Decadent Action was a mock "consumer terrorist group" and "High Street anarchist-guerrilla organisation" (or
culture jammers) which argued that only a credit collapse through excessive
consumer spending
Consumer spending is the total money spent on final goods and services by individuals and households.
There are two components of consumer spending: induced consumption (which is affected by the level of income) and autonomous consumption (which ...
could bring about the end of
capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...
. It argued that bringing about excessive
inflation
In economics, inflation is an increase in the average price of goods and services in terms of money. This increase is measured using a price index, typically a consumer price index (CPI). When the general price level rises, each unit of curre ...
through unrestrained consumer spending was the sole lever which could precipitate the economic collapse upon which any revolutionary action is predicated. Therefore its
accelerationist approach promoted the idea of irresponsible credit and excessive spending on hedonistic pursuits to achieve its goals.
Its manifesto was first published in ''
The Idler'' magazine and then
Stewart Home
Kevin Llewellyn Callan (born 24 March 1962), better known as Stewart Home, is an English artist, filmmaker, writer, pamphleteer, art historian, and activist. His novels include the non-narrative '' 69 Things to Do with a Dead Princess'' (2002 ...
's ''Mind Invaders: A Reader in Psychic Warfare, Cultural Sabotage And Semiotic Terrorism'' (1997). The group was notable for organising the first Phone-in Sick Day, which saw thousands of
British Airways
British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport.
The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...
and Irish
Garda call in sick to work.
See also
*
Alternative culture
Alternative culture is a type of culture that exists outside or on the fringes of mainstream or popular culture, usually under the domain of one or more subcultures. These subcultures may have little or nothing in common besides their relative ...
*
Anti-consumerism
Anti-consumerism is a sociopolitical ideology. It has been described as "''intentionally'' and ''meaningfully'' excluding or cutting goods from one's consumption routine or reusing once-acquired goods with the goal of avoiding consumption". The ...
*
Culture jamming
Culture jamming (sometimes also guerrilla communication) is a form of protest used by many anti-consumerist social movements to disrupt or subvert media culture and its mainstream cultural institutions, including corporate advertising. It at ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Decadent Action manifesto (archived)''Wired'' piece on Phone-in Sick DayAlterNet article
Anti-consumerist groups
Culture jamming