There is nothing more natural than to consider everything as starting from oneself, chosen as the center of the world; one finds oneself thus capable of condemning the world without even wanting to hear its deceitful chatter.
Guy DebordRead
The story of terrorism is written by the state and it is therefore highly instructive… compared with terrorism, everything else must be acceptable, or in any case more rational and democratic.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote critiques how the narrative around terrorism is controlled by states, influencing public perception of acceptable behavior.
Guy Debord's quote reflects on the power dynamics involved in defining terrorism. He suggests that states dominate the narrative, shaping it in a way that positions their actions as rational and democratic compared to terrorism, which is often vilified. This raises questions about the nature of accepted violence and the morality of state actions when contrasted with non-state actors labeled as terrorists. In essence, Debord prompts us to consider who tells the story of violence and how that affects societal perceptions of legitimacy and morality.
Themes
TerrorismStateNarrativeViolenceRationalityDemocracy
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture discussing media representation of violence, one could use this quote to emphasize the narrative control by states.
More from Guy Debord
All quotes →No longer is science asked to understand the world, or to improve any part of it. It is asked instead to immediately justify everything that happens... spectacular domination has cut down the vast tree of scientific knowledge in order to make itself a truncheon.
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Looting is a natural response to the unnatural and inhuman society of commodity abundance. It instantly undermines the commodity as such, and it also exposes what the commodity ultimately implies: the army, the police and the other specialized detachments of the state's monopoly of armed violence.
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Boredom is always counter-revolutionary. Always.
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He will essentially follow the language of the spectacle, for it is the only one he is familiar with.
Guy DebordRead
The spectacle is capital accumulated to the point where it becomes image.
Guy DebordRead
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