"If we take for granted and accept unreflectively that community consists of an aggregate of unrelated, monadic, self-enclosed, and highly privatized egos; that the telephone, radio, television set, and night letter constitute our principal windows to the world; that the shopping mall and its parking lots are our normal terrain for public intercourse; that processed and packaged foods, transported thousands of miles from remote areas of the country, are our major sources of nutriment; that "time is money," fast-talking is a paying skill, and speed-reading is a desideratum; that, above all, bureaucracy comprises the sinews of social life, gigantism is the measure of success, and clientage to professionals and centralized authority is evidence of a public sphere -- then we will be irretrievably lost as individuals, will-less as egos, and formless as personalities. Like the natural world around us, we will become the victims of a simplification process that renders us as inorganic and mineral as the ores that feed our foundries and the sand that feeds our glass furnaces."
Murray Bookchin (author, The Ecology of Freedom: The Emergence and Dissolution of Hierarchy, 1980)
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“We were keeping our eye on 1984. When the year came and the prophecy didn't, thoughtful Americans sang softly in praise of themselves. The roots of liberal democracy had held. Wherever else the terror had happened, we, at least, had not been visited by Orwellian nightmares. But we had forgotten that alongside Orwell's dark vision, there was another - slightly older, slightly less well known, equally chilling: Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.
Contrary to common belief even among the educated, Huxley and Orwell did not prophesy the same thing. Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in Huxley's vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.
What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny "failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions." In 1984, Orwell added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we fear will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we desire will ruin us."
- Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (1985)
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*posts polarizing and political opinion on a public platform for all users to see*
*k but antis DNI I want you to see my opinion but if I see yours it will hurt my feelings ps I’m shitty at debating*
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Navigating the Mirage
Navigating the Mirage #artem #Collectivedecision-making #Criticalthinking #Democracy #Governance #Humandignity
Content 14+ In an era where information cascades through the digital landscape like a relentless deluge, discerning the veritable from the counterfeit has become a task Herculean in its nature. As I delve into the intricate web of fake news and its insidious impact on the bastion of democracy, I invite you to journey with me through a labyrinth of thought, challenging not just the definitions we…
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Opinionated Crap
In these early days of spring, on most mornings, I walked out to the carport to find our cars covered in bird crap.
I’m pretty sure I know the culprit. It’s the same juvenile robin that was attacking our big picture windows a couple of weeks ago who now has decided to move on to accosting other reflections of itself.
So our cars are covered with white stinky streaks smeared with beak and claws…
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Capitalism to Techno-Feudalism: The Evolution of Economic Systems
🌟 Dive into the intriguing world of economic evolution with our latest video "Capitalism to Techno-Feudalism: The Evolution of Economic Systems"! 🚀 Join us as we explore the rise of tech giants, wealth inequality, and strategies for navigating this digital landscape. Featuring insights from renowned economist Yanis Varoufakis.
Watch now:
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One elite woman publicly reviled as a sapphist was Anne Seymour Damer (1748-1828), an English artist and novelist with connections to the aristocracy and Europe.
"Normal Women: 900 Years of Making History" - Philippa Gregory
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Navigating the Digital Landscape: The Role of Social Media in Shaping Public Discourse and Democracy
Navigating the Digital Landscape: The Role of Social Media in Shaping Public Discourse and Democracy #SocialMedia #PublicDiscourse #Democracy #DigitalLandscape #Misinformation #DigitalLiteracy #CollectiveAction
The Role of Social Media Platforms in Shaping Public Discourse and Democracy: Navigating the Digital Landscape
In the age of information overload and digital connectivity, social media platforms have emerged as powerful tools for shaping public discourse and influencing democratic processes. From Twitter to Facebook, Instagram to YouTube, these platforms serve as virtual town squares where ideas…
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2021 Reading List {#tywlife}
I've added some updates post-script with my latest reflections and thoughts on the books listed for this year!
Enjoy :)
Starting to get a bit sleepy over here, so please bear with me.
I made it my priority to post my lists today - FINALL! So doing it!
Please ignore some of my typos and perhaps… half thoughts. These notes are mostly written for myself, so undoubtedly they are plastered with thoughts and ideas for, well, me!
tyw = denotes personal thoughts, add-ons, or actions for myself.
Skimming this list below, some new notes and thoughts. (Scroll to the bottom for my latest thoughts. Don’t want to distract from the post!)
2021 Reading…
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The Role of Freedom of Speech in Democratic Societies
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The Role of Freedom of Speech in Democratic Societies
Phasellus vel ante mi. Aliquam sit amet velit tortor. Fusce efficitur diam sit amet mauris consequat, vel vestibulum est gravida. Praesent lacinia velit nec arcu aliquam euismod at at dolor. Vivamus efficitur pellentesque nulla et vestibulum. Praesent at luctus nulla, eget convallis nunc. Mauris a dolor dictum, sagittis elit non, hendrerit felis. In non pharetra risus. Proin tincidunt felis et…
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The title is an invitation to reflect on the future. In 2023, climate change will be a topic of discussion in even the most unlikely of places. It will be a part of the public discourse, and people will be more aware of the dangers it poses to our planet.
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That they may see...
That they may see…
Yesterday, while sitting and eating with my family, two verses came to mind about how we are to live as followers of Jesus Christ. As we seek to speak into another person’s life, we must remember the context of our words. For sure, we need to speak what is true, right, holy, and fitting. Our words are incredibly important. However, we cannot miss the context of our words. We…
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Anyway. Bi and Mspec Lesbians aren't a hotly "debated" topic or even new to queer culture, it's just the newest thing that bullies who REALLY want to be homophobic and even racist use to justify harassing gay people they don't like.
It's the thinnest possible veneer of progressive language wrapped around TERF and reactionary rhetoric so that they can feel righteous for forming an angry mob against vulnerable targets. If you're gullible enough to fall for the newest wave of bigotry within the queer community, and turn on your allies because they're "confusing" or "invading your spaces," the SAME way they turned on bi/pan labels, trans people, xenogenders, neopronouns, and aroace people before this, then get lost.
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The deeply moralist tone that a lot of discussions about media representation take on here are primarily neoliberal before they are anything else. Like the shouting matches people get into about “purity culture” “pro/anti” etc nonsense (even if I think it’s true that some people have a deeply christian worldview about what art ought to say and represent about the world) are downstream of the basic neoliberal assumption that we can and must educate the public by being consumers in a market. “Bad representation” is often framed as a writer’s/developer’s/director’s/etc’s failure to properly educate their audience, or to educate them the wrong way with bad information about the world (which will compel their audience to act, behave, internalise or otherwise believe these bad representations about some social issue). Likewise, to “consume” or give money to a piece of media with Bad Representation is to legitimate and make stronger these bad representations in the world, an act which will cause more people to believe or internalise bad things about themselves or other people. And at the heart of both of those claims is, again, the assumption that mass public education should be undertaken by artists in a private market, who are responsible for creating moral fables and political allegories that they will instil in their audiences by selling it to them. These conversations often become pure nonsense if you don’t accept that the moral and political education of the world should be directed by like, studio executives or tv actors or authors on twitter. There is no horizon of possibility being imagined beyond purchasing, as an individual consumer in a market, your way into good beliefs about the world, instilled in you by Media Product
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