Semiocapitalism K: | Files | the golden turn

Short Version: #### ThesisSemio-capitalism is the idea that capitalism has become so pervasive and far reaching, that it has coded all of the semiotics, bodies, and realities of the world to only making sense in so far as their relation to capital. This controls the entirety of the ways in which we understand our relationship to ourselves, the world, and others for example the way in which we only understand bodies in relation to their productivity and materials to how much they are worth. Capitalism’s main sphere of production has moved from the actual, to the virtual, to the realm of semiotics.

Part 1: FW1. Deconstruction of Semio-Cap comes first: Semio-capitalism creates a flow of semiotics that constitutes the body’s sole meaning as productivity, I,e the body can only ever be understood as such if it is a ‘productive’ member of the accumulation of capitals semiological systems. This means those bodies that are always already framed out of being productive, for example trans women, are framed out of being bodies in the first place.

Semiotics: Semiotics refer to the particular systems of signs, symbols, language, sonic, and affective that generate meaning. In essence, semiotics refers to the ways in which meaning comes to be, how we understand the meaning of particular subjects, objects, etc and how that meaning came to be.- Prior to politics: Semiotics is also a prior question to politics. Politics refers to the molar level arrangement of bodies, deployment of particular policies and actions that engage with said arrangements. This cannot happen if we do not understand the semiotic systems that come to imbue bodies, organizations, and molar politics with particular meaning. I.e the question of whether or not [x] is good- Cap controls semiotics: Capitalism circuits the entirety of semiotics, to such a degree that all semiological systems come under the domain of capital, framing all other semiotic systems as not only intelligible but in fact as deviants that must be destroyed in order to crystalize the abstracting project of semio-capitalism. For example, the way in which schizophrenic semiological expression is coded as the threat to society par excellence, because its inherent different refuses the static coding to the value-form. 2. ROB: Vote for the team that best deconstructs semio-capitalism

Part 2: Links 1. The PMC forwards the semiotics of capital

Semiotic Black Holes: One of the primary ways semio-capitalism forwards its project of semiotic control is through the creation of semiotic black holes, in which all semiotic systems are collapsed into nothingness to such a degree that it causes a void. A void that causes existential anxiety, for example the feeling when you dissociate from reality and feel a sort of existential creeping. This existential anxiety causes the want to latch onto whatever semiological systems first appear in order to regain a sense of place, which capital through its omnipresence seeks to fill.- The Futures meaning: The PMC actively forwards this through the construction of a future without capitalism, the possibility of other existences as absolutely incoherent. It creates a semiotic black hole, in which life collapses in on itself, there is absolutely no way out and in doing so presents the UBI as signifier that causes a reinvestment into the logics of the status quo, rather than a line of flight to another future.#### Part 3: Impacts1. Semiotic imperialism: Semiotic imperialism refers to the elevation of a particular semiotic system that which is constitutive of all meaning, a sort of imperialism is which all other semiotics are obliterated not only from being considered ‘legitimate’ meaning but from being considered meaning at all. For example, the way in which anti-blackness codes AAVE as ‘not language’ or ‘unintelligible.’ Cross apply the thesis, semio-capitalism is inherently an instance of semiotic imperialism because it codifies it as the only intelligible semiotic system and all others as disposable.
Infinite Violence: Semiotic imperialism results in the culling of other semiotic imperialism not only because they are marked as the outside of the particular imperial project, but in fact necessitates it because semiotic imperialism is a project of totalization and any difference proves resistance to said totalization. This imperialism is the justification for the mass violence against schizophrenic folks, our semiotic systems are constructed as ‘unstable’ ‘scary’ and ‘not productive’ and thus worthy of death and imprisonment.- Outweighs on timeframe and magnitude: This is inherently a project of otherization because those on the outside of the semiotic imperialism are constructed as the others, that are a threat to the signifier, that must be eradicated. Otherization outweighs on timeframe and magnitude because its constantly going on under structures of semio-capitalism and once life is marked as disposable any atrocity can be justified against them.- Overkill: Schizophrenia goes through a process of overkill; we are annihilated from every conversations as the scary outsiders who are just moments away from shooting up the room. This not only means that we removed from every discussion, but that we are culled as necessary for those discussions to take place. It’s TOD for schizophrenia’s existence.#### Alt: Vote neg to reject the semio-capitalism of the PMC and endorse a method of Schizoanalysis

