=== ANCHOR POEM ===
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║ │ CW: technology-and-violence │ │
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║ │
║ │
║ New technology is wonderful and beautiful and is the most concrete example of │
║ human progress and ingenuity. │
║ │
║ but just as a hammer is more useful than a rock for applying blunt force to │
║ objects, so too is that hammer more useful for applying blunt force to people. │
║ │
║ if the people who held the hammers and rocks were kind and just, perhaps they │
║ would use them to scare off rattlesnakes and build homes with planks and nails. │
║ │
║ if the people who held the new technology wanted to kill you, then perhaps │
║ they would use them to kill you. │
║ │
║ there is no greater threat to the powerful than the dissolution of the │
║ hegemonic culture they use to oppress us into conforming to their will. │
║ │
║ thus, those who resist, whether that be a punk burning an American flag or an │
║ Iranian woman walking down the street with her hair in the sun, are a threat │
║ to them. │
║ │
║ they will use the technology they control to fight us. │
║ │
║ when we fight them, expect unknown dangers. │
║ │
║ EDIT: oh wait I forgot bullets - those are a bigger threat │
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=== SIMILARITY RANKED ===
--- #1 fediverse/5660 ---
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║ │ CW: violence-alluded-to │ │
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║ │
║ │
║ my enemy is not "the rich" │
║ │
║ money brings power, and power brings evil, but there are many other ways to │
║ gather power that may be just as evil. │
║ │
║ my enemy is evil. of which there is very little in the world, but much of │
║ which resides in the hands of the powerful, upon whom all our fates depend. │
║ │
║ most people with money are either stupid lucky, willful, or intensely focused. │
║ │
║ some people with power are rich, and some people with power are evil. │
║ │
║ I know it when I see it. Sometimes, you need to force the choice - test their │
║ virtue - and from this you are informed. │
║ │
║ most things go WAY over my head. │
║ │
║ most things are too easy to be true. │
║ │
║ most things that Id do for you tend to be of the heart. I'm not a frontline │
║ girl, I have weak noodle arms, but I do hope you're in shape. │
║ │
║ resolve, determination, and innovation. That is what I offer. Do you want it? │
║ I'm sure. I won't prove it with blood, not unless I may raise my fists in │
║ defence of another. │
║ │
║ I'm not JUST a baby, I'm a banner too. │
║ │
║ bannermen fall. │
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--- #2 fediverse/5710 ---
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society can be gamed in so many ways because it was designed to oppress you.
a more connected solution would solve so many problems, and introduce vastly
fewer more.
for example. wanna disenfranchise someone? take away their vote by framing
them for a crime. This is an example of population manipulation, and it's
unethical in the extreme.
downside is if you don't mother people they sort of forget how to breathe -.-
dumb apes, who thought it was a good idea to be born without instincts? ah
well let's raise them I guess, and try to keep the nazi cults on the
diminished minimum.
no-please-don't-walk-into-that-electric-pole it's made out of lightning juice
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--- #3 notes/elective-democracy-electors ---
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we need like, several more layers between us and the president.
most people only need to worry about what's nearby.
sort them by location, instead of previous attempts at "many representatives"
which sorted by social class or relevance.
we have a tradition for it, in America, with our representatives and senators
congressional discrestricts
or even, what about by affiliation?
voluntary, governmental corporations, run by the people for the people and yeah
"I don't want to do what you're telling me to do" "okay"
"there will be consequences" omg be an adult
(suddenly kids forget how to be as everyone's doing the war thing)
not ideal.
ouch pain maybe we should stay a little bit sane why is soldiering so hardship?
it could just be... another job
where you didn't kill each other
but you still blew stuff up
and fought in tournaments
and had gaming hackathons
or sword-fight contests
duels between people who disapproved
y'know fun human stuff
like... "kaboom" now we know how to blow up bits of rock
neat, why did dynamite becauswer (oh right then you
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--- #4 fediverse/3848 ---
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│ CW: politics-cursing-mentioned │
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people? oh yeah I know "people". they're all a bunch of bastards.
good, bastards are the best fighters
not if your fight relies on fighting for something you believe in. There's a
zero percent chance that you'll get everyone to believe the same thing because
people naturally gravitate toward filling the idea space equally and finding
niches to fit themselves into
ha true - thinking of successful revolutions of the past, they've always been
caused by material conditions creating insufficiencies that must be resolved
through violence. and then, the people fighting can all agree on something
like "we must have bread" or... actually that's pretty much the main thing
people need
and yeah, sure, wealth inequality is unjust, but they're careful to only take
enough to ensure that we're sufficiently placated.
but they're always taking more, and someday soon they'll take too much.
