Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization | Adbusters Culturejammer Headquarters: “An artificial appropriation of different styles from different eras, the hipster represents the end of Western civilization – a culture lost in the superficiality of its past and unable to create any new meaning. Not only is it unsustainable, it is suicidal. While previous youth movements have challenged the dysfunction and decadence of their elders, today we have the ‘hipster’ – a youth subculture that mirrors the doomed shallowness of mainstream society.”

Overwrought much?

It seems to me that claiming “hipster” is a sign of the coming societal apocalypse is handwringing at its worst. Every youth movement has had its critics, claiming it (whatever the current “it” was) exposed a dangerous bankruptcy among the youth of the day. Hippies were dead-enders, punks were nihilists, grunge and Gen-X were composed of slackers.

Only in retrospect can people look back and point to the truly innovative parts of the movement, and too often that retrospective view ignores the vast majority of the movement which was just a bunch of kids doing what everyone else was doing. Hipsterdom in this respect is no more or less a victim of this tendency.

Additionally, this is just false:

Hipsterdom is the first “counterculture” to be born under the advertising industry’s microscope, leaving it open to constant manipulation but also forcing its participants to continually shift their interests and affiliations. Less a subculture, the hipster is a consumer group – using their capital to purchase empty authenticity and rebellion.

Anyone who remembers the grunge explosion of the 90s surely remembers that within a season or two, even the catalogs of JC Penney’s and Sears were full of plaid shirts and baggy, ratty jeans. “Lumberjack chic” was adopted so rapidly by some of the biggest names in fashion and advertising that it quickly became a cliché, much to the chagrin of many a person in the American Pacific Northwest.

Countercultures and underground cultures are always a reaction against two things: what is going on in the broader society and the prior generation’s counterculture. If there’s one thing I’m absolutely sure of, it’s this: the hipster scene is not the end of youth culture; its’ just another step along the road. The next “scene” will come along (and, probably, is already developing even as we speak).

Hotline On Call: AFL-CIO Drops New Mailers In OH, MI, PA, WI: One of the mailers aims directly to dispel myths and rumors about the IL senator. The other features worker testimonials on Obama’s record on jobs, health care reform and workers’ rights.

Union officials tell On Call that the mailers mark the launch of a massive August campaign to clearly define Obama for millions of union voters, and to contrast the Democrat’s’ policies and plans with those of his GOP rival, John McCain.

(Via TPM Election Central.)

It’s good to see the unions step up to educate their members.

Feminists cry foul over Fat Princess – Video Game Feature – Yahoo! Video Games: She’s Fat Princess, the star of Sony’s upcoming video game of the same name. Debuting at last week’s E3 expo, the colorful Fat Princess is a capture-the-flag game with a twist: you can thwart capture attempts by locking the once-thin princess in a dungeon and stuffing her full of cake, thereby increasing her girth and making her harder for your enemies to haul back to home base.

Somehow abusing women makes for a good video game? C’mon, Sony, you can do better.

Judge removed after racial comment: A South Carolina judge who admitted calling crack cocaine addiction “black man’s disease” has been banned from the bench, the state’s Supreme Court said in an order Monday.

(Via MSNBC.com: Crime & courts.)

Wow. Just wow.

It’s nice to see that the state supreme court stepped in and did the right thing, but it’s still a shame that this could even happen. However, given South Carolina’s recent spate of freak-outs, it’s perhaps not that surprising.

Consider:

Study shows dementia patients recognize ‘elderspeak’: They may not be as sharp as they once were. Their memory may be failing. But people with Alzheimer’s can still sense when someone is talking down to them.

(Via McClatchy.)

When I was a teenager, I worked at a nursing home with an Alzheimer’s care wing. Quit a lot of people talk down to the elderly, even when they aren’t suffering from a form of dementia, even many family members. It seems to me that basic respect is owed to every person in a conversation, no matter their age or mental ability. I know I didn’t like being talked down to when I was a kid, I certainly don’t like it now, and I can’t imagine I would appreciate when I’m an octogenarian.

