"Fantasy Ideology" and Bin Laden

[Krug]

http://www.policyreview.org/AUG02/harris.html

Kinda heavy article.. but anyway..

For want of a better term, call the phenomenon in question a fantasy ideology — by which I mean, political and ideological symbols and tropes used not for political purposes, but entirely for the benefit of furthering a specific personal or collective fantasy. It is, to be frank, something like “Dungeons and Dragons” carried out not with the trappings of medieval romances — old castles and maidens in distress — but entirely in terms of ideological symbols and emblems. The difference between them is that one is an innocent pastime while the other has proven to be one of the most terrible scourges to afflict the human race.

Well nice to know it's an 'innocent pastime'... but maidens in distress? Man that is so.. 1e!

 

[Henry]

Fantastic article - it relates something I've been saying for almost a year.

But that aside, It's nice to see D&D referred to as an 'innocent pastime' for a change!

 

[mmadsen]

Interesting article: Al Qaeda’s Fantasy Ideology. And he refers to Montezuma, Cortes, Clausewitz, Don Quixote, and D&D. Anyway, here's another snippet that should remind us of roleplayers:

What is common in such interactions is that the fantasist inevitably treats other people merely as props — there is no interest in, or even awareness of, others as having wills or minds of their own. The man who bores us with stories designed to impress us with his importance, or his intellect, or his bank account, cares nothing for us as individuals — for he has already cast us in the role that he wishes us to play: We are there to be impressed by him. Indeed, it is an error even to suggest that he is trying to impress us, for this would assume that he is willing to learn enough about us to discover how best we might be impressed. But nothing of the kind occurs. And why should it? After all, the fantasist has already projected onto us the role that we are to play in his fantasy; no matter what we may be thinking of his recital, it never crosses his mind that we may be utterly failing to play the part expected of us — indeed, it is sometimes astonishing to see how much exertion is required of us in order to bring our profound lack of interest to the fantasist’s attention.

 

[ragboy]

They don't exactly make it clear which is the "scourge of the human race" and which is the "innocent pasttime". Maybe they really don't like D&D, but they think Bin Ladin is kinda cool...

 

[S'mon]

Cool article - and very perceptive, my PhD on copyright law made a similar observation, only I was talking about Cartesian rationalism... Anyway, I have a new sig!

 

[mmadsen]

You know, I almost didn't read this thread, because the topic seemed...cheesy. The article though was anything but cheesy. Interesting read.

 

[Nathanael]

Actually, it said so much of how I feel about the situation that I've spread the article to the American Army: Operations forum (for the Army Game of the same name).

I did so because there are those on that board who have gone overboard with blaming the US government for the 9-11 attacks and using the aftermath to strip away everyons freedoms under the guise of the 'war on terror.' I've vehemently disagreed, but this article has stated my arguments in a much more coherent form then ever I could.

You wouldn't believe some of the Ultra Left commentators we get on those Army run forums. For every vet of the service online there's another guy espousing anarchy or dismantling the American Government for some ideal socialist state! These boards are tame in comparison...

 

[mearls]

Funky. A college friend of mine is the assistant editor of Policy Review. When I last saw him at commencement, we chatted about the similarities between the gaming industry and political analysis, in the sense that both are rather esoteric fields with their own tiny ladders of fame, fandoms, and so on existing within a greater culture wholly oblivious to them. There's a lot more crossover between comic book/gaming/SF geekdom and the people who put together publications such as Policy Review and its ilk than you may think. I think someone he works with writes comic books on the side.

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

I did so because there are those on that board who have gone overboard with blaming the US government for the 9-11 attacks and using the aftermath to strip away everyons freedoms under the guise of the 'war on terror.' I've vehemently disagreed, but this article has stated my arguments in a much more coherent form then ever I could.

I'd much rather hear someone say that the US is responsible than hear them spout off the ignorant innocent conservative claptrap that you hear on the radio nowadays. According to Hannety or Limbaugh or thier friends, America was just sitting around twiddling its thumbs minding its own business when all of a sudden these radical people just decided to attack us, and anyone who doesn't hold us blameless for those attacks is "unpatriotic."

Bleh.

Bin Laden et al attacked us for a REASON, and anyone who can't see that had better stop waving flags, pull their heads out of the sand, and do something about those reasons before they come back to bite us again.

 

[Wormwood]

. . . and then the thread, having nothing useful left to contribute, crawled into a dark place to die.