– Technicians are not intellectuals – Technocrats are not elite (using prebuilt tools isn’t special) – Using technology to enforce worldviews is douchy – What is an intellectual – How credentialism and materialism rot brains and cultures – You need to repeat good concepts (The Great Conversation) – Etc.
Note: Was looking for royalty free music but then remembered ‘O yea I play guitar.’ It’s a good feeling. Whether it’s painting, music, photography expanding your range of expression will always make you more independent.
The economic landscape has shifted dramatically. That is what we are told. It certainly seems to be true. I have my reservations but that’s beside the point. The validity of that statement isn’t the focus of this here essay.
No. What seems of utmost importance to weed (stoner laugh) out is whether this supposed shift is good. So for the sake of some truly Fractal – ‘integrative analysis’ let’s say that the Amazon cheerleaders are correct – brick and mortar is dead – human labor is soon to be obsolete.
Intimidation Perk + 666
What are the pros…the cons…the ethics…if any?
There are those that say this will usher in a renaissance of creativity where people freed from the bonds of common toil will create Sistine Chapels whilst sat in their living rooms.
Thus far I don’t see much besides cat videos.
An industry emerges…
But ok…this Utopia is on the way. Maybe cat portraits are how Michelangelo got his start. I’m game.
Suppose that we have a whole phalanx of virtuoso cellists selling their albums via Amazon to fund a perfected chemotherapy for dwarven children with cancerous buttocks.
Such nobility is surely good? Let’s all scurry to the altar of Bezos and use our Gen Z super powers to be a generation of thinkers, movers, and shakers who through the power of affiliate marketing make dwarven butt less tumorsome.
What of those who know nothing but crab fishing in a depleted bay?
Can everyman learn Javascript? (probably) Should he? Probably not. Seriously outlaw beards…now. Right now!)
Ruby on Rails bought this axe. Which I bought specifically for this photo.
This to me is the crux of the problem the place where principle and profit diverge. I can’t for the life of me understand how a culture in which a teenager flatulating into a microphone has more economic prowess than a chowder soup cannery.
Don’t get me wrong. I think the post-industrial thing is kind of cool. But are we really there yet…and if we are…how cool is it…how sustainable is it?
There are many pundits masturbating with chafed abandon over the concept of meritocracy. I see the exact opposite of meritocracy. I see opportunism. Albeit one that is more often than not unwitting.
Herr Bezos IMO is someone who was at the right place at the right time. I’m sure he’s as clever a lad as any and don’t care to dwell on his character but he’s not that impressive. He was there when a technology emerged and was operating in a milieu where capitalizing on that technology proved succesful. A bit of code a bit of business savvy and boom…he’s basically richer than God.
And there are now a billion microbezos attending to their affiliate market feudal fiefdoms and shilling their ‘systems.’
This didn’t prove as homoerotic as I’d hoped.
What precisely makes these systems possible? Is it merit? Is it genius? Is it meritorious, merit based boostrapping, asskicking 10 simple steps genius?
Or is it this:
Faces of Joy – A history in Photos
Seems to me that people still have to make things. And 3d printing is still quite a ways from conjuring a cozy three bedroom apartment in Seattle with the Iphone that it craves.
So if one has the choice to make something or to position oneself to sell things others make by learning how to weasel with SEO…and he chooses the former…
Is he a buffoon? A dinosaur? Or should the SEO beardo be less easily rewarded by a handholding matrix of taxcuts, backroom deals, and suburbanly available tech so easy my baby cousin could master it in his sleep. And then use it to buy himself Legoland…
I think that something is deeply amiss. And before we pop the champagne we should do some reflecting.
A bit of a rant I threw together while in one of my sourer moods. The subject is algal blooms and their effects on fisheries. Triggered in part by Jimmy Dore’s coverage of west coast fisherman suing energy companies for AGW. But mostly triggered by general ignorance and tribalism.
See prior video for relevant links (in the description)
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This little episode was prompted when one of my favorite pundits, Jimmy Dore, discussed the plans of some fisherman to sue oil companies for causing global warming. Which said fisherman implicate in their troubles catching fish.
I point out that nitrification from agriculture and urban sources is a much stronger causal link for marine life dieoffs.
I then launch into a broader discussion of the fact that science does not work by consensus, and dissect the ‘97% of scientists agree’ claim.
The boundary between science and politics needs to be understood and respected.
And after having mangled, and torn, and completely stripped the two brothers, the mob dragged their naked and bloody bodies to an extemporised gibbet, where amateur executioners hung them up by the feet.
Then came the most dastardly scoundrels of all, who not having dared to strike the living flesh, cut the dead in pieces, and then went about the town selling small slices of the bodies of John and Cornelius at ten sous a piece.
Here’s my cringetastic reporting on a local bit of news from last year.
And….here’s how it turned out…
I plan to do a bit more of this sort of on the ground stuff in the coming year. Subjects will vary but I’m thinking will primarily be environmental in nature. Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned.
Don’t rely on technology to overcome your laziness. A nicer pen and notebook will gather dust just the same as your BIC and that yellow legal pad. These are the things I discuss along with the frustration of coincidences involving hats.
Now I myself am a fan of runes (for nerdy Led Zeppelin reasons) but that my friends is not progressive symbology. It’s just so damned funny to see the dementedly PC western media hype this as some sort of ‘people’s resistance.’
In my last vlog I talked about the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. I feel some clarifications are in order.
I decided to comment on this because as a Russian-American with Ukrainian ancestory (my great grandfather is from Kiev) the coverage of the issue by the western press and western perceptions in general seem incredibly stupid to me. Stupid in a dangerous way.
I’m not operating under the impression that I’m going to solve anything but sitting here listening to this drivel is driving me mental.
So here is my position on this issue presented as a set of bullet points.
1) The Ukraine should be independent.
2) The Ukraine should not be used by NATO and the EU as leverage against Russia.
3) Russian and Ukrainian history is closely linked. (See Kievan Rus)
4) Countries and unions that decry nationalist and populist sentiments reflexively supporting robust Ukrainian nationalism to the point of ignoring NAZI antics (Azov Battalion etc) is really tragically hypocritical.
5) The nature of the relationship between the Ukraine and Russia is similar to that of England and Wales. These nations share similar histories, borders, and (in the case of Russia and Ukraine) very similar ethnic makeup. So when NATO puppets and opportunists stir peoples sentiments into violence and other provocative behaviors, a military response is unfortunately necessary. Such a response is not an invasion anymore than England putting down a contingent of hypothetical Welsh ultranationalists with dreams of EU money.
6) War is dumb. War between the Ukraine and Russia is even dumber.
7) I know very little about Putin or his policies however I do not trust anything the established Western press has to say about him. This is merely a reaction to events based on my own background and understanding of the region. I am open to other interpretations except of course the insane ones being pushed by countries currently bombing and drone striking goat herds in more places than I can name.
8) I have not been back to Russia since 1998. I am a naturalized United States citizen. I am in strong favor of more or less traditional forms of Constitutional government as they have been practiced in this democratic republic. I feel that the same background (Russian/Ukrainian/Polish) that makes me feel impelled to comment on this may also be viewed by some uncharitable persons as questionable. Hence this last bullet point.
Thanks for reading. Here is Fred Reed on the matter :
The Fractal Journal 