**Thesis: **Schizophrenia is not a psychological ‘disorder’ but rather a taxonomy of particular affective engagements, ones that inherently resist the fascist project, or ‘symptoms.’ This taxonomy is created by ecologies of semio-capitalism in order to compress all of that affect down into one subject, the schizophrenic, that can be killed, ‘cured,’ and disciplined for being unproductive and unstable. Schizoanalysis embraces this taxonomy against the systems that created it in order to create a revolutionary frame of the world that frees desire from stabilization and bodies from fixed subjectivity.

Solvency:1. Schizoanalysis solves: Schizoanalysis frees semiotics from its circuiting through semio-cap through refusing to signify it around a particular object; the family, the body, capital, etc, but instead as affirmative in of itself. This is able to resolve the internal project for which semio-cap expresses itself on, the creation of semiotic black holes. A desire that is not lacking anything, but rather multiplying and always already affirmative.

Revolutionary Frames of Semiotics: Schizoanalysis is thus able to create a revolutionary frame of semiotics that is able to replace the way in which capitalist constructions of semiotics seep themselves into all forms of life, and thus the semiotics par excellence for which subjects plug themselves into. This is turn is able to create an revolutionary field of semiotics for life to plug into, and thus generate organization and materiality that is fundamentally anti-capital.- Two Phases: Schizoanalysis has two distinct phases operational and transformational. Operational refers to the opening of new frames of desire, forms of life, and semiotics within existent ecologies of capitalism. This is key because it creates the maps, or molecular revolutions that are key to allow for macro politics that are not circuited within capitalistic futurities, and thus allow for the complete destruction of those systems under its transformational phase.- Alt Prior question to Aff: This is always a prior question, absent revolutionary fields of semiotics life will plug into capitalist ones and thus regardless if their specific material, policy, or method is not violent on face, it will necessarily collapse back into mass capitalistic violence because the semiotics which charts its process will always be capitalistic 2. Solves the aff

No perms

Paradox of Tolerance: We have to be intolerant of intolerance, or else we justify the paradox of tolerance in which being tolerant of intolerance allows for fascist ideas like anti-blackness and colonialism to be accepted within society which then destroys tolerance because of their genocidal nature. That means any conceded link is a reason to reject the perm.- Signification: Cross apply the thesis, the way in which semio-cap operates is through the neoliberal logic of infinite modulations and zones of exception. That’s a reason as to why the internal justification for the perm, i.e that we should risk capitalism 1 more time, is only a re-materialization of capitalist violence and thus a reason to reject the perm.#### Long Version: #### Thesis:Semio-capitalism is the idea that capitalism has become so pervasive and far reaching, that it has coded all of the semiotics, bodies, and realities of the world to only making sense in so far as their relation to capital. This controls the entirety of the ways in which we understand our relationship to ourselves, the world, and others for example the way in which we only understand bodies in relation to their productivity and materials to how much they are worth. Capitalism’s main sphere of production has moved from the actual, to the virtual, to the realm of semiotics.

Part 1: FW1. Semiotics are a methodological prior question: Semiotics refer to the particular systems of signs, symbols, language, sonic, and affective that generate meaning. In essence, semiotics refers to the ways in which meaning comes to be, how we understand the meaning of particular subjects, objects, etc and how that meaning came to be.