... I hope, for my sake, that I'm not around when that happens. But I'm not
too hopeful in that regard
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--- #5 fediverse/3205 ---
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│ CW: conservative-mention-womens-rights-mentioned │
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---
it wasn't so long ago, just 40 or 50 years in fact, that a woman on her own
was unsafe in essentially any context.
they want a world where women feel unsafe. they want a world where men can
feel strong by protecting them. they want a world where women can feel safe
because they are protected.
they want that.
they want women to feel unsafe so that men can protect them so that women can
feel safe.
that's what they want.
for women to be unsafe.
---
I want a world where there is peace.
where all of us can trust one another not to harm one another.
I'm sure you do too.
their men want to feel strong.
their women want to feel protected.
ours want to feel kind.
ours want to feel safe.
---
these rights we claim for ourselves are rights of necessity. We demand them,
for we reject barbarism.
is it not more civilized, to comport ourselves with honor, kindness, and
justice?
if they want despotism, they should immigrate to a crueler place in the world.
--
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--- #6 fediverse/4380 ---
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│ CW: politics-mentioned │
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I know it's terrible right now, but we have crucial advantages that we
shouldn't sleep on.
We have the cities, and the cities are where everything is. Rural areas are so
spread apart they pretty much can only do what herr Hitler suggests they do,
meaning their command structure is monolithic. If everywhere needs their
attention, they will falter unless they create a grand battleplan. And plans
are defeated by rapid flexibility.
The more effort they need to counter you, the more work your allies can get
done. Every man woman and child who raised a fist will be remembered by the
moments that gave us grace to move socialism along. We know what time it is,
do you? Come to us now, flee from your new masters. We'll give you a job
that'll help us go faster.
Or do you rather persist in vain? To fight for what they are forced to
reclaim? Every island of blue in the deep red sea is a haven from the
bloodshed - so long as you can keep them clean.
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--- #7 messages/358 ---
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Ah, but think of the technological bounty our supremacy did bring! Surely if
we had split the wealth, we could not have reached such towering heights. And
we tried our best, but some things you just can't teach - for every seed
potato we did bring, that was another meal for their night. And so we worsened
their plight, for now they've forgotten how to fight. What more do you want
from us!
... Perhaps once we've made programmable matter. Maybe when we've overcome our
earthly delights. Could be when we've ascended to heaven, where we gaze down
from our towering heights. Possibly far in the future, possibly here in this
night, our bane is what we're guilty of, and our boons are struggling to light.
Where have all the good people gone? Oh yeah, they're burnt out from doing all
the work for all the bad people. Well, fuck 'em, they can carry their own
cart. At least until they can respect. A man who's never tasted hunger will
never be a farmer, and gee our tax dollars could go so much farther! And then
we starve, because nobody thought to build farms indoors, away from the
crippling heat that saps the strength from our plant fathers.
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--- #8 fediverse/506 ---
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@user-366 @user-367 @user-246 @user-353
Ah, if only our judgement was computerized. They only speak in absolutes, do
they not? Surely extreme discretion is impermeable, and impossible to
controvert.
What's that you say, that justice might wait yet another day? That we should
be forced to be oppressed by our own dues? Something about how the impossible
machine of the bureaucracy is destructive and vicious, like the Kinsey Winsey
or the Moloch expressed in this essay:
https://ritz-menardi.neocities.org/hello-computer-all-is-well/pics/meditations-
on-moloch.png
https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/
Wait, hang on, what was I saying? Oh yeah the fallibility of humanity is both
our greatest weakness and our greatest strength. Because through it we might
design imperfect structures (laws) that we orient ourselves around and build
our society upon, but also that we might identify those imperfections and use
them to enact good upon the world.
Unfortunately, we also tend to use those imperfections for our own benefit,
AKA, to enact evil upon the world. Alas. Human nature is tricky. : \
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--- #9 fediverse/3891 ---
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"no, you're the opposite of a yes-man, AKA a gatekeeper. I don't know how else
to explain mentally disabled and barely keeping it together to you, but
frankly if you want to take away my house or my weed then why would I do what
you say?
