The more he identifies with the dominant images of need, the less he understands his own life and his own desires. The spectacle’s estrangement from the acting subject is expressed by the fact that the individual’s gestures are no longer his own; they are the gestures of someone else who represents them to him.

This schism birthed several factions of Letterists one of which was decidedly led by Debord upon Gil Wolman's unequivocal recommendation. Debord then focused on filmmaking with financial backing from the movie mogul and publiGuy Debordr Gérard Lebovici (éditions Champ Libre) until Lebovici's mysterious death. He criticized both the capitalism of the West and the dictatorial communism of the Eastern bloc for the lack of autonomy allowed to individuals in both governmental structures.

He was also briefly a member of Socialisme ou Barbarie.