Dream Sleep
by Jeremy Fernando
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crosstickcrosstickcrossécrit.cri.écrit
cri. écrit. cri.
***
Emptiness, Alice Renez Tay, 2011
If power was truly in the hands of the people, surely they should be able to choose whomever they want — a true choice instead of picking from alternatives. And what is more democratic than writing the name of whomever one wants in power, regardless of — in spite of — the persons presented on the voting slip. In this manner, regardless of who wins, the symbol chosen by the people will always haunt the incumbent. Not only would the candidate that won through the system be discredited, not only would the democratic system be called into question, the people would have actually spoken.
The people would have actually dreamed.
Perhaps, what we need now is to take the messages that we have been bombarded with — that nothing is impossible — seriously. And read it alongside the other message we are not allowed to forget: that the good times are over, that we need to tighten our belts, and most importantly, that the state owes us nothing.
And demand what we have been owed: the impossible.
For, dreams are quite literally worth fighting for. And if they don’t let us dream, we won’t let them sleep.
Cover image by Remon Rijper
About the Author:
Jeremy Fernando is the Jean Baudrillard Fellow at the European Graduate School, where he is also a Reader in Contemporary Literature & Thought. He works in the intersections of literature, philosophy and the media; and has written six books — including Reading Blindly, and Writing Death. Exploring other media has led him to film, music and art; and his work has been exhibited in Seoul, Vienna, Hong Kong and Singapore. He is the general editor of both Delere Press, and the thematic magazine One Imperative; and a Fellow of Tembusu College at the National University of Singapore.