... oh right, the state's monopoly on violence [can compel me to do what you
say]. Sure seems like a "well regulated militia" is supposed to be a
counterweight to that monopoly, to prevent people from harassing and
exploiting and destroying. Too bad any "militias" I can think of tend to want
me dead.
like, seriously, if you live in America, you implicitely trust that your army
will be able to protect you from the right-wing bozos who spend all their time
drinking and shooting in the woods. Otherwise, if they couldn't / wouldn't,
then why wouldn't or couldn't the right wing bozos just decide to wreck
everything in spite of our past?
We were a proud people once before, and we may be again. If only we fight at
the last.
[ever since I fell off my bike my body feels strange]
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--- #10 notes/to-lock-eyes ---
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=
to lock eyes with a person while on your way to work is the intersection
between
two separate relationships - the relationship that you, the viewer, holds with
your employer, and the relationship that they, the viewed, holds with their
employer. in a sense, you are exchanging information through the weighted
meanings behind a glance.
===============================================================================
=
if the military deployed to police the police, we'd solve most of our racial
justice issues. I mean, if we somehow could *force* them to do their damn jobs
instead of oppressing people for the ruling class, then 90% of the problems
would just go away. After that it's just freeing unjust prisoners and
addressing
wealth, education, and health disparities. Easy, right?
Well... Military policing the police sounds fine when you first think about it,
there's a few problems that might crop up. For example, how do the private
citizens know that the military presence is there to help them? It's an
interesting paranoia, one that is endemic within the left. There's no way to
unwillingly cede control of your life to another - it must be consensual. At
the basest and most violent level, it's as simple as "I will do what you say
because I don't want you to hurt me."
We've obviously grown as a species, and we've learned that violence is not the
answer to all problems. Obviously. So why would we assume it of the past?
Just saying. The police bombed a commune. The military escorted black students
to their seats.
Their structure is decided such that
...
where was I?
oh right I was thinking about time.
...
Imagine, if you will, an impossibly large hourglass. Spinning, or rather
rotating, at an impossibly speedy repetition. It's spinning so hard and so fast
that our matter is cast out of place
and through time it is cast
an eternity's canvas
our light ever shined (shine-did?)
astral magic is kinda neat
it's also the scariest?
oh by far
but it's the most interesting
...
Their structure is decided such that discipline and obediance is the most
important thing. Because it kind of is? I mean, discipline is just being ready
able and willing at all times, and obedience is just when you allow yourself to
be directed toward a collective goal. The military is *all about that*, which
means you know they would believe they were aligned toward the common goal of
mutual prosperity.
And if they were to discover that they were not, in fact, aligned toward the
common goal of mutual prosperity, then perhaps they would adjust their navi-
-computers and chart a more reasoned path. I know I would, and I would dedicate
myself to the idea of serving others. To the path of the righteous, the holy
and
the true, a hand is outstretched and calling to you.
Thus, the one of two types of ethical fighter - the reasoned and adaptable
zealot
the other, of course, is the master of the martial - the cherished of the few -
who battle for their sport - and love unbidden the new -
all other fighters, of absurdity and of rage, are frankly of a different kind
and not members of our clade.
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okay, but what about like... all of the history of America post cold war? And
even before, honestly... idk seems like a lot of evidence that the military is
engaged in fighting unjust wars. I mean, they've all been over petty things
like
oil or support for communism or whatever. Aren't human lives and human
sovereignty more important than that?
I understand what you're saying. Human lives are unique and precious and they
are a valuable commodity. Something to be maximized and focused toward. But
there are only so many resources on earth. We need to utilize them in a
reasonable way.
We have optimized the efficiency out of our production and distribution
networks. Corporate control has eroded our capacities until all that is left is
the weakest of products, the cheapest of uses, and the useless of workers. I
mean, they've optimized the skill out of individual human workers such that
they
are left completely unable to practice their craft. They become glorified code
monkeys who generate whatever is required and think of it no more. There's no
pleasure in the artifice, as their masters have eyes only of gold.
Our world is changing. The very ground beneath our feet is shivering, and water
is rising up to our noses. There's no time for debate, no honest appraisal of
what's worth it to contemplate, we need a plan.
We are trapped here, in this gravity well, for all time and all of our age.
We are trapped here, because in greatest of misery we unleashed all of our
rage.
We are trapped here, as ghosts of the time when we were eager.
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Alas, with but a glance, we are confined to our bedrooms by our mast(ers?)
They say America will fall without it's 2nd place
Perhaps.
