[-empyre-] pirates, pirating pirates

[magnus at ditch.org.uk]

Reflecting on the interrelation between business and government, the
background of activity in emerging economic circuits and the rise of
cyberwarfare, I start to wonder to what degree the piracy is above all a
relation between the bigger entities in capitalism which Jussi says,
“...already, is rotten, anomalous and deviant itself”. Perhaps I am a
little caught in circular relations, loops and entropy, but these notions
seem to be quite fundamental to an understanding of conditions of the
present moment, especially considering the imprint of political economy on
spaces both virtual and physical. Technical, systems ecology, as I read in
'Digital Contagions' is one more paradigm which has been absorbed into the
body of capital. But, as Michel suggested, the relationship is not
necessarily one way. In this dynamic interplay of forces I am continually
searching (like many others) for new spaces and opportunities. There is a
kind of inadvertent mapping involved in that process, the kind of
activity, I think, which the Keith Bunting work which Marc mentioned,
makes explicit.

I am also seeking analogies for my own and others' circumstances. The
discussion has recast the role of pirate to locate it within the centre of
business and government. It has also questioned the certainties of
self-identification with fringe and underground community. Instead of
locating ourselves at the borders, perhaps denied agency, I suggest an
alternative, less anomalous, identity, as larvae consuming the rotten hull
of capital - Pirate vessels of the 1600s, unable to put in to port for
repairs, were dogged by millions of these creatures, voraciously burrowing
into their wooden hulls. Invariably there was nothing for it but to
abandon these ships to the tide. So, this kind of instinctual and
destructive (vandal) behaviour may be one way to envisage the sharers of
today – possibly acting without any kind of political awareness, doing the
most natural thing in the world.

Further on the larvae trope, I visited the Free Hetherington in Glasgow
this week. This is the former Graduates' Club Building, occupied by
students in defiance of cuts and restructuring being effected within
Glasgow University: http://freehetherington.wordpress.com/
The Free Hetherington has become a centre for numerous educational and
cultural events and activities over the past 160 days and declares itself
to be operating a gift economy. So, I propose such spaces as a flip-side
to the embodied messages Jussi has described. Around such places, it seems
to me, there is a whole cacophony of noise (of protest and participation)
and intermingled use and quiet and reflection that distinguishes it from
the social dynamics of Dubitinsider's co-ordinated marketing campaign. But
I wonder if I am coming on like an old moralist too?!

Jussi, perhaps you could say some more about evil and Evil Media Studies?