Prior question to epist: Epistemology is a question of how we come to knowledge, whereas semiotics refers to how that knowledge becomes known as knowledge as such. For example, epistemology might ask the question of how we come to learn about apples growing on trees, whereas semiotics would seek to understand how the meaning that is understood when one utters ‘apple’ comes to be, and systems that come to generate said meaning. This justifies why semiotics are a prior question to epistemology, i.e we can’t understand how we come to know things if we don’t know what things are in the first place..- Prior question to ontology: Semiotics are also a prior question to ontology, if we understand ontology as the question of being, or particular conceptions of being, that is predicated on being meaning something in the first place. For example, if we take an ontological question like the creation of whiteness and blackness under anti-blackness, that regime of ontology becomes impossible if there is no semiotic system that constructs particular meanings about being as human or an understanding of what is meant when the human is uttered.- Prior question to subjectivity: semiotics is a prior question to subjectivity, the process for which bodies are strained through processes of subjectification happens vis a vis the attachment of particular subjectivities to constitute the entirety of meaning of a particular thing. I.e the project of Gender’s subjectification is incoherent without the semiotic system that imbues penis as only ever meaning man and vagina as only ever meaning woman.- Prior to politics: Semiotics is also a prior question to politics. Politics refers to the molar level arrangement of bodies, deployment of particular policies and actions that engage with said arrangements. This cannot happen if we do not understand the semiotic systems that come to imbue bodies, organizations, and molar politics with particular meaning. I.e the question of whether or not UBI is better in cap economies then overthrowing capitalism presumes that we understand what capitalism, UBI, and revolution mean.

Deconstruction of semio-cap comes first: Semio-capitalism creates a flow of semiotics that constitutes the body’s sole meaning as productivity, I,e the body can only ever be understood as such if it is a ‘productive’ member of the accumulation of capitals semiological systems. This means those bodies that are always already framed out of being productive, for example trans women, are framed out of being bodies in the first place.

Overkill: This is the premise of the logic of overkill, i.e when entire populations are wiped out from being considered bodies that can be harmed in the first place then infinite violence can continuously be enacted against them without recourse. For example, look to the construction of non-human animals as not being able to feel pain as justified their slaughter, and the framing of black bodies as ‘more tolerant to pain’ was a central justification for chattel slavery and its aftermaths.
ROB: Vote for the team that best deconstructs semio-capitalism#### Part 2: Links1. The PMC forwards the semiotics of capital: Capitalism circuits the entirety of semiotics, to such a degree that all semiological systems come under the domain of capital, framing all other semiotic systems as not only intelligible but in fact as deviants that must be destroyed in order to crystalize the abstracting project of semio-capitalism. For example, the way in which schizophrenic semiological expression is coded as the threat to society par excellence, because its inherent different refuses the static coding to the value-form.
Semiotic Black Holes: One of the primary ways semio-capitalism forwards its project of semiotic control is through the creation of semiotic black holes, in which all semiotic systems are collapsed into nothingness to such a degree that it causes a void. A void that causes existential anxiety, for example the feeling when you dissociate from reality and feel a sort of existential creeping. This existential anxiety causes the want to latch onto whatever semiological systems first appear in order to regain a sense of place, which capital through its omnipresence seeks to fill.- The Futures meaning: The PMC actively forwards this through the construction of a future without capitalism, the possibility of other existences as absolutely incoherent. It creates a semiotic black hole, in which life collapses in on itself, there is absolutely no way out and in doing so presents the UBI as signifier that causes a reinvestment into the logics of the status quo, rather than a line of flight to another future.

The PMC forwards capitalistic subjectification: Capitalistic subjectification refers to the specific project of creating conceptions of subjectivity, and then applying them to bodies as the start and end to that bodies existence; a subjectivity-as-productivity. This is a process that is absolutely impossible without semio-capitalism, because its semiotics do the work of attaching said subjectivity as the meaning for bodies.