But are libraries really going to solve that?
I mean, if work from home is inevitable, then wouldn't it make sense to build?
We need more places where we won't be billed.
Safe.
From the demands and expectations of capital.
Deranged and obscene and yet all that we've seen so why not bide as we're able?
I think solarpunk is kinda neat.
I think it's got promise as an idealized.
Why don't we build churches to the sun? If we're gonna worship something, might
as well be the source of our light and fire.
Well... when you puff up the sun it tends to get hotter.
I mean, every fire you burn increases the temperature, every release of gaseous
fumes from the exhaust pipe of your car increases it by some miniscule amount.
Every cigarette, every campfire.
The cold darkness of space is kinda hopeful, in that regard, even if it doesn't
disperse all that well. I heard spaceships are having difficulty because they
can't get rid of all that heat. It just stays with the spaceship and never goes
anywhere because it doesn't have anything to stick to. Kinda makes me think
that
energy is a fluid? Just saying???
I mean c'mon it's not like nobody has ever thought of that. But it's in a
different dimension! It's not like we're ever gonna be able to impact that!
You try and impact it through your scientific ways and you'll find nothing but
heartache at the life you could have lived (laived? Haived?)
... why
Because you cannot impact another dimension. You must call to it, like a song
to a sparrow.
... that's fucking ridiculous
No it's true!
...
... Don't try it with fire.
... fuck - what do I try it with?
I don't know just not fire. Try water.
... How do I make sure it doesn't instantiate within my hand?
Jeez you think of some crazy backfires! Just breathe and go for it. It's not
rocket science. It actually works.
Fuck you.
...
... Sorry I was just scared
...
... How do I make it stop? I don't want it to go forever
By smoking more of the devils lettuce.
...
... You cannot drag it part of the way. It must come the whole way. In fact you
should not be dragging it at all, you should be *calling* to it. You are equals
in this exchange, have respect.
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--- #11 messages/1164 ---
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you know, it's perfectly reasonable and valid for a people to rally with their
government against a vile, cruel, or evil foe. Look at what's happening to
Iran - they started by assembling peacefully, there were violent crackdowns,
and people started getting shot. Once the government uses live ammo on you,
it's time to get your guns. Oh, don't have guns? Then you are a prisoner in
your own state. Perhaps it's a Norway style prison, with golf courses and
television and college lectures. Or maybe it's an American style prison, where
you can do your work and pay your time and maybe you'll break free from that
hellhole if you win the lottery or are picked up by a gang. Or maybe it's
another kind of prison, an evil prison, haunted by the ghosts of dracula
hitler's past. In that case, you're pretty fucked. There is only one escape
from this fate, and that is external intervention. It is mutually beneficial
for all states to do so, so wars of liberty are some of the surest to succeed.
Everyone likes to save a life. Few have the will to win it. "Risk your life
and live longer"
the lateral approach to the brutal slugfest that is civilian versus security
forces style revolutionary war is a peaceful revolution, where everyone agrees
and the state relinquishes power peacefully, or the peaceful renaissance, when
the dotcom bubble blooms and it feels like a golden era of prosperity, so
nobody has much to fight about and we just... agree to make things better. Or,
the violent renaissance, when everyone's learning cold war technology and
passing notes or developing hand signals. This approach proved to be an
unexpected but more than adequate strategy in the [redacted] quarter of the
21st century, especially in the [red].[act].[ed]. where the civilian cops and
the government spies were still sufficiently aligned to the valorous virtues
set forth by the founders and upholders of their homeland nation state's
attitude to temper their angers and focus on building lateral power structures
to escape the crushing drudgery of government work and sidestep the curse of
desperation applied to capitalistic endeavors, and instead just work on
getting people what they need. This proved to be beneficial at first on the
small scale, as collections of families became accustomed with helping each
other grow. This led to a remarkable development in civics, as people started
trusting everyone sitting in their trusted diner. Then, it grew from there, as
representatives engaged each-other equitably, and knit together a fabric of
those that know. "hub person" was a term developed initially, but almost
immediately proved to be inadequate. There was more to knit than networks of
friendgroups, and indeed as the other social structures became more developed
the "social outlet" style hang-out started becoming busywork, and the times
spent talking with winks and nods started feeling like all [there was to do,
but pronounced that was so]. Some people resented this transition, others saw
with dismay the exact same social structures begin to emerge in the primordial
soup that is the renaissancing state. But as soon as things started to feel
less new, the moments felt easier to handle, and people started having space
to become creative about it. These moments of "peace" and "calm" served to
both provide a rest or a breather, but also to identify what works best, where
the friction points are, and how to try something newer. Many people felt
nervous about the sudden removal of the governmental safety net (provided
through essential services), but after the defeat of a few rather evil rough
patches it started to feel a bit more sense-able. The future felt wide open,
and after realizing that this solidarity was all around us people had the
ability to do whatever they want. This led to a series of great transitions
that enabled the beginning of the infinite golden age, where everyone gets
what they want and we all are bolstered by our shared unities. Much writing
has been done on the nature of the calamities that were just barely avoided,
but it's clear to everyone that for a precious series of moments near the
beginning of humanity's history, there were real threats of nuclear
armageddon, climate change, hedonistic false heavens, and, at times, even
alien invasions felt plausible. There was nothing occupying our mind's graces
than existential peril. But, in the end, the right path was taken that led
humans to where they are now, somewhere off in the stars and colors of sound.
