Cannibal Genocide

Most people who are aware of Baudrillards work remember the book that has inspired the Matrix series movies, Simulacra and Simulation. But in the height of his popularity, many forget that his most important works shaped and predicted the social instruments that global courtiers use against the general populace to this day. To give a brief background Baudrillard is often seen as a major guru of French postmodern theory, although he can also be read as a thinker who combines social and cultural criticism in original and provocative ways and a writer who has developed his own style and forms of writing. He was an extremely prolific author who has published over fifty books and commented on some of the most salient cultural and sociological phenomena of the contemporary era. One such proflic writing comes from months before his death in 2007 is called Carnival and Cannibal, Or The Play of Global Antagonism. In the essay, it paints a picture of how racial anatagoisms gave rise to an indifference of cultural values through the use of virtual interaction and with that interaction, he added another essay with it called Ventriliquos Evil. By Virtual, he means an exact copy of the the methods and objects that are used on the subject as a means of distraction through entertainment.

The book/essay starts off with a quote from Marx on history starting first as a tragic authentic event which then becomes a farce if repeated. Baudrillard uses this quote to explain “the Process” as he calls it of Carinivalization and then Cannibalization. He argues that

 

“It is this dual-Carnivalesque and cannibalistic-form we see reflected in every corner of the world, with the exportation of our moral values (human rights, democracrcy), our principles of economic rationality, growth, performance and spectacle . They are taken up everywhere with greater or lesser degrees of ethusiasm, but in a totally ambiguous way,by all those ‘underdeveloped’ peoples who have not so far heard the good word of the universal and hence, provide fertile ground for missonary work and forced conversion into modernity, but who, more even than being exploited or oppressed, are simply made a laughing stock and transfigured into caricatures of the Whites- like those monkeys that used to be dressed up in admiral’s cosutmes and put on show in fairs.”

You can see this a lot with the blackfacing that was acceptable hundreds of years ago. The mocking of the shape and size of african americans, the giant lips , the bowties and the “singing like birds.” In fact, Whites  displayed such replusive acts in shows and in literal carnivals. But what happens overtime is that it becomes unacceptable because its causes stereotypes that harm and offends a vast majority of blacks and then conflicts erupt such as murder and genocide. Any attempt to heal racial divisions becomes and act of cannibalizing older generations and removing the stain of history. We see this happening all across America currently with the demolishing of statues both from confederate generals and founding fathers, we see half hearted  apologies of blackfacing 20 years from politicans currently holding positions and even the likes of people like Robin DiAngelo try to erase “whiteness” by making whites doubt every thought and word they say unto minorities. This doesnt solve the problems though, you can still see Klan robes in the museum, you can still watch racist films from the internet archives and the fact is that its parodying emotion so much that people become more indifferent to accusations of Racism, the more its used as blunt object.

As a consequence of negative imagery and messaging , some blacks attempt to bleach their skin or racially mix with other whites in attempt to join the suburban housewives of America. Baudrillard says that

“When the Blacks attempt to whiten themselves , they are merely the distorted mirror of the negrification of the Whites, self-mystified from the outset by their own mastery. So the whole decor of modern multiracial civilization is merely a troumpe l’ oeil universe in which allparticularities of race, sex and culture can be said to have been falsified to the point of being paradoies of themselves.”

Lot of this loss of idenity and meaning comes from the fact of broken families, regardless of race but it effects vary depending on income and location. The Elites and the Global bureaucrats, still inspired by their colonial and imperial past believe that the guilt of their crimes can be absolved by intermarrying and breeding different races into the hierarchy in the hopes that class relations will just magically improved has resulted in one of the most heightened tensions of race relations in the most recent time.It doesnt stop there because it even affects people migrating into this country. Have you noticed that most people who arrive into the country of Middle Eastern/East Asian or Latino descent speak their native tongues? Some come to America to work so they can head back to their country with wealth for them and their family, they mostly speak their language to keep the tribe entact, in the hopes that the family/tribe stays together. The ones that stay are absorbed into the void of American culture, with biotechnological control of peoples perceptions and “act white” in a corporate and financial world .

And this antagonism is why no one is unified on anything politically in America. The elites are a  Ventriliquoist, the ones who pulls the strings of Good messaging(Diversity and Inclusion) while the puppet master himself is politically exlcusionist by forcing segreation and integration at the same time. Instead of racial groups getting along in class relations, they are divided into seminars and fake gestures in an attempt to damage control their way into a comfortable retirement. This is where the Virtual comes in, the Virtual Reality (oxymoronic) will be the final component of where alienation creates Reality and Fantasy together. What  Globalization and Imperialism have conjured up  is a scenario where morals become gray and people aimlessly search for meanings of life through violence. In order to someone to have “fun” now these days, it must be a mardi gras where masquerades and costumes perfom amongst your peers in an attempt to climb the social ladder. They removed  the idea of  family behind and fractures a country up into racial spheres of influence(demographics) in attempt to prolong their status and wealth, you could even argue its not even country anymore but rather city states.

To conclude, Baudrillard provides us with a way in which to understand what is happening in the social realm. First, you have to understand what Simulation does and how it interacts with peoples perceptions of the world. Next, you have to realize that the globalization project has reached its limits, the damages that are being done are irreversible and all that people can do is search the  meaning  of life through discovery.