Debord’s analysis developed the notions of “reification” and “fetishism of the commodity” pioneered by Karl Marx and Georg Lukács. This analysis probed the historical, economic and psychological roots of ‘the media’. Central to this school of thought was the claim that alienation is more than an emotive description or an aspect of individual psychology: rather, it is a consequence of the mercantile form of social organization which has reached its climax in capitalism.

In broad terms, Debord’s theories attempted to account for the spiritually debilitating modernisation of both the private and public spheres of everyday life by economic forces during the post-WW2 modernisation of Europe. He rejected as the twin faces of the same problem both capitalism of the West and the statism of the Eastern bloc. Alienation, Debord postulated, could be accounted for by the invasive forces of the ‘spectacle’ – “a social relation between people that is mediated by images”.

I found these excerpts from something called “Alice in Wonderland or Who is Guy Debord?” on Youtube. “Who is Guy Debord?” you might ask? Luckily there’s a new fangled interwebs to look it up on: Guy Debord according to Wikipedia.

Oh you don’t want to click a link? Too much trouble? Here’s an excerpt. This paragraph is pro. And cherry.

He also promoted detournement which is basically hijacking cultural materials and slapping them together in new and interesting ways, regardless of ‘ownership’ and ‘intellectual property’, since those concepts are just capitalist conceits anyway. These videos are an example of that. Enjoy.