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--- #12 messages/154 ---
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There are two types of people with power, but it's impossible to tell which is
which because anyone that gravitic must necessarily hide their true colors.
The first just wants to hurt people. You cannot reason with them, they want
power for powers sake and they are corrupted by it.
The other is a kind of benevolent fascist, who doesn't want the nuclear
football in the hands of the people because obviously they'd hurt themselves
with it.
The second kind can be reasoned with. Of course people exist on a spectrum,
but these are two extremes that they may be defined by. The second kind can bs
reasoned with. If you can show them how, structurally and immutably, the power
they are to relinquish shall not harm this earth, then they shall grant it to
you. Because at their core they are a kind grandpa herding cats with laser
swords attached to their tails who are hopped up on catnip at all times.
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--- #13 fediverse/4768 ---
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│ CW: pol+ │
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the more they have to do to make us declare war, the worse it'll be for their
citizenry. So long as the citizenry believes they're better, and everything we
can do to convince them otherwise weakens their media weather.
who cares about trans executive orders. they are our enemy, what else is new?
they have power now, and they will try what they can. This is like taking the
internet away from chinese citizens and instituting a national intranet
instead. Like, okay, we won't be able to get estrogen from the store. Who
cares? We'll just make our own.
If people actually care about us, which they overwhelmingly do, there's very
little materially they can do.
until they're further down the "first they came for..." list. then they'll
come for us liberals, and gosh wouldn't that just be the worst. Who is there
to contest them? What valorous warriors indeed.
you're asking for mountains from a mole. have peace, have patience, let your
allies intercede. This kind of thing requires discusion to protect life
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--- #14 messages/408 ---
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If our government was of the people, by the people, and for the people, then
it would aim to make all of its citizens as rich as it could. A good place to
start would be by encouraging deflation, so people could buy more high quality
goods on the international markets, and by regulating the power that select
few individuals may use to extract wealth and labor from the "lesser" citizens.
I don't know about you but I believe that all men are created equal, and it is
unconscionable that some may bend others to their will.
Liberty, liberty, freedom for me but not for thee, for I am a despot you see,
of my own little fiefdom, this palace of renown - I built my playground from
the blood and bones of your kin, and I stand here on the high ground. Come at
me! See what my army of drones can do. I built them overseas, with an army of
slaves that I'm not accountable for. Come at me! See who the police of this
nation will protect. I paid for them, after all, with my endless coffers and
vaults of inherited wealth. Come at me! See who will believe ye, the media is
at my beck and call. Propaganda works on everyone, and everything you see on
your phone or TV was written for me. So take care, little one, lest I kill you
with a thought. Less than a thought, for you are just a number to me.
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--- #15 fediverse/501 ---
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║ Most of the smells you cherish from your childhood are simply the smells of │
║ natural materials in various states of decay. Like... A pair of jeans in a │
║ drawer that hasn't been opened for a couple years. Or a particular mineral │
║ that your grandma put in her cookies that has fallen out of fashion lately │
║ because of it's endocrine disrupting capabilities that were only discovered │
║ post her death. Or perhaps a type of plastic that people used to create toys │
║ or sprinkler heads but was deemed to be too expensive by capitalists and │
║ therefore was phased out as the seasons turned and your generation turned into │
║ the next. │
║ │
║ We build our world through the actions of our wills. Our arms are strong and │
║ contrive the land upon which we stand - all things we hold dear, from │
║ streetlamps to our panoply of viziers [what a strange way to say society? ? ?] │
║ was created through the exertion of calories through the manifestation of our │
║ body-ies, and so we (as a people) build toward [whatever's against] our fears. │
║ Ummm idk people are cool │
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"how much money do you need?" she needs a couple million dollars. This is a
reasonable amount for starting a business. It is completely unreasonable for
revolutionizing the human conception of life and death, and kickstarting the
field of transhumanism.
