore I could never argue with, "maybe those individuals just really like their jobs," or "maybe they are actually happy."
The service/staff for our room felt very comfortable with us and opened up to us immediately. Micheal was the most open, often telling of his depressing tales of working on the ship. If he had been telling this to a rich snobbish family, he would have been fired for sure. I really liked the guy, and I felt bad for him in his situation. Both him and our Butler told me flat out that you can't argue with the guests, ever. The cutomer is always right. You have to throw on a smile and pretend that it will be okay. I almost felt like I could relate, as I didn't want to be there at all, but blocked negativity out of my head(into my notebook), and tried to focus on the happy.
I've cruised with my family before, but I never thought of the social, political, cultural, or environmental ramifications until now and I very much regret going, but am somewhat glad that I was exposed to it, to relearn the things I knew, but with an open mind this time.
I still wonder, if the sign in the back of the kitchen door with the smiling face was a sign that was hanging up on the inside of the eye-lids of everyone in nassau.
All the worlds a stage.
More to come when I'm ready to look at my depressing notes again from my winter vacation.
Thanks for reading.
DerkTheCork
I recently got back from vacation and realized how much of a negative person I am. I also realized how much of a philosophical anarchist I've become. I took notes the entire time I was gone as if I was about to take a quiz when i got back. I found myself writing down phrases like,
"poor little conformist, she doesnt even know..."
and,
"congratulations on furthering indoctrinated sexism and gender hierarchy."
Whats wrong with me?
Anyways, I went on a cruise to florida and the bahamas.
I'm not sure where to begin.
Ken Knabb translates Guy Debord's Idea of tourism as such,
Tourism human circulation packaged for consumption, a by-product of the circulation of commodities is the opportunity to go and see what has been banalized. The economic organization of travel to different places already guarantees their equivalence. The modernization that has eliminated the time involved in travel has simultaneously eliminated any real space from it.
I felt sick to my stomach for most of the trip. Although I block the thoughts out of my head in order to put on a smile, I only felt like I was seeing events unfold and not participating in them; submitting to the spectacle.
Florida
Every where I went there were things to be sold. I should have expected all the rides at universal to a have the exit in the middle of the store adjacent and relevant to each theme ride. I should have expected the countless billboards exciting the individuals in my party to want to go on those rides. I should have expected nothing less from this advertised money-making machine. A theme park is built on absurdity of consumerism. Individuals attend theme parks to relive the memories of the movies, television shows, cartoons, and other commercials, and to praise these things. To have your photo with a 30 foot tall spiderman statue, to see a new car with logos and decorations of the incredible hulk, to be able to purchase souveniers with company logos and intriguing designs, is to partake in a giant advertisement.
The items sold represent the company in an advertisement. If these products were only advertisements then they would be sold at a price lower than the production cost, as these items are being distributed to the individuals they are advertising to, only furthering their advertising capabilities. But, as these products are sought in their ability to advertise, they are sold as indulgences and not as commodities. the prices are set at what the company believes the consumer will pay in order to indulge and submit.
I should have seen it coming. The radio on the bus ride over. The theme park maps placed on our seats before we entered the bus. The highway-adjacent strip malls. The billboards. Things I do not see on a regular basis in rural Vermont. One Giant Commercial.
If the residents of Florida cared about universal, it was solely for economic benefits.
Bahamas.
We first stopped at the cruise lines own private island. Nothing new, another advertisement. The individuals working there could have very well been residents of nearby islands. I wouldn't be until we got to Nassau that I was made aware of the history of the population of the Bahamas. According to Ron, our driver, the Bahamas were dead for about 100 years and completely non populated, until rich white people came over and brought an abundance of slaves. Soon after, slavery was abolished and the base for a growing economy was built upon.
I asked Ron if we could stop at a farmers market. Farmers markets happen almost daily in nassau, the reason for this being that the food is not grown by the individuals, but instead it is grown on another island, sold to individuals in bulk and then those individuals stay in a booth all day trying to sell the food they just bought. I purchased some bananas. a plantain, and a bag of tiny peppers, which I plan to cook with this week. She said that most of the food she sold was grown on the island of Andros, (I can't find any internet references that concur). I was discouraged to see that there was a chiquita sticker on the bananas with a nintendo wii symbol in the middle. I then realized that the booming economy of the bahamas was not only built on the prospect of slavery, but on tourism as well. The individuals living in the bahamas only have a few generations of culture, to stand behind. So the shirts with relaxing slogans, jamaican slang, and crudely drawn smiling faces are not the individuals on the island selling their historical culture, but instead are individual businesses selling manufactured culture in a tourism business. I don't know which one is worse.
The ship
I got a tour of the ship, upon which I lost faith in the "Environmental Officer," who was an engineer with a little bit of environmental policy training and a suddenly new and appealing job title. But more importantly, I saw the proof that I was looking for in the giant stage that was the cruise ship. A sign posted on all the public exiting doors from the service areas that said "you are about to go on stage, SMILE," with a large smiling face in the middle. I knew that this is what it was like but I never had a definite and obvious sign, therefore I could never argue with, "maybe those individuals just really like their jobs," or "maybe they are actually happy."
The service/staff for our room felt very comfortable with us and opened up to us immediately. Micheal was the most open, often telling of his depressing tales of working on the ship. If he had been telling this to a rich snobbish family, he would have been fired for sure. I really liked the guy, and I felt bad for him in his situation. Both him and our Butler told me flat out that you can't argue with the guests, ever. The cutomer is always right. You have to throw on a smile and pretend that it will be okay. I almost felt like I could relate, as I didn't want to be there at all, but blocked negativity out of my head(into my notebook), and tried to focus on the happy.
I've cruised with my family before, but I never thought of the social, political, cultural, or environmental ramifications until now and I very much regret going, but am somewhat glad that I was exposed to it, to relearn the things I knew, but with an open mind this time.
I still wonder, if the sign in the back of the kitchen door with the smiling face was a sign that was hanging up on the inside of the eye-lids of everyone in nassau.
All the worlds a stage.
More to come when I'm ready to look at my depressing notes again from my winter vacation.
Thanks for reading.
DerkTheCork