The Next Lone Wolf – Read Society of Singularities

Title: Society of Singularities
Original: Andreas Reckwitz
Translation: Valentine A. Pakis
Publisher: Polity (USA)
Edition: June 2020 (Original 2017 issue)
ISBN: 9781509534227

Under the extravagant publicity of the National Security Education Day, every July 1st, the opportunity for citizens to educate the country about safety has been missed for two consecutive years. This year saw more attacks that even trained and fully equipped police officers found horrifying . Officials full of scriptures can't wait to say "Lone -wolf terrorist" on the left and " homegrown terrorism " on the right, adding to the haze of this city with the lowest crime rate in Asia.

Anyway, lone wolves are mostly isolated examples (“isolated examples” in the official vernacular), so why should you be afraid?

Regarding the analysis of the lone wolf, we can return to the humanistic and social perspective that the judges of the High Court do not give weight to , and understand the situation of each individual under the modern social structure. This book explores the Singularity that dominates postmodern (post-materialism) society from the perspective of cultural sociology, and starts with social logic, pointing out the rise of cultural capitalism and digital media technology. As well as the completely different aesthetic viewpoints of the new middle class, a particularity different from individualism is derived. The difference lies in the fact that individualism still emphasizes the equal rights and the adoption of the same code of conduct, while individualism refers to the originality of the individual, and considers the unique cultural capital, and there is an inexorable relationship between different individuals. Incommensurability.

It may be difficult to distinguish between abstract concepts, but it can be easily understood by taking the Hong Kong music scene as an example. Each member of the men's group that is popular in the city is not just a part of it, each has its own unique positioning and edges . Looking at other male and female singers and groups who are active in the music world, they also get rid of the stereotype that the superstars in the music world are all talented, even and slender. As for the large-scale dramas on the other side, which are mechanically mass-produced and have the same routine for ten years, even if the script and the actors are constantly changing, they still look the same. It is known that this is the product of the cultural industry under the assembly line of Fordism in the last century.

A hundred flowers bloom, it should be a good thing, but the rise of the Internet and digital media is a bad thing. Today’s different types of media are scrambling to create content tailored to their users’ tastes, and creators who want to reach a wider audience must first gain popularity and then grab monopoly but fleeting attention. Think about the video games that everyone may have played in recent years, such as "Assassin's Creed", "Pokémon GO", "Assemble! Animal Crossing", "Cyberpunk 2077" are all non-linear open-world games, players can play in the game without a plot . Roam down and enjoy a unique gaming experience.

The pursuit of personal taste is naturally partial, salted fish and greens go to extremes, and their names are appropriate. In fact, everyone hopes that the winner will be the winner. In the Internet age where everyone is considered equal, its ecology and success formula are very simple. The "success" mentioned here is not limited to the network, but whether it can stand out among different individuals. Academic performance or qualifications are no longer the key factor, it's how you show your charisma. Each individual seems to be casting a cultural brand named after himself, striving to adjust his image and character, and find his own market position.

Those days when they belonged to the same production line with similar salaries are over, not to mention that more and more repetitive processes have been replaced by automated machines. Now, in a market dominated by knowledge and culture, only the more unique the positioning, the more valuable (salary) is. The higher the qualification. This trend has led to a highly stratified shift in the workplace, where those who are capable can get more for less, while low-level positions are faced with chronically low pay and fragmentation (from long-term employment to contract, hourly pay and even freelance) work) phenomenon. The resulting social problems such as income disparity and wealth inequality will be discussed later.

The author believes that the above changes in social structure have prompted the cultural landscape to face drastic changes, and each individual faces the crisis of identity and self-actualization. However, even if an individual is lost, he will never sit still. The result is that cultural communitarianism is born in groups of three or five to warm up around the furnace. With the three dimensions of history, space and morality, the boundaries between inside and outside the group are divided and the boundaries belonging to the group are established. The collective cultural identity of a community is identical to Cultural essentialism, which emphasizes absolute values. It is only in this way that cultural identity is defined that a community (and each individual within it) enjoys its individuality. However, when cultural communities with distinct longitudes and latitudes and different values collide in the public sphere, everyone cares more about the immediate interests of the community than the public interests, and political differences should not be easily reconciled.

Today, the majority of people who cannot obtain most resources in the social structure generally hope that politicians will guide the government to "return to the market" to strengthen supervision and intervention to prevent the gap from worsening. Various types of movements to promote just transformation are also springing up. The direct consequence of individuality intervening in the political field is the decentralized mass movement model . The masses practice their own practice and only hope that politicians will pay attention to their demands rather than who will lead the way. The traditional political elites in the democratic system appear to be in a dilemma, thinking that everyone is happy if they lose ink in the middle, but in reality, they are not people on both sides, and no one is happy. How the democratic system can go in the future, the author did not hand over any specific plan, the only hope is that the next paradigm shift of social logic may take us to another new direction.

So looking out of the Tamar, what made the rulers think and fear is: You can't find the next lone wolf.