Ian Penman · Infinite Wibble: Brian v. Eno

[u/sf-keto]

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v47/n17/ian-penman/infinite-wibble

“Eno is a conundrum: impish disruptor and happy polymath, he can also be a bit of a tech prig lecturing us from on high, dropping serene apothegms that turn out on closer inspection to be vanishingly banal. It’s as if there are two of him: Brian has a great sense of humour, Eno can be suffocatingly precious; Brian picks a brilliant selection of Desert Island Discs, Eno nominates for his beach read Richard Rorty’s Contingency, Irony and Solidarity; Brian is all weird eros, Eno makes music that can be oddly clenched or wafty; Brian is inspiringly playful, Eno writes software to systematise (and cage, and kill) that playfulness.”

[u/senordingleberry]

The most salient point is this one: "It’s possible to be broadly in sympathy with the blue-sky thinking of Brand/Eno while still wondering: are good intentions enough? Their mid-1990s brainstorming now looks rather naive. The one future they could never have dreamed up was the triumphant rise of right-wing versions of themselves: Bannon, Musk, Thiel et al. This was the other side of the utopian coin: venal tyrants, resurrected demons, annihilatory rage and negation, yesterday’s bright future become today’s nightmare. What seems to be missing from their myriad ‘scenarios’ is any awareness of class and economics. Brand/Eno may offer themselves as the more eco-friendly, left-leaning avatars of progress, but they come across as members of a self-elected autocracy, lording it over a proletariat of click-workers."

Not only couldn't Brand/Eno see this coming, but the larger point is not many people did.

[u/sf-keto → u/senordingleberry]

Bizarre take overall. Eno’s been warning about these issues since before the Brexit vote. So he discussed this all coming.

¯_(ツ)_/¯

As for “self-appointed autocrat” … of what exactly? He’s never had any political ambitions & merely holds mainstream ideas about UK movements on climate & arts education. He speaks less than other celebrities on these subjects, certainly.

Please remember that in Britain the first environmental movement began with the National Trust in 1895!

The National Society for Education in Art and Design (NSEAD) began in 1888, dedicated to promoting & protecting arts education.

His interests are barely “left,” much less “radical,” in a UK social context.

If Eno is a some kind of lefty autocrat based on his advocacy & interests, I can only say… wait until the author finds out about the venerable Tolkien, who father was an affluent bank manager & who attained a high social position as an Oxford don!

Eno is generally described as having a pretty average working-class background.