{∅, {∅}, {∅, {∅}}} : Rage Against the Meat Grinder
General Category => What Now? => Topic started