NATION OF NOISE.

"To achieve independence from alien domination and to consolidate revolutionary gains, five steps are necessary:

1) PROCLAIM A NEW ERA AND SET UP A NEW CALENDAR
2) REPLACE ALIEN LANGUAGE
3) DESTROY OR NEUTRALIZE ALIEN GODS
4) DESTROY ALIEN MACHINERY OF GOVERNMENT AND CONTROL
5) TAKE WEALTH AND LAND FROM INDIVIDUAL ALIENS."⁽¹⁾

In his "The Revised Boy Scout Manual" from which the above quote is from, William S.Burroughs is exploring 'revolutionary tactics and weapons'. He is referring to the Ruling Class as 'Aliens' and shows examples and strategies how to overthrow them. For a period of time he appears to have been actually convinced that the Earth was run by agents from Venus. He was right.

Instead of applying these five steps to the whole of society, let's just pick a part of its culture - music - and see what we can do or suggest at this point.

1) Obviously this means abolishing the Christian Calendar. It's high time the final death blow is dealt to the cultural domination of this scum. There will be no more saint days or any of this bullshit; there will hardly be need for holidays as everybody does what s/he wants to do all the time anyway. Important big festivals can be held at certain days or at random. On the whole the 20th century and all the centuries before will be remembered as dark ages, when people had to work, were controlled, brainwashed and oppressed. Even the most sophisticated mind control techniques of the Old Rulers will be pale remnants of idiocy compared to the "delirious freedon and splendid poetry" ⁽²⁾ that will fill the vacuum they will have left behind.

2) The musical language of the ruling aliens consists of stupid harmonies, idiotic chords and brain numbing melodies all infested with the virus of Control. We won't have any of this; it will be replaced by the noise of compulsive beauty. Already now the old and the new have hardly a platform for communication, state and business lead a total war to exterminate the noise, but they are doomed because pleasure and play are on our side. Don't underestimate the scope of noise: Silence is one of its most potent forms.

3) There will be no gods or leaders - only slaves need them. We won't have to bother with pop stars, confident that they will all kill themselves, when they realise the myth is shattered and the lies have become obvious.

An orgy of creative vandalism will overrun not just churches and banks, but also the cultural gas chambers they call clubs, venues, theatres, galleries etc.; they will be changed beyond recognition. 4) Their media, a propaganda machinery to make Goebbels jealous must be utterly destroyed, the concept itself of the incompetent, dishonest lackey making up "trends" and "news" will disappear, and its hierarchical structure smashed forever.

5) All confiscated hardware will be given to those with the most extreme ideas of technological abuse. The land and villas of the tycoons will be used as sites for festivals that will last for weeks. Those of the Old Rulers who choose to stay will have to face the challenge of a fullfilled life. Their children will never have piano lessons.

⁽¹⁾ William S. Burroughs. from 'The Revised Boy Scout Manual' , Re/Search 4/5,.from which this whole piece is plagiarised (originally written in 1970).
⁽²⁾ Raoul Vaneigem. 'The Revolution of Everyday Life'. (1967).

Appeared originally in Praxis Newsletter 4, May 1994