The Temporary Autonomous Zone
Some great reflections from the Temporary Autonomous Zone. This is from the section on the Psychotopology of Everyday Life. The declaration that insurgency is open and revolution dead speaks to the existence of a territory void of potentiality.
The second generating force behind the TAZ springs from the
historical development I call "the closure of the map." The
last bit of Earth unclaimed by any nation-state was eaten up
in 1899. Ours is the first century without
terra incognita, without a frontier. Nationality is the
highest principle of world governance–not one speck of rock
in the South Seas can be left open, not one remote valley,
not even the Moon and planets. This is the apotheosis of
"territorial gangsterism." Not one square inch of Earth goes
unpoliced or untaxed…in theory.
The "map" is a political abstract grid, a gigantic con
enforced by the carrot/stick conditioning of the "Expert"
State, until for most of us the map becomes the territory-
-no longer "Turtle Island," but "the USA." And yet because
the map is an abstraction it cannot cover Earth with 1:1
accuracy. Within the fractal complexities of actual
geography the map can see only dimensional grids. Hidden
enfolded immensities escape the measuring rod. The map is
not accurate; the map cannot be accurate.
So–Revolution is closed, but insurgency is open. For the
time being we concentrate our force on temporary "power
surges," avoiding all entanglements with "permanent
solutions."
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.