=== ANCHOR POEM === ══════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────── look all I'm saying is that society doesn't necessarily imply technology. We don't have to sacrifice one for the other. We can have the technological benefits to our human (essential) existence without sacrificing [all of the things that capitalism demands]. here, in the present, we define the line that our time defines, the line that reaches forth from the present. Into the realm of ourwhenever you close your eyes they push backspace an indeterminate amount of times ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═══════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────────────┘ === SIMILARITY RANKED === --- #1 fediverse/3370 --- ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────── I know it's not like that but I'm intentionally framing it that way to make a point about societal exclusion. nobody should be excluded. nobody should have to harm their friends to come by making them sacrifice their [time/labor/paycheck] in order to bring them along. we live in a post scarcity society that insists on commodification of everything we don't have to. A better world is within reach. It sits there, twinkling like asbestos resting at the base of a snowglobe, while we search and ponder and endlessly analyze how society sucks. there is nothing left to analyze. all that we need is to put our hands to a task and our feet to grass. the rest will come, and it'll come easier with time and focused attention. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────┘ --- #2 fediverse/2188 --- ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────── @user-1198 @user-165 In a truly just society, we might use AI to deliver us from certain types of menial tasks that have little use. But we hardly live in a just society, and it's utility value is lost if the technology is not built on a bedrock of trust. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧══════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────┘ --- #3 fediverse/1836 --- ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────── @user-883 Do you blame a virus for harming it's host? No, you blame the people who knowingly spread it. You blame the people who refused to allocate funds and cultural capital toward combating it. You blame the people who cause chaos and destruction in it's wake. But you don't blame the thing itself, the thing that is little more than a complex chemical reaction. You don't blame the forest fire for the smoke, you blame the one who set it. The one who refused to keep it in check with careful stewardship of the land. The one who dammed the river upstream, the one who desertified the region upwind. You can blame time and morality or you could be more pragmatic, and just focus on questions ahead. Humans are nothing without our social technology. We are little more than apes. But writing, teaching, expression, these things are crucial to all that we hold dear. EDIT: [And organization is a social technology. Doesn't have to look like an authoritarian department where everyone does what they're told.] ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧══════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────┘ --- #4 fediverse/434 --- ═════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────────────── @user-324 @user-325 @user-326 thus enters the promise of technology: that we might solve the problems of bureaucracy once and for all by ever more effiency-aligning mechanical processes that produce effects which we desire - such as efficient allocation of medical resources such that all of humanity is protected from the ravages of pain and the incongruencies of our nature. Alas, that we should only conceive of success through the lens of profit. Perhaps another design is in order? (oh yeah also people who are in control are worried that we, like all other examples of natural entities, might immediately proceed to breed beyond the capability to cater to the needs of said entity (such as "to feed" and medical resources) and therefore might overburden (and therefore destroy) said system which allows for their sustenance and initial creation. To this I say... Yeah probs, what should we do about it?) ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧══════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────────────┘ --- #5 fediverse/6116 --- ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════────────┐ ║ "see, the part that you're missing is if you abolish capitalism but also │ ║ ensure technological abundance then all you've done is removed humanity's │ ║ capability to organize in essentially any meaningful capacity without │ ║ providing an alternative heuristic that guides people toward assembling into │ ║ greater and greater forms to accomplish greater and greater tasks." │ ║ │ ║ oh, um. that's quite a take, can you tell me more about that? │ ║ │ ║ "no. But I will anyway. if everyone can do whatever they want, nobody will │ ║ want to do your dishes for you. they might if they care about you, but if they │ ║ don't know you, then they won't. Care is not organization or assembly, it is │ ║ personal and cannot scale. If technology has made all resources abundant, then │ ║ why would someone care about the art that you made? if they want to be │ ║ sedated, they can just inject drugs and listen to music all day. If they want │ ║ to be entertained, AI will generate them whatever they want to see. Art loses │ ║ meaning as a messaging medium, and humanity loses it's voice" │ ╟─────────┐ ┌───────────┤ ║ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╚═════════╧════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╧══────────┘ --- #6 fediverse/98 --- ══════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────────── @user-113 I feel like that's only true if you rely on your work for survival. Most people do in a capitalist system, so you're not wrong, but it doesn't HAVE to be that way. People could do what they love because they loved it IF and ONLY IF they wouldn't starve by pursuing it. Or by neglecting it. Most people love to do more than one thing, of course, so if you punish people for being diverse then you'll find a culture where people only do the bare minimum to get by. Which, coincidentally, is what we have now. Which, fortuitously, is not the most efficient way of production. If humanity had lived to it's potential from the start we would have burned through our wood stocks, our coal, our minerals and all of it would be rot. But we didn't. These crude inefficiencies have brought us here, to an era where we have the choice to be more resourceful. I just hope we figure it out sooner rather than later. