Centralization is so last century
Cool read, Thom! Good to hear from you, and I wish that were the caseâŚ
I also like your framing: âwhat can I do about itâ⌠I think itâs the only way to stay sane, even if most of us canât really do much but find some cocoons.
Pretty sure the overall levels of learned helplessness - taught helplessness(?) - have gone up markedly lately.
I guess Iâm reminded a lot of one of the earliest âconspiracy theoriesâ I came across in the mid 90s, that the purpose of said is to spread a feeling of powerlessness in the population.
Notwithstanding any talk of reality, this still hits me now and then.
The state exacts the utmost degree of obedience and sacrifice from its citizens, but at the same time it treats them like children by maintaining an excess of secrecy and a censorship upon news and expressions of opinion which leaves the spirits of those whose intellects it thus suppresses defenceless against every unfavourable turn of events and every sinister rumour. It absolves itself from the guarantees and treaties by which it was bound to other states, and makes unabashed confession of its own rapacity and lust for power, which the private individual has then to sanction in the name of patriotism.
(From: The Disillusionment of war, Sigmund Freud, 1915)
Have become interested in what a guy called Paul Levy has written about,
Wetiko, a mind virus that operates within the blind spots of our subconscious. I am trying to condense what I have read into a summary for a new topic here in the campfire forum. I think the story of wetiko can become a powerful counter narrative in the aftermath of covid-19 if it would gain some spread. Here is an essay where he describe some aspects (far from all) on his take on wetiko were he refers heavily to a book called
Columbus and other cannibals. Have been doing a digital mind map where Iâve been collecting quotes from both Paul Levyâs book Wetiko Dispelling the curse of evil and the book he refers to in the essay. I hope it could become a collaborative subject to think about and share our introspections around.
The concept of wetiko has close similarities with the myths of The archons (or the rulers),
They are described as extraterrestrial demonic entities which are envious of humans having
the self-generating properties of life itself. This is portrayed in many of the texts in the nag hammadi scriptures according to mythology scholar John Lamb Lash who has dedicated his life-work to think about these texts. He is probably condemned as a lunatic by many who know of him, but I think his message is mesmerizing still. I think the condemnation mostly comes from not seeing the nuance that allegories actually comes out of an effort to describe reality and not something fantastic which many reduce it to.
The archons work their deceptive influence on the human mind by inverting the meaning of values, or otherwise described with the term Counter-Mimicry, I think its interesting to try and observe this in my daily life.
Here is a talk by John lamb lash where he breaks down the core problem
(with the covid crisis as a backdrop) quite elegantly I think.
keywords:
Social Conditioning,
Social Trauma,
Archetypal myths,
Anti-Imperialism,
Anti-Transhumanism,
Partnership Culture vs Dominance Culture
Heh I was weaned on Philip k Dick so the Lash didnât seem too âwooâ at all - but then I went (enjoyably) down the rabbit hole of his other lectures, including where the dude starts Yelling expletives calling out the Dalai Lama for Insufficient Dakini-khandroma, and Iâm genuinely not on enough layers of alchemical practice to be able to tell anymore.
So thanks for the recommendation - particularly enjoyed the points on gratitude, found that very pertinent in context. Similarly the points on self-sovereignty vs rights discourse.
The more âethnofashâ blood-and-soil content in Lash idk, your mileage may vary - but I will say that with recent events, Iâm not sure if Iâve parted company with the Left, but they have certainly parted from me.
Circling back, looking at All And Everything in recent events at the level of myth - whether wendigo, archonic, or otherwise - does seem Good to Think With, and certainly better than any other frames Iâve got to hand?
Have you guys seen âLine goes upâ? I find it one of the best explanations around technological trends⌠well, ever. It also meshes well with my own take of the blockchain as sociopathic innovation, which I finally matured in 2021 after a long contemplation and some personal experimentation.
Yep! Really enjoyed the essay, and itâs been great seeing the video blow up
Iâm pretty close to the âintrinsically evilâ position - to rant archonic, I became relatively convinced a few year back at a poetic level than Chainers were victims of a They Live/Rokos Basilisk-type mind virus attack, with a probable aim of developing a computational system to house a Cthuloid/Elder God AI. Very brain parasite.
As always, it would be comforting if this were to be true, rather than the default position of greed and stupidity.
On the carbon point, I pay very slight attention to klima, an olympus ponzicoin that aims for locking carbon - because I can conceivably see a valid use - but even purportedly ethical chain-stuff smells âuseful idiotâ to me?
Whatev about the carbon/energy technical, the allocation of brainpower, much as with financialization prior, is what makes me cry at night.
