Trapnest, 4/26

Given the class is almost over and this is the next to lass post-class blog post, I feel the need to discuss something. Actually, get off my chest may be a better wording than discuss, though it’s always something open for discussion!

My frustration comes from this; all the theorists have told us how to better live our lives. To fight against the hegemony in which we live or better see the world. We’ve had theorists tell us we need to read into every sign and every understanding we have. We need to question the world we live in, and what we perceive is real. We need to understand how media works, the capitalism behind it, and even the culture industry. These theorists have told us we live in a world designed for us by others, dictating our opinions, and so on.

How do they expect us to do all of these things, and still function in a society? If we sit at a four-way stop questioning a stop sign, “Why is it red? Who said it was red? Should I stop or am I feeding into a dominant ideology? Why do I think to stop in the first place?” We could never get anything done! I feel like the ‘ideal’ society would almost be one in which society couldn’t exist. We would have no interactions so no oppressions for dominant ideologies.

I feel it is the things that the theorists ban against that defines what connects us. It is our shared understandings that the theorists ban against because of how they’re formed. And perhaps they could be formed in more proper ways, but my question is this a reasonable expectation?

While I realize this wasn’t exclusively about what we discussed in class, but it’s something that’s been bothering me about all of these theorists. They all seem to have good ideas, but unreasonable expectations for what could really occur in a society. And I realize that perhaps they write on the ideal situation, but if it’s near impossible to enact, what’s the point?