dada » 15 Jan 2021 22:33 wrote:cross-posting from the Year Zero thread, because I couldn't decide which thread it belonged in
I can't help thinking that in the puppet-master narrative, the puppet masters are free of the narrative. They just use it to manipulate us, to keep us from seeing what is really going on. But what is really going on is that puppet masters are manipulating us, using the puppet-master narrative to keep us from seeing what is really going on.
The argument has a fractal quality to it.
I agree. Because "they" actually don't have total control, as "they" found out to their great surprise during the French Revolution. But wardens do have various well-honed techniques to maintain the illusion that they are in total control, which is a big part of why they often effectively are.
And this is also why I don't think giving the wardens carte blanche is the most helpful response to a prison riot, no matter how scary and odious one judges the prisoners.