The People's Propaganda

Page 29

GRAFFITI AND STREET ART

The dominant culture is pathologically paranoid about any other voice being heard because other voices might detract from its power. That is why the little boy must not shout out that the emperor wears no clothes, because the emperor is too much afraid of losing control to tolerate even the smallest of oppositional voices. This is the real reason why the war on graffiti is pursued with such prejudice, because it is part of a wider battle for control of the flow of ideas. He who controls the topic of conversation controls the city. “The dominant culture protects its messages in many ways; the war on graffiti is not merely a war on vandalism and social chaos fought along strict legal boundaries as its agents often claim, but part of a war against all messages legal or otherwise that distract from the dominant presentation. “ Rob Weinberg , Shooting the Messenger: Rethinking Confrontation in the War Against Graffiti, 2003 Who is winning? Who knows? Keep pushing!

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