the invisible, evil, fever, another zone, #1

Fever again, today, the 25th post or pick, still kind of feverish and have read too much Victoria Nelson.
September 26, three days after the German election. Brilliant thoughts by Wolfgang Münchau on Spiegel Online about how much Keynes the FDP or German Liberalism could or should swallow. Two other farewells today: the grand Marcel Reich-Ranicki died last week at the age of 93, and Berthold Beitz another legend of the old Bundesrepublik and boss of Krupp died end of July at 99. President Gauck attended both obsequies today.
Germany is entering another zone.
Frank Schirrmacher, who was present at MRR’s funeral as editor of the FAZ, has this short essay today in his paper: “Was die SPD verschläft.” Verschläft is oversleep, SPD are the German Social Democrats who just lost the election, and Was means What. Beyond its usual alarmism and the language of conspiracy this text gives a good view on the future relation between society and the markets. It’s about the invisible in the visible and vice versa. It’s about the supernatural and sorcery. Did you know that a few years ago the NSA planned a stock market, where you can bet on terrorist attacks and on political resignations to allow a feedback and predictions on the future? Schirrmacher writes that we already have that, just without the stakes. But with a perpetual memory. And politicians should learn and react. That’s his conclusion: Not Hannelore Kraft, but Sigmar Gabriel and Christian Lindner, Lindner being a Liberal, educated by Münchau. Okay, that could be another zone. Future, presence. But presence is also that I sit here with my MacBookPro on my knees in this feverish mood and don’t want to give up on good and bad. There must still be evil. In person. The NSA is too virtual. It is invisible. Sorcery and counter-sorcery.
Let’s start with the Mac on my knees. I know it’s not about the fetishism of commodity anymore. No, it’s not. How could Apple be evil? All these smart gadgets. I like the iphone’s new software. Well designed and connected to the world. Love-hate.

Evil must be ugly. Microsoft was ugly and Microsoft destroyed Netscape and the freedom of the Internet. Windows looked awful. Steve Ballmer was a miscast. Poor design, rainbows, cooperate shit. Only the German Telekom and its magenta were worse. Everyone knew that the Telecom was evil. And its magenta. But Apple? Everybody liked Steve Jobs. Child labour? China. They’ll fix it. Not clear, doesn’t work here: Love-hate. And Google? Google owns YouTube. Google has this colourful logo, sometimes the logo mutates into something serious and sometimes into something sweet. For children. Everything else about Google is quite soft, not tangible. Invisible. Nevertheless they have Eric Schmidt. Their CEO. Their face. He is really creepy. Schmidt is evil. Read his book about the future and you know. With Google it does work. Google, bitch. Hate. And Zuckerberg? Young man, can evil be young? Yes. Facebook sucks. They read your emails. They control you. The sell you. But still love-hate. And Larry Ellison? Holy smoke. He just won the America’s cup. In the end only three teams had the money to participate. Ellison put 200 Million Dollars into the Oracle boat to beat New Zealand, which had a third of the budget (partly from tax payers.) Funny. Oracle works like Google and Apple and Facebook with the NSA. Ellison appreciates this fact. It’s his war against terror. He says if we (who is we?) don’t like what the government does with the data, we change the government. Which government, whose government? Hate-hate. All the people above are amongst the richest people on earth. (Besides Frank Schirrmacher) There is a pattern.

(to be continued tomorrow, with the new Hollywood movie about Google with the Wedding Crashers, back to bed, nevertheless I still hate Putin and the jihadists)