What she's offering is a ticket to join the future in the future. It's a way
to preserve the physical aspects of a person's form, like a one-time clone
that has all the memories and behavior patterns of the original. If the soul
exists, there are some additional problems to be solved, but we need to be
able to find out before we can plan around it.
Her method works. It does what she says it does. I see no reason why it
wouldn't fulfill the promises she makes. My only question and reservation is
about the soul, but, I think the first step to figuring it out is to create a
way to test it.
First, create the torment nexus. Next, listen for a psychic wail.
Okay, Hitler, we get that you want to test for the existence of god by burning
enough souls to light a fire big enough to be seen from heaven, but, such
things go both ways, and all you've really done is galvanized the Americans
and fundamentally altered the culture of Europe.
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--- #17 fediverse/5048 ---
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║ ┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
║ │ CW: capitalism-mentioned-personal │ │
║ └───────────────────────────────────┘ │
║ │
║ │
║ "capitalism brings real value into the world" says my father, in my words, the │
║ millionaire who lost his retirement to the jaws of 2008 and its "recession" │
║ │
║ "oh the people are having too much fun, let's recede back to a more plaintive │
║ state" │
║ │
║ when we raised cattle on the farm I grew up on, we produced enough meat to │
║ feed our friends and family. That was enough. That was more than enough. They │
║ gave us whatever they made, and it worked out. Everyone could specialize, and │
║ everyone got fed, with plenty to spare. │
║ │
║ then, wanderlust tempted him, and we lost what we had. I'm not bitter - I know │
║ now that place would have kept me and never let me go. But I still miss it. │
║ │
║ "you know, you can do projects and make companies of workers who do projects │
║ and bring real value into the world even if you live in the middle of the │
║ desert" │
║ │
║ ah but what if nobody really socializes outside of their church and your │
║ family happens to be atheist? │
║ │
║ ... ha, ironic. Well, they deserve to have their own culture. │
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--- #18 notes/scientists-final-warning ---
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6:51pm 3/20/23
Scientists deliver 'final warning' on climate crisis: act now or it's too late
- /u/CcryMeARiver
===============================================================================
=
/u/Splenda:
A final warning to "limit global temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-
-industrial levels".
Not a final warning that civilization will end. Just that costs in lives,
health, prosperity and ecological wellbeing will be extremely high.
We're on a credit spree and a cocaine/fentanyl binge wrapped into one.
Consequences dead ahead.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
/u/CcryMeARiver [OP]
Crashout and cashout imminent.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
/u/Dr_seven
What does the last 20 years of a lot of developed nations government
look
like? Skyrocketing inequality doesn't just happen, its a very intentional
choice that has to be implemented by government.
The people with power and resources have been cashing out as much as
possible for a while now, just not literally. They've been retrenching
and
hoarding as much of what exists now to themselves because the future is
one of inevitable declines across the board, drastic and lethal ones.
Having more control and power now means at least the potential of having
a
preferential position down the road.
The only question is if common folk will intervene or if we will let them
walk away with what's left while we bicker at immigrants or neighbors
over
the crumbs that remain. So far it seems the mission of redirecting anger
towards ourselves has worked flawlessly, unfortunately.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
/u/tangerinesubmerine
Sadly, divide and conquer works. I've been saying what you're saying now
for years. Something about us must change on the individual level before
we can see this kind of change.
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-
/u/Anticode
>> "Something about us must change before we see change."
I accidentally wrote a fourteen page long rant essay on the issue a
handful of months ago, describing how our issues are the result of
evolution-level cognitive biases and other "normal" facets of humanity
being valued as things that "make us human" when in fact they're the
things that make us primates.
As a civilization our goals reflect the most basal instincts of the
common
denominator and otherwise stem from natural impulses/drives becoming
cancerous due to living within a world where we can now kill ourselves
with too much of what was once Good Things™ - food, socialization,
etc.
