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I think this is civilisation-specific (ie not an issue for a egalitarian hunter-gatherers who live enmeshed lives). And I think appreciating this requires appreciating that civilisation is hierarchical, stratified. The reality of status hierarchies is starker than we articulate
The reality of status heirarchies is starker than we articulate https://t.co/cK0cAIEf8y
Nobody introduces you to sexism 101, racism 101 or status heirarchies 101 when youâre a child. This is something you have to learn through fumbling experience and unverified hearsay, the way most people learn about sex https://t.co/lxitHyRBnX
A picture I really like is Obama fistbumping one of the White House cleaning staff. Itâs a sweet picture of what I believe is a genuine moment. But isnât it also interesting how neither of them is making solid eye contact? Itâs kind of âperipheralâ. But maybe itâs just the photo https://t.co/pJLd3leVm8
Circling back. The public isnât educated to be a good public because it isnât in the interest(s) of the ruling class, not really. The public is educated to obey, to regulate & be regulated, to work. There are lots of shitty smartbro takes on this, but underlying truth remains
Many (most?) people fantasize about being a king, queen, prince, princess. Many (most?) people secretly know that the public commons is a dumpster fire, and aspire to have enough power to avoid being trampled by the great herd of humanity https://t.co/ockzSpKsqr
Itâs interesting to me how, while weâve generally as a species shaken off the idea of kings with divine mandates to rule over lesser humans, a lot (most?) of our aspirational myths are still centered on monarchies - from Thor and TâChalla to Elsa and Jasmine
In the short run, for the quarterly report, the public yields the most profits when it is most anxious, fearful, outraged, disgusted. If you advocate for fewer ads, less hyperbole, a better user experience, youâll probably get replaced by someone else who doesnât care
In the earliest conceptualization of âcivilisedâ humanity, there were the rulers and the serfs. The masters and the slaves. The bougies and the proles. The clever trick of late-stage capitalism is selling gold-plated chains as a substitute for liberty
Itâs tempting at this point to point a finger at a mysterious Man whoâs Out To Get Us And maybe some people bear more responsibility than others for kickstarting the profit-seeking hyperdrive But correcting it will IMO require a planetary effort that has never been coordinated
I changed my mind about something halfway in that last tweet I was going to say âwe are all responsible, itâs our collective insecurityâ Iâm not so sure thatâs accurate apart from in the most superficial sense the asshole problem is real
Assholes are the 1% of people that cause 74% of the problems everywhere they go The challenge is to deal with assholes without becoming an asshole yourself in the process Itâs sadly-funny and true that anti-assholes are some of the worst assholes https://t.co/cN9lk79fSo
Threadblogged: https://t.co/vuuOY2aRDA
The networks are really in business to give people what they want. https://t.co/GnPtanX5s7
If you donât want to do that, weâll replace you with someone who does https://t.co/9YsFpb5jrR
capitalism never says âtorture the workersâ or âincite genocide in distant countriesâ. all it says is âmaximize profits or weâll replace you with someone else who doesâ. itâs a system that introduces plausible-enough deniability about the relationship between actions and outcomes
@visakanv https://t.co/YUkCOVuYha
The paradox I'm currently in love with: 1. existing culture is fucked up in ways I'll collectively call "A" 2. "A" is trying to fuck you up 3. "A" = "people trying to protect from being fucked up by A" 4. thus to shift "A" to "B", one must protect against "A" without protecting
@visakanv Have you heard Daniel Schmachtenberger's whole thing about this? he has a particular shape that's pretty good, about mutual checks & balances between 3 things (I forget which 3 but ish "government" "markets" "public") https://t.co/5MsVjCGnbh
Latest 𤯠video by Daniel Schmachtenberger, which talks in depth about memetic warfare and the information commons, then shares a project he's working on to create a source of news & epistemic education. If The Social Dilemma concerns you, check this out: https://t.co/EEbvp8Vf4M
@Malcolm_Ocean vaguely familiar tho tbh at this stage Iâm much more focused on just finding individual good people and adding them to my network/graph. Will worry about bigger picture forces etc when they start to affect me
@visakanv https://t.co/LbzGWQ6Dll