How do you capture the economic or the political spirit of a moment. What is the underlying unease that starts people feeling "the Fear". The fear of not being or having enough. The fear that there will be a general collapse where we will have reason to fight for our very survival. The fear that the powers that be have more insight, but will not let us know when this time - or these times are coming.
When Christopher Isherwood started his novels in and about Berlin, he was there as an Englishman to fuck boys. Please note - he was a boy, who taught English and came from the English class system. I don't want to compare cultural notes, but both Armistad Maupin and Ian Kellan can explain these distinctions better than I.
I am concerned with "Communication," I am a Professor and Scholar of Communication and I care largely about the common good or the harm that we create with our communication. I believe that we have some agency in either contributing to the common good, or using communication for destructive purposes, or even that constitutive communication can create something in a third dimension that is more than or different than what was intended and what was heard / read.
As I curate my Facebook page, I post memes and short thoughts on highly complex subjects. I also comment and engage in discussions that are about very complex subjects. I sit and listen to President Obama presenting the Agreement that was reached with Iran. I know and understand less about what he calls "the Deal" - despite his presentation - than I care about how it will be discussed in the United States. I care about whether it passes with moderate support and is not undermined by the most radically right-wing and hateful elements of those who claim to support either the US or Israel's national security. I truly fear war.
Previously, I listened to eminent Economists debating the complexities of the Debt and Credit system within the Eurozone, especially as it is framed by the current situation of Greece - "the Debtor" and Germany - "the Creditor" and/or the dictator. Note - I use dictator here - not in the exclusive political sense of domination and control, but also as in the communicative sense of dictation - the one-way communicative flow of authority. "I will tell you what to do and how to do it".
Now - to have ANY of these discussions on Facebook seems silly and destructive to me, BUT, I do want to take part in constructive discussions where I might learn new thoughts and ways of expressing myself on these subjects. While ALL of our attention spans have been totally reduced by the surplus of information available to us, it is a question of focus and discipline as to whether I can READ and/or WRITE anything coherent on these complex subjects.
I do NOT want to use my viewpoint to damage others, but there are times that I do want to howl with the pain and the injustice of what I perceive to be happening. I do regard it as my moral duty to contribute to the swirl of the discussion, in the hope that I am strengthening those who want to know more and understand the complexities of the situation. I cannot stand to see a stupid populist Corporate hack - who isn't even a good businessman - accuse Mexicans of being rapists.
Then to see that there are those who support him, as a Millionaire, as a PR Man, and tell me that he would make a good kick-ass President, is almost more than I can bear in terms of stupidity. It no longer becomes clear what we are talking about, and what are we doing to contribute to a society where we can all live? How are we communicating so that we can all live? So much that I see seems to be simplistic versions of "Who is / are the smartest Rat(s) in the Maze?"