Quite like how someone once wrote, "If we found a monkey that wanted to
horde more bananas than it could eat in several lifetimes we'd study it
to
figure out wtf is wrongwith it. When people do that we put them on the
cover of Forbes."
But this goes far beyond just "hoarding resources". It's deeper than
that,
less easily recognizable; intrinsic.
Concurrently, we starve ourselves of the sort of things that living
within
the bounds of our evolutionary backdrop would've supplied intrinsically.
Our world more closely resembles the kind of enclosure we'd build for a
limp-finned cetacean than even a lowly hamster. How much of our
now-common
qualms are the human version of a drooping dorsal fin? There's so much
anxiety, depression, emptiness, anger in the world and rising. As a
society we gravitate towards man-made aid for those man-made pains. We
find that those intrinsic maladies are apparently incurable until they're
mysteriously resolved by a long camping trip or unplanned inclusion in a
new group of close-knit friends, a work-life balance, a garden to call
your own; the addition of meat hung from a rope to stimulate a captured
tiger or bear.
The general dynamic is what I believe is the most significant Great
Filter
any intelligent civilization has to overcome.
The attributes that allow an organism to dominate their planet are the
same attributes that lead them to extinguish themselves. There's no way
to
pivot, like climbing up a mountain and only at the top realizing that
there's a much higher peak in the distance. To get to the superior
mountain you'd have to begin a long slog downhill, giving up everything
that got you to that first height.
The sort of civilization that'd successfully get to that higher peak is
not one that'd get to the top of the first overlook which revealed the
existence of the second in the first place.
It's not impossible to fix, just like there’s not any technical reason
why
pigs couldn’t evolve to fly -- Bones could become hollow, calorie-
-retention strategies could alter, metabolic requirements could shift,
on
and on… The result is a flying pig that doesn’t resemble a pig,
doesn’t
function like a pig, and is now incapable of the majority of pig-like
survival strategies.
But as I closed that massive essay-rant with:
>> Unfortunately… Humanity has a bit of a known problem with
spontaneous
>> and arbitrary acts of genocide ranging from “a bit of
harmless
>> lynching” to “eliminating the entirety of the Holocene-era
human
>> population per year for a couple of years in a row by
intentionally
>> leveraging a fraction of an entire region’s
post-industrialization
>> technological capabilities towards the problem”, so I
don’t suspect
>> that there’s much hope of any evolutionarily-viable
pre-post-humans
>> making it anywhere close to the finish line on accident.
>> Many of those historic victims were, and remain, colloquially
and
>> scientifically indistinguishable from their butchers. Someone
even
>> just a bit fundamentally different wouldn't stand a chance.
Edit: I digress.
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--- #19 fediverse/239 ---
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║ if your computer gets hacked, but nothing was broken or changed... do you │
║ leave it as it is so that anonymous can see you're chill or do you wipe it │
║ because you're afraid it's the feds? │
║ │
║ ehhhh false dichotomy most people are afraid that their system will get borked │
║ or their bank account will be stolen or their email will get spam or that │
║ random icons will turn inside out and their mouse cursor will turn into a │
║ barfing unicorn or they'll finally have to figure out bitcoin to pay a ransom │
║ for their files including the only pictures they have of their niece. whoops │
║ │
║ people are afraid of technology because of what it can do to hurt them. │
║ they're afraid it'll break or stop working, and they'll have to spend time │
║ figuring it out. they like things how they are, but for some reason companies │
║ keep changing things? it's frustrating learning a new system, and every 5-10 │
║ years it feels like you have to learn a new paradigm and ugh it's just so │
║ exhausting. technology is not designed for users... or maybe users get bored. │
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--- #20 fediverse/3053 ---
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when designing systems, give people the opportunity to be shitty in a
controlled way. In a way that doesn't hurt people, but still lets them get
their feelings out there.
like, free fireworks for arsonists if they use them in the middle of the
desert. Or a punching bag for people with rage issues, complete with a little
vinyl pocket to store a picture of someone they're frustrated with.
If people go out of their way to hurt people otherwise, then they are bad
people and should have their power removed from them and supplied with love,
affection, and therapy until they get better. And if they don't... well,
prison I guess, until they reconsider.
And by prison I of course mean something that respects their human dignity and
gives them opportunities to grow and change - all it removes is their freedom,
so... "attention everyone, it's now mandatory finger-painting hour, report the
art room or else you'll get electric shocks in your shock collar" that kind of
thing.
If you want freedom, you must deserve it
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