Nothing is quite as sacred today – well amongst a certain sector of the population at least – as the Memory Project. Purported to be a collection of the few remaining firsthand accounts of the Fall from New York City, the Memory Project has captured the country’s imagination. The anonymous organizers of the project, as well as the anonymous contributors have become increasingly mythologized in urban legends, as well as a variety of other media. As I write this, three movies about the Memory Project are in post-production, two avant-garde plays have finished their run, a staggering 1,242 songs have referenced the Project, all in just the past year.
For such an importance piece of cultural history, the origins and the current location of the Memory Project remains distressingly obscure. Some maintain that it is kept under lock and key in a subbasement of a subbasement in the Library of Congress, protected by the best security the taxpayers can buy. The President has remained mum on this topic, instead choosing to focus on job creation. Others claim that the Memory Project is in the hands of either the military or any of our numerous intelligence agencies such as the FBI, the CIA, the DMRC, and the IAR. There might actually be some truth to this theory, because the Memory Project, if it is genuine, was found in May of 2023, when much of New York City was still under martial law. Still others claim that several multinationals are disputing its ownership in front of the Intra-Governmental Supreme Court
The skeptics, on the other hand, claim that the Memory Project began as an urban legend; as it developed a critical mass of cultural importance, the Memory Project created retrograde changes in history. Like the famous Uqbar, the more people talked about it and wrote about it, the more it became a deeply ingrained part of our collective and cultural memories. For proof, the skeptics point to the hundreds of Memory Project remnants that are unearthed every year, never accredited to a potential source but never verified.
It says something about the Memory Project when the theory proposed by the skeptics is crazier than the belief that something known as the Memory Project once existed. Whatever happened to once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?
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You have some interesting ideas J. Maybe we can discuss them through email? I have been writing down my own experiences and thoughts about the Memory Project here (http://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/troyshear32/) if you are interested.
i highly doubt that the military has the memory project, if it exists at all. if any of you have read the recently uncovered army memos from 2020 onwards, while the army controlled much of greater new york, the army itself was full of contentious factions jockeying for power. so while the army presented a unified front, i doubt there was enough of a centralized authority to mount the sort of recovery expedition that would have uncovered the memory project.
Also weren’t the documents supposedly found in Manhattan? That place used to be like the locus of all the fighting. How the hell could that have kept the recovery project secret?
So several options: (1) the memory project wasn’t recovered in 2023 (2) it wasn’t found where it said it was (3) the army was never involved (4) it doesn’t exist.
There are so many issues surrounding the legitimacy of the Memory Project. I have no idea why people continue to believe in it.
For me, it was always a desire to know. Like, by not being able to read the Memory Project (I am going to drop the aside of ‘if it exists’ because I do believe it does) I am being left out of the loop or I only have a partial understanding of something that has so dramatically effected our lives. I haven’t entirely bought into the whole mystical element of the Project, but I feel like I am not too far behind :S
While hanging out in the various corners of the blogosphere, I heard that the government agency that must not be named is tracking all posts related to “The Memory Project.” I was just wondering if you or one of your readers had any additional information?
I have heard a few rumors on and off but nothing concrete. And you know how I feel about rumors. If it is true, then it is an absolutely stupid and unncessary waste of government trackers (which just increases the chance that some hawk in Congress is pushing this). If they are looking for revolutionaries and agitators and “malcontent youth,” I don’t know why they don’t infiltrate the the Brigade message boards or shut down neo-Nazi websites.
(Also Deepak! Its been far too long. How are you? Will I be calling you Dr. Deepak soon?)
I could totally buy the theory that it is through the “critical mass” of scholarship on “The Memory Project” that it sprung into existence. I mean, how could such an elaborate project (I think they have now discovered “outposts” in over twelve cities, some of which are thousands of miles apart) have functioned during what were basically the Dark Ages? I sense something weird
Where did you hear that there were remnants of “The Memory Project” in different cities? Last I heard, it was localized to New York city. That’s what makes it such a significant piece of our cultural history.
Maybe Digital Memory? I have been spending a lot of time there recently, and those guys have some crazy ideas. You should check it out!
If by crazy ideas, you meant that they are certifiably insane.
@J, for once your post does not fill me with loathing. You are mostly excused because of the Borges reference
Hm, I used to hang out at Digital Memory a few years back and most of the discussions were interesting & informative, but I left soon after Min stopped moderating. Since then, its increasingly become um more prone to wild conspiracy theories? so be careful of anything you read there!
Travis, I am going to treasure this comment for all of forever 🙂
Interesting article and discussion as always Pandore. I have been recording my own experiences and thoughts about the Memory Project here (http://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/troyshear32/). Let me know if you check it out!