Productivity: The endorsement of [x] actively codes subjectivity as worth nothing but its attachment to the value-form of capital, the entire logic of the universal basic income is that subjects should get capital simply for existing. This codes life as always already being immersed in capital, it codes bodies, environments, space, and life itself as always already filled with the semiotics of capitalism subjectivity.- Alienation: This importation of subjectivity causes not only alienation from your labor in the traditional sense, but also from one’s own body. I.e if under [x] my body is coded with the subjectivity of capital from the moment I am born, I am told that I am productive. But because of my body also being trans and a woman, there is a rift between what my body is and what it is coded as. I am alienated from accessing my body as I would like to.

The PMC forwards capital’s logic of individuation: One of the primary ways that semio-capitalism reinforces not only its semiological systems, but also staves off the collective action needed to resolve its violence is through the coding of all life as only ever existing in atomized subjects. I.e that organization is a question of isolated individuals coming together, ones that can compete with others and access the market, instead of a pulsing collective that is always already contaminated with each other.

Visibility: [x] inherently reinforces the logic that everyone is a self-contained individual, through the construction of subjectivity on the basis of visibility and that the demarcation of who and who will not get support from the state, vis a vis [x], will be through said visibility outlining each individual. I.e. if the logic behind [x] is that everybody should get an income, and the everybody is induced into the semiotic realm as the individual then it is dependent on the capitalistic logic of individualism.- IVI: This is an independent reason to vote the aff down, this sort of semiotic individualism in the internal logic to justify eradication of indigenous nations who are collectivized because they were constructed as ‘animal’ vis a vis a pushing out of the semiotic realm of what the human is.#### Part 3: Impacts

Semiotic imperialism: Semiotic imperialism refers to the elevation of a particular semiotic system that which is constitutive of all meaning, a sort of imperialism is which all other semiotics are obliterated not only from being considered ‘legitimate’ meaning but from being considered meaning at all. For example, the way in which anti-blackness codes AAVE as ‘not language’ or ‘unintelligible.’ Cross apply the thesis, semio-capitalism is inherently an instance of semiotic imperialism because it codifies it as the only intelligible semiotic system and all others as disposable.

Infinite Violence: Semiotic imperialism results in the culling of other semiotic imperialism not only because they are marked as the outside of the particular imperial project, but in fact necessitates it because semiotic imperialism is a project of totalization and any difference proves resistance to said totalization. This imperialism is the justification for the mass violence against schizophrenic folks, our semiotic systems are constructed as ‘unstable’ ‘scary’ and ‘not productive’ and thus worthy of death and imprisonment.- Outweighs on timeframe and magnitude: This is inherently a project of otherization because those on the outside of the semiotic imperialism are constructed as the others, that are a threat to the signifier, that must be eradicated. Otherization outweighs on timeframe and magnitude because its constantly going on under structures of semio-capitalism and once life is marked as disposable any atrocity can be justified against them.- Overkill: Schizophrenia goes through a process of overkill; we are annihilated from every conversations as the scary outsiders who are just moments away from shooting up the room. This not only means that we removed from every discussion, but that we are culled as necessary for those discussions to take place. It’s TOD for schizophrenia’s existence.

Alt: Vote neg to reject the semiocapitalism of the PMC and endorse a method of Schizoanalysis

Solvency:1. Schizoanalysis solves: Schizoanalysis frees semiotics from its circuiting through semio-cap through refusing to signify it around a particular object; the family, the body, capital, etc, but instead as affirmative in of itself. This is able to resolve the internal project for which semio-cap expresses itself on, the creation of semiotic black holes. A desire that is not lacking anything, but rather multiplying and always already affirmative.

