this is the weblog of the ongoing political expression of an individual (hi :) my name’s kyle magee) — i cover for-profit advertising displayed in public space, as a rejection of the entire for-profit media/advertising system that anti-democratically dominates our mainstream.

here is the TLDR of my entire political ideology, up front, in 200 words or less, for all those who hate political writing and have had their attention span obliterated by the internet (like myself):

— global rich fuckers (technical term) effectively control global democracies through their economic clout1

— as the single greatest corrupting force of democracies worldwide, global rich fuckers should not be allowed to dominate the media systems of our supposed democracies via the for-profit media/advertising system/farce

— if we are going to have any chance of effective democracy, we are going to need a people’s movement to demand the abolition of the for-profit media/advertising system, and its replacement with a democratic media system that is actually interested in democracy and working towards sustainability, political equality, economic justice, and all the other obviously good things that global rich fuckers have absolutely no interest in.

— as the habitability of the planet and billions of lives are on the line, and i believe actual global democracy is the best/only solution, my opposition to the anti-democratic media preventing real democracy has to be complete: meaning i protest openly, to a degree that the system cannot tolerate, and always defend my actions (consequently i have been jailed a bunch of times, and probably will be again)

when i started this protest i kinda assumed everyone would immediately understand exactly what i was doing and why, but that was extremely incorrect, so i set up this website to explain myself, and to share and document what i’m doing. i started out on my own, but am now a member of subvertisers international, a global group of anti-advertising activists.

for all of you who prefer a less sweary and more traditionally stuffy/boring method of political communication, below is a longer explanation utilising the mode of communication one might use in an attempt to garner some kind of credibility from the political classes:

my actions are a practical intervention against the tangible form of outdoor advertising, but they’re also a symbolic protest against all the unsolicited for-profit advertising we are exposed to through all mediums (print, radio, television, digital).

i paint over advertising (no replacement image or message, just negation) in daylight, i do not try to hide from authorities or deny what i have done.

in court i always plead not guilty, and use whatever legal defence i can to explain my motives — i’ve had countless hearings and have been sent to jail 7 times, but nothing will stop me from protesting in a meaningful (fully confrontational) way.

i have been engaged in this form of protest since 2005, when i first decided that our for-profit media-advertising system has such profound and destructive consequences (for our politics and our planet) that i can’t live co-operatively alongside it.

advertising has only negative effects and is an outrageous expenditure of our communities’ resources  — it is a multi-billion dollar “industry” where actively causing harm to our society is the only “productivity”: it wants to keep us discontent amidst material abundance to drive over-consumption, and breeds political cynicism by presenting humanity as fundamentally self-concerned and materialistic.

my protest calls for the abolition of all for-profit advertising in public space and media — this will cut the funding of the for-profit media companies that presently control our public political conversation and cultural production.

it is a logical requirement of a democracy to have a public media-space that is run democratically — yet we’ve allowed our media system to be owned, run and funded by for-profit organisations (the wealthiest and most illegitimately powerful entities) for generations.

(by “public media-space” i mean the combination of public space and media that makes up our public sociopolitical landscape)

our global “democracies” are corrupted at almost every turn by the interests of the profit-driven organisations — if we are ever to seriously address this issue, and demand a system than makes real democracy possible, ending for-profit domination of our public space and media system is the place to start.

basically, our global system is so horribly unjust, murderous and ecocidal that i can only live in full protest, and in the most directed and constructive way possible.

the protest i make is deliberately simple — as devoid of skill, originality, style, and aesthetic principles, as is humanly possible.

the democratic ideals and my commitment to them is all i want to be capable of impressing anyone.

we don’t have to put up with the anti-democratic for-profit media-advertising system — it remains only as long as we continue to allow it.

knowing the consequences of the for-profit media-advertising farce, i’m ‘happiest’ living in complete opposition to it…. i’m still very sad :(

yolo,

kyle anthony magee.

  1. you really need a reference for this obvious statement? have a look at the world ya fkn gonzo

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