Agent Provocateur

So Joseph Corré burned an estimated 6 million pounds worth of punk memorabilia on a barge on the Thames. Once again he did his best to be an “Agent Provocateur,” which was not by chance the name of the underwear brand he founded in 1994. The protest was aimed against the commercialization of Punk's 40th birthday, which is currently celebrated with various exhibitions and events throughout London, including the British Library and the Barbican Arts Centre. The problem was that nobody felt provoked.

Corré's father, Malcolm McLaren (1946–2010), was the manager of the Sex Pistols, who, 40 years ago, proclaimed “Anarchy in the UK,” which also somehow never happened. His mother, Vivienne Westwood, became famous by adopting the rough and sometimes vulgar punk style and turning it into hugely successful fashion, eagerly accepted by a society against which punk's propagators originally rebelled. Now she felt obliged to support her son's rumpus by appealing to use more sustainable energy, while around her the incinerated demo tapes and t-shirts went up in flames and crackled into the grey and damp London sky. The London Fire Brigade, by the way, had authorized the spectacle, and everything was under official control. The firemen watched the spectacle from the Thames Embankment, slightly be- or maybe even amused. It is really hard to be provocative these days.

Not surprisingly, The Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeon can share a similar experience. Exactly 1 year ago, we published an article about surgery in high-risk infective patients, asking the question how far one should go.[1] We invited four commentators, deliberately chosen to represent different angles. We also openly invited all readers to share their thoughts about this extremely controversial subject, hoping that we would generate a wave of contradictory discussion. The response was, in all honesty, modest. We did get some letters and collected some additional perspectives, but the outcry of the community, which should be facing this difficult problem on a daily basis, simply did not happen. The Editor's request to submit similar themes for debate died away unheard. Maybe a print journal is not the right medium. Maybe cardiothoracic surgeons, although generally outspoken, dislike writing. Maybe, and most likely, the community simply cannot be bothered anymore.

Anyway, the original authors have diligently summarized their overall reply to all of the commentaries we received,[2] and we'll now close the book on this affair. We won't burn the manuscripts in front of the Langenbeck-Virchow-Haus in Berlin. But maybe we'll pour ourselves a pint of bitter, dig out our old copy of Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols,[3] and have a contemplative evening with the spouse, discussing underwear.

• References

• 1 Gansera LS, Eszlari E, Deutsch O, Eichinger WB, Gansera B. High-risk cardiac surgery in patients with intravenous drug abuse and/or active hepatitis C or HIV infection: an ethical discussion of six cases. Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2016; 64 (1) 2-5
• 2 Gansera B, Eichinger WB, Gansera LS. From surgical responsibility to abstract ideology. Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2017; 65 (1) 5-8
• 3 Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols [album]. Virgin Records, London;: 1977