Revolutionary Frames of Semiotics: Schizoanalysis is thus able to create a revolutionary frame of semiotics that is able to replace the way in which capitalist constructions of semiotics seep themselves into all forms of life, and thus the semiotics par excellence for which subjects plug themselves into. This is turn is able to create an revolutionary field of semiotics for life to plug into, and thus generate organization and materiality that is fundamentally anti-capital.- Two Phases: Schizoanalysis has two distinct phases operational and transformational. Operational refers to the opening of new frames of desire, forms of life, and semiotics within existent ecologies of capitalism. This is key because it creates the maps, or molecular revolutions that are key to allow for macro politics that are not circuited within capitalistic futurities, and thus allow for the complete destruction of those systems under its transformational phase.- Alt Prior question to Aff: This is always a prior question, absent revolutionary fields of semiotics life will plug into capitalist ones and thus regardless if their specific material, policy, or method is not violent on face, it will necessarily collapse back into mass capitalistic violence because the semiotics which charts its process will always be capitalistic

Solves the aff
No perms

Paradox of Tolerance: We have to be intolerant of intolerance, or else we justify the paradox of tolerance in which being tolerant of intolerance allows for fascist ideas like anti-blackness and colonialism to be accepted within society which then destroys tolerance because of their genocidal nature. That means any conceded link is a reason to reject the perm.- Signification: Cross apply the thesis, the way in which semio-cap operates is through the neoliberal logic of infinite modulations and zones of exception. That’s a reason as to why the internal justification for the perm, i.e that we should risk capitalism 1 more time, is only a re-materialization of capitalist violence and thus a reason to reject the perm.#### (Another Alt option) Alt: Vote neg to reject the semiocapitalism of the PMC and endorse the militant pragmatics of Chilean Feminism **Thesis: **Militant pragmatics as a method seeks to invest within a-signifying, or revolutionary frames of semiotics, that always already resist the abstraction of semio-capitalism’s hold over the semiotic realm. Militant pragmatics does this as a sort of guerilla war against semio-capitalism, and in the process, redraws new maps for life to plug into in such a way that their molar politics are no longer informed by the semiotic hold of capitalism. Militant pragmatics refuses redundancies, and instead creates refrains of revolution and guerilla war. We specifically endorse the militant pragmatics born out of Chilean Feminism as key a-signifying guerilla wars against semio-capitalism.

Solvency:- Militant Pragmatics solve- Psychic hold: The foundational way in which semio-capitalism is able to reproduce itself is by forcing its process of subjectification onto all life to such a degree that the creation of the psyche is fundamentally a creation and production of capital semiotics. This turns all life into sites of capital accumulation, there constant communication produces and creates the conditions necessary for capitalism to continue to run. - A-signifying: Militant pragmatics is able to resolve this, in the creation of revolutionary conceptions of semiotics that refuse a signification around a stable locus point not only is it able to break down the semiotic hold that capitalism exerts over semiotics, but through the creation of new ways of existence it allows for lines of flight to escape the process of self-accumulation. This means the alt is a prior question.2. Chilean Feminism key

Funas: Funas operate as a tool for creating a refrain of those that perpetuate misogynistic violence, for example repeatedly sharing the faces of those who perpetuate misogynistic violence, to create spaces everywhere that are openly hostile towards them. This particular type of semiological refrain is key because it directly combats the semiotic refrain of capitalism, and in doing so, works towards liberating the molecular. - ‘Macho de izquierda:’ Roughly translating into ‘sexist leftist male,’ this particular semiotic refrain seeks not merely to call out those proclaimed leftists who engage in patriarchal violence, but rather to resignify them with brandishing words attached to their faces like SEXIST, ABUSER, RAPIST. This is key to create the a-signifying codes needed to resist semio-capitalism, instead of carrying along with the signification of the dominant project it engages in a radical resignification that causes it to collapse in on itself, thus creating a zone of a-signification. 3. Solves Aff

No perms

Paradox of Tolerance: We have to be intolerant of intolerance, or else we justify the paradox of tolerance in which being tolerant of intolerance allows for fascist ideas like anti-blackness and colonialism to be accepted within society which then destroys tolerance because of their genocidal nature. That means any conceded link is a reason to reject the perm.- Signification: Cross apply the thesis, the way in which semio-cap operates is through the neoliberal logic of infinite modulations and zones of exception. That’s a reason as to why the internal justification for the perm, i.e that we should risk capitalism 1 more time, is only a re-materialization of capitalist violence and thus a reason to reject the perm.