âEvil until proven otherwise, with a high burden of proofâ is my moderate position, rather than âintrinsically evilâ. Thatâs where Iâm at.
Very little interest in what signals the ants appear to be saying, steadily building concern as to the projected shape and function of the Hive-structure they appear to be building. Which links to some of our apparent concerns re the variants of the ânew-new-new normalsâ lately.
Best explanation for crypto yet!
Carbon coins are a legitimate idea. In Kim Stanley Robinsonâs The Ministry for the Future, he imagines a coalition of the main central banks (Bank of China, the Fed, the ECB and the Swiss) issuing a carbon coin on the blockchain, tradable very long term, interest-bearing bonds on tons of carbon sequestered. The idea is that if you sequester carbon now, the central banks will give you ironclad money in 2100 or so. The âironcladâ means the secondary market is secure.
Later, Robinson mused that today he would not put that âon the blockchainâ, but simply charge the Apocalypse consortium of central banks with keeping a ledger, a secure database. I made a cheatsheet for Ministry in the runup to a book club discussion we had, you can find it here.
TheyLive/Rokos as a hypothesis would explain a lot!
Seems predictive and parsimonious, plus That Blockchain Stare, etcâŚ
âHomo roekonomicus?â
Klima - as with most âeco1!1â Chainers - is still too close to extractive ponzi financialization for my tastes - filed under âevil burden of proofâ - but otoh whether backed or implemented by a central legacy institutions or metacoop/DAO, at least its a real problem, and a real asset, versus âcouldnât this meeting have been an emailâ and âsolution in search of a problemâ, aka âwhy not a nice old database? Or perhaps a file drawer?â
Ahoy folks!
This just caught my eye.
@alberto - would do you have the link handy for that at all?
I know there is a bunch of interest related to Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), and I had dismissed the blockchain part as a poorly understood plot device, but is be curious if KSR had elaborated some more.
He introduces âPikettyâ as a verb in another book, 2150, so I wouldnât be surprised if he had been watching some of the experiments like the ones below in Switzerland, and similar moves in China
Yes. Itâs in the authorâs response to the Crooked Timber Seminar on Ministry. Money quote:
In the list of mistakes Iâve become aware of making in Ministry , using the word blockchain is prominent. I should have said âencrypted digital money,â or even just âdigital encryption.â
Ecological processes have become a new trading asset on the new york stock exchange.
Issuers of such assets will be called a Natural asset company (NAC for short).
I donât have so much understanding in the world of finance so I donât really understand what function this ownership will serve. Is this going to affect every small scale owner of a farm for example?
Will farmers even if they own their land have to buy the right to grow food?
Perhaps someone could explain who understand this?
I guess that the cost of buying land will go up remarkably with the introduction of this. You will not just buy the land, but have to buy the potential of economic output on that land also. Truly deranged.
the NAC and its employees, directors and owners are not necessarily the owners of the natural asset itself following this final step. Instead, as IEG notes, the NAC is merely the issuer while the potential buyers of the natural asset the NAC represents can include: institutional investors, private investors, individuals and institutions, corporations, sovereign wealth funds and multilateral development banks. Thus, asset management firms that essentially already own much of the world, like Blackrock, could thus become owners of soon-to-be monetized natural processes, natural resources and the very foundations of natural life itself.
Thanks, my friend. We both concluded another turn around the sun recently.
I am mentioned by name in this NYT book review about âThe Quiet Before: on the Unexpected Origins of Radical Ideasâ in which there is a chapter devoted to The WELL and the origins of online community and social networking, in which I am also featured. The link below is to a condensed version of that chapter. Only about a third of it is gratis, the rest is behind a paywall. Of course one could go ahead and buy the bookâŚ
Things To Come
Even in deeply uncertain times, it feels good to be planning and building a tiny piece of future. With @Lee, @Sabine_B_Frank, @manuelpueyo, @Malcolm and others we have been working on an idea of a co-housing project in Brussels, The Reef. After about a year of doing research, we are now at the point of enlarging the group. We will do it initially with a public meeting, scheduled for the 21st of April. Everyone invited, though this is obviously a local event!
Here is a website with the essential information and a registration link. More discussion and reports from the various cohousing projects we talked to over the past year are in the #the-reef category here on Edgeryders. Thanks to @matthias for the inspiring thoughts on green building, @nadia for the illustration, @owen for the Webkit tech supporting the website, and all of Edgeryders for inspiration and companionship!
thats so great to hear!!! congratulations 
Kudos for making it so far already, Iâm sure it will all work out eventually. I like the idea! (If it were in a remote rural setting and included a farm, I would join.)
You joining would almost make it worth the change, MattâŚ