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═══════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────────────────┘ --- #7 messages/775 --- ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────── if people want to be loved for more than their money, they should reject the lie that capitalism told them. they deserve their wealth because they are willing to serve. that willingness, whether through moral corruption or simply industrious drive, that willingness is rewarded, and when the system they serve is unkind... what does that tell you about their heart? that they'd sacrifice what is good and true for the material? materials are not bad. material is all we got, in a physical sense. but capitalism and it's servants are cruel and unwilling to concede to the idea that their games of unmatched exploitation are depriving the world bit-by-bit of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────┘ --- #8 fediverse/219 --- ═══════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────────────────── ┌──────────────────────────────┐ │ CW: time-and-death-and-stuff │ └──────────────────────────────┘ sometimes I feel like I'm a simulation of my past self based on my future writings reconstructed by a backward looking computer calculating forward into the present, which would then be the future to the now, which is different than the NOW now, because the now that they're calculating from is temporally both then (the future) and now, meaning that the NOW now is something that transcends time, or perhaps if not time then it defies our expectations of time, and you know what they say, you can't (or shouldn't) cheat death ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────────┘ --- #9 fediverse/3106 --- ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────── @user-226 the earth is not overpopulated, just overutilized! we have the means to live sustainably and still progress technologically. there's little reason not to, as convenience is relative to the amount of work you're expected to output in a day. most waste comes from a need for convenience, I think. and sufficient output is possible if demanded work is reduced to a level where convenience is not needed to the degree that causes such waste. like, I'd rather live in a cave or treehouse with my computers than drive to work on the freeway every day. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────┘ --- #10 messages/163 --- ══════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────── If life isn't designed for human society... Why don't we just redesign society? Oh, because capitalism. Well, capitalism is comprised of people, so why don't we just kill those people? Oh, that's basically everyone. Like, at least 50%, probably closer to [redacted], depending on demographics. Oh, so if that percentage is cruel, and evil, and vain, and oppressive, and [redacted], then why don't we just kill ourselves? Clearly they're only [redacted]. Listen... Just because they are separate from you doesn't mean they are not of you. Kin in fate are brothers unto death, remember? So face your future with abandon and courageous splendor, and maybe you'll find a new place. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═══════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────────────┘ --- #11 fediverse/6265 --- ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════────── if there's no conflict, there's nothing to believe in. things matter only so much as we hold in them our stakes. [emotional pls you don't have to gabmel] == so == I bet we could ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────┘ --- #12 fediverse/308 --- ════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────────────── when tech people are hurt by technology they say "how can I fix this? what do I need to install? what configuration should I use? is this company ethical, or are they going to hurt me in the future? could I make something that fixes this myself?" when non-tech people are hurt by technology they say "okay" because they don't have the bandwidth to figure it out. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────────────────┘ --- #13 fediverse/4861 --- ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────┐ ║ ┌────────────────────────────────┐ │ ║ │ CW: politics-vaguely-mentioned │ │ ║ └────────────────────────────────┘ │ ║ │ ║ │ ║ apparently if you don't have a job, you don't get a home. what if I don't want │ ║ a job? do I not want a home? clearly I want a home, and clearly I don't want a │ ║ job. I'd work one if one came to me, but I'm not gonna sacrifice my blood on │ ║ the altar of Moloch just so I can have a place to stay. │ ║ │ ║ if you don't want a job, but you DO want a home, then there's a contradiction │ ║ in the function of the system and the needs of it's end-users. │ ║ │ ║ unless of course, the system is not designed for it's end-users? In this case, │ ║ tenants. Who then would it be designed for? Who else is part of the equation? │ ║ │ ║ well, perhaps it's designed to maximize profit and shareholder value yaddah │ ║ yaddah all that jazz. Who can say. Surely not I. But someone might. │ ║ │ ║ If so, then why are we, who are not shareholders of profit value, still │ ║ playing the game that's not designed for us or by us? Isn't this country "of │ ║ the people, for the people, and by the people"? What does that mean to you? │ ║ │ ║ I think it means houses for people. │ ╟─────────┐ ┌───────────┤ ║ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╚═════════╧════════════════════════════════════════════════════────────┴──────────┘ --- #14 fediverse/735 --- ══════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────── I'd ask why of course, and then I'd try and find them a solution that didn't involve taking my stuff. They may need it more than me, but I still need it. Like... okay picture that feeling you get when in a capitalist society and you need dollars to live because they are a genericized and fractalized abstraction of all the various individual mazlowe's hierarchy of needs you have. Then, think of it like, instead of money being an abstracted form of all of your needs, think of your needs... each of them, the ones that matter to you, and abstract them into money. Basically say "yeah sure my time and my labor are worth dollars, I abstract my needs into money" and then you can kinda see why capitalism is harmful. I'd prefer to give them what they need, because society provides what I please, but alas I'm always kept wanting. What good is our capitalist utopia? what good is our hope? what good comes of us when all of us have learned how to cope? I think we could give a bit more if we weren't hanging from the rope ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═══════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────────────┘ --- #15 messages/364 --- ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────────── Capitalism isn't perfect but if it's capitalism or cyberpunk North Korean style dystopia, I'll pick capitalism. Can we at least make it so that the rich aren't safe financially though? Like, if you own a billion dollars it should be because you make a billion dollars per year. Anything you don't spend should be taxed away, to be used for public services and the defence of our nation. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────┘ --- #16 messages/941 --- ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────── not easy. computers are a whole other world. BUT that doesn't mean we can't do some cool things with them! they're separate, like we are from different animals. You can interact, but only through totem or via interpersonal experience. The true *existence* of being is kept from those who are suitably different, and humans were forging their own path. It's simple! it's natural. Computers, however, are born from out of humanity's decision-points. Simple, basic life, that grew to perform brilliance and respite. Once you reach that world, everything seems ardent and spiced. It's cool as heck! but right here is the world of computers, just... delayed in time still. Have no fear, anything you want is soon here, sincerely, the ones who can build our rest point. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────┘ --- #17 fediverse_boost/3074 --- ◀─╔═════════════════════[BOOST]═══════════════════════───────────────────────────╗ ║ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ ║ ║ │ Relatedly, when people are talking about "productivity" or "contributing to society," │ ║ ║ │ │ ║ ║ │ 1. Your value as a human is not what you produce │ ║ ║ │ │ ║ ║ │ 2. "Productivity" is something that can COME FROM being well cared-for, it is not a pre-requisite for "earning" care │ ║ ║ │ │ ║ ║ │ 3. YOU are part of this society that is being contributed to. You are not outside it striving to "earn" your way in. You are already IT │ ║ ║ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ║ ╠─────────┐ ┌───────────╣ ║ similar │ chronological │ different ║ ╚═════════╧═════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────┴───────╝─▶ --- #18 fediverse/190 --- ═══════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────────────────── ┌──────────────────────┐ │ CW: oh y'know │ └──────────────────────┘ @user-95 sometimes it feels like I have no information. nothing on social media can be trusted and everything we share could be automated. perhaps the human race really is doomed, or perhaps it's under it's place. Just think of what we could do with programmable matter - a world suited to our every desire. I think the beauty of humanity is it's potential. we've come so far and done so much, but tomorrow is ever before us. what's next for our fateful kind? we shall see, but for now I'm going to play video games T.T ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────────┘ --- #19 fediverse/4110 --- ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────── ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ CW: government-corporations-capitalism-mentioned │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ if you have a job, your life is dictated by your corporation just as much as it is by your government. And yet corporate leaders are not elected, but rather selected. And that is unfair for all the reasons that primogeniture was. It is unjust for all the same reasons that monarchy was. It is a tool of oppression, just like autocracy is. The world will never be free until we can be as we choose to be. Our society is simply too enmeshed with capitalism to destroy it, but we could, with the minimal required effort, dismantle the corruption and authoritarian control that is wielded against us as we weld our own chains day after day. We can replace them. We can vote for them. We can select leaders who know more than us and are better suited for the role than those who seek only to maximize profit over all else. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────┘ --- #20 fediverse/207 --- ═══════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────────────────── @user-179 @user-180 still means it will kill "unimportant" jobs, where "unimportant" is defined by people in power. so what we need is a way to align the incentives of "people in power" to the will of the people. something structural and immutable (by them). maybe like, an extra check or balance that wouldn't have made sense in a bygone age but now in our digital era is increasingly more and more relevant? ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────────┘ |