Consume be silent die

Consume be silent die

The phrase "Consume, be silent, die'" embodies a critique of consumer culture, capturing what Raoul Vaneigem called "the poverty of abundance". Variants include "work, consume, be silent, die" and "work, buy, consume, die". The phrase traces to 1970s environmental protests but regained prominence during the Occupy Wall Street protests of 2011.[1]

Some claim the phrase's origin is in 1970s graffiti. One of Benny Zable's GreeDozer costumes includes the phrase. (Early photos of this costume are undated, but Hutton and Connors (1999, p. 153) report sightings in 1979.[2]) The Beligian philosopher Raoul Vaneigem expressed a closely related sentiment in his 1967 book (The Revolution of Everyday Life): "Work to survive, survive by consuming, survive to consume; the hellish cycle is complete."

The poetry journal Moria published a photograph by the photographer Ana Viviane Minorelli of the phrase as grafitti.[3] The punk band "Man Will Destroy Himself" have an album entitled "Consume...Be Silent...Die...". The Summer Camp Riot album Mole Patrol includes the song "Work Buy Consume Die (Ring The Frickin Bell Already)".

  1. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/us/the-occupy-movements-common-thread-is-anger.html
  2. ^ Hutton, Drew and Libby Connors, A history of the Australian environment movement, Cambridge University Press (April 13, 1999),ISBN 978-0521456869
  3. ^ http://www.moriapoetry.com/minorelli.html




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