Americans United: Army Base Cannot Coerce Soldier Trainees To Attend Church Services, Says Americans United: “Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri offers ‘Free Day Away’ as one of only two opportunities for soldiers to leave the base during eight weeks of vigorous Army training. (The other day is the day before graduation, which can be spent with parents and guests.) During ‘Free Day Away,’ trainees are picked up by a bus sent from the Tabernacle Baptist Church of Lebanon, Mo., to participate in a day full of recreational activities, followed by dinner and a required church service.

Trainees are given the impression that the event is sponsored by the Army and that they must attend. If they do not attend, they have to remain on the base and continue with training, while those who attend the event have a break for the day.”

(Via Dispatches From the Culture Wars.)

All emphasis mine.

This is really amazing. That a base would so clearly incentivize a religious function without recognizing the incentive is incredible. I don’t have a problem with the retreat, per se, but if some soldiers are being given the day for leisure, all the troops should be given that same day off.

This program is just another example of the privileged position that Christianity holds in this country, without most Christians cognizant of their privilege.

For those who don’t wish to go off just a press release, a MO paper carries the story here, with additional quotes:

In a statement issued to media, officials said Fort Leonard Wood Chaplain Col. Roger Heath oversees religious activities to insure compliance with Department of Defense and Army regulations.

“All such religious activities are entirely voluntary and no individual is compelled to participate in any religious program,” the statement said.

Of course they’re not coerced, but that’s not the point. The incentive is the point. Incentivizing religious adherence is a form of endorsement, and, as we all should know by now, endorsement of religion is not something in which the government should be involved.

One more:

“There’s no way we could have made it 37 years if we weren’t doing things right constitutionally,” [Tabernacle Baptist Church Pastor Don] Ball said.

Really? Is it so hard to believe that unconstitutional behavior was allowed to persist for so long? Are there no examples of bad behavior on the part of government that was allowed to persist for decades?

(Hint: Dred Scott, mandatory school prayer, Jim Crow, etc., etc.)

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 07/24/2008 | Obama sparks debate: Would Europe elect a black leader?: “Obama’s current tour — he landed in Berlin Thursday and was travelling to Paris and London — has provoked an intense debate among members of Western Europe’s racial and ethnic minorities: What are the chances of a minority politician rising to the top in their countries any time soon?”

This part was also of particular interest: ‘I think because of Obama a lot of people feel it’s more possible now here because they didn’t expect it in America,’ said Zachary Miller, a black man who hails from Ohio, lives in Paris and is vice chairman of Democrats Abroad in France and an Obama supporter.

Europe, despite its relatively liberal reputation, clearly has issues with race and ethnicity that it needs to address. Those issues are some of what prevents their recent immigrants from integrating with society, and must be addressed if Europe hopes to prevent violent extremists from finding a base of operations among a welcoming underclass.

House votes to boost bridge spending – Capitol Hill- msnbc.com: “The House overwhelmingly passed legislation Thursday aimed at improving the safety of the nation’s bridges, nearly a year after the deadly collapse of an interstate highway bridge in Minneapolis.

The vote was 367-55.”

(Via artsgal @ Newsvine.)

Good news. It’s about time that America invests in its crumbling infrastructure. Maintenance of our bridges, highway, and rail systems is very important for public safety. What happened in Minneapolis should never happen again.

Why the press is ignoring the Edwards “love child” story. – By Jack Shafer – Slate Magazine: “But if Edwards had an affair and lied about it, shouldn’t he suffer scrutiny akin to that of Craig? At least three-dozen daily newspapers in the United States published the Craig news the day after the Roll Call scoop, according to Nexis, but this morning not a single U.S. daily mentioned the Enquirer piece.”

The problem with this line of reasoning is that in the Larry Craig case there was an actual credible public record and a very credible witness: the police report of the incident and the officer himself. In the Edwards case we don’t have a similar credible record.

It would be, frankly, irresponsible of the media to play up the Edwards story at this point given the thinness of the record beyond the National Enquirer’s own reporting (which is, at best, hit and miss as far as credibility goes). Additionally, the National Enquirer has a vested interest in stirring up this story, possibly beyond what any actual facts gathered by the paper will support (increased circulation being an obvious one).

The rest of the media is rightly being cautious with this story.