Conventional

I found Jean Francois Lyotard’s piece to be absolutely brilliant. Looking around in the world today I can see very clearly what Lyotard was trying to get at in his article. Lyotard describe today as “ a period of slackening” (Lyotard 1979, 38). While it seems easy to look around and find things we see as slackening, such as our current political situation or the general laziness of individuals in our country; the truth is this is only the symptom behind a much larger issue.

 The real issue behind the problems of America and the world is that “parties” have all the power. As Lyotard states, “When power assumes the name of a party, realism and its neoclassical complement triumph over the experimental avante-garde by slandering and banning it” (Lyotard 1978,40). Whether it be our political system, school system, or economic system the powers that rule “capitalist” have the control. Furthermore, these parties whom hold the power get to decide what is write and what is wrong. Lyotard points to the examples of Stalin whom suppressed any type of creative thoughts that didn’t go inline with his rule. Without uniformity it is hard to control others, which is why since the beginning of modern civilizations anyone who went against the rule suffered consequences. The idea of a grandmaster narrative, and control over others for power is alive and well. Politicians and the media are in complete control of aesthetic judgment just as they were in the days of Hitler, who used propaganda to gain control over Germany.

This then leads to the idea of the death of modernism. Lyotdard mentions that people have become more apathetic; and why wouldn’t they be? After all, with the power our politicians have it is hard to see how we can make a difference.  And if we feel like we can’t make a difference then we sit on the sidelines and act conventionally. Unfortunately it is this fear of being unconventional that has killed modernism.