What if the revolution already happened — and got turned into a marketing campaign? Welcome to Debord in Plain English, a darkly funny, plainspoken tour through the philosophy of Guy Debord, the French theorist who saw our future before we did — a world where reality is replaced by images, rebellion is a lifestyle brand, and everyone is both spectator and spectacle. This isn’t another reverent academic study. It’s a clear-eyed, sharp-tongued guide to the man who founded the Situationist International, inspired May ’68, and then vanished in disgust as his ideas were absorbed by advertising agencies, art schools, and social media platforms. You’ll learn: How The Society of the Spectacle became the most prophetic book of the twentieth century. Why dérive and détournement were supposed to change the world — and ended up as museum exhibits. How rebellion turned into branding, and irony became capitalism’s favorite weapon. What Debord would have thought of the Internet, influencer culture, and “authentic living.” Why, despite everything, his ghost still haunts every glowing screen. Mixing cultural criticism with deadpan humor, Debord in Plain English explains what Debord actually meant — and why we can’t escape him even now. It’s philosophy without the jargon, revolution without the slogans, and a final message from the man who saw the spectacle coming and tried (unsuccessfully) to turn off the TV. If you’ve ever scrolled your feed and thought, “This feels familiar,” — Debord wrote the manual.
