MC Guffee, Lyotard

"The objects and the thoughts which originate in scientific knowledge and the capitalist economy convey with them one of the rules which supports their possibility: the rule that there is no reality unless testified by a consensus between partners over a certain knowledge and certain commitments." Lyotard pg. 42

This quote seems to mean that there is no reality in knowledge or commitments unless it is agreed upon by the ruling majority. In a capitalist society, this would translate to the most affluent population having control over what is perceived as truth. Thus, reality is subject to the wealthiest ruling class agreeing on reality and propagating this reality to lower classes. I believe this points to the one-percent movement in America and what affects this much money, or power, can have in a capitalist society.

Honestly, what helped me put this idea into perspective intertextually is reading and watching the series The Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. In this series, the Lannister family is wealthiest and most powerful family because of their money. The Lannisters seize control of the throne and pull the strings necessary to make their prized son Prince Joffrey the King of the realm. In his rise to the throne many embarrassing scenarios have the opportunity to tarnish his reputation and defile the Lannister name. One incident results in a heroine, who has an exemplary moral compass, disarming the feeble Prince and leaving him bruised on his behind. The hurt Prince runs off to Queen Cersei, who is his mother, and complaining that she brutally attacked him with her friend and her dog. To answer for the crime, the dog and her friend are executed by the kingship. The worst aspect of this tale is the kingship immediately re-imagines what happened with the Prince and the girl to the people of the kingdom in a horrific lie. Consequently, the truth is lost because those in power control the perception of the truth and they spin the story to make the Prince a hero, who slay a vicious dog and rebel boy who defied his power.

I believe George R.R. Martin had a correlating fear with Lyotard on the extenuating power of the wealthy on truth and reality. Wealthy and powerful elite in a capitalist society have ultimate control over what is perceived truth and real. This control is exemplified by this particular instance in The Game of Thrones, but unfortunately, could also be exemplified in our capitalist society through monetary and power gains in modern medicine and other industries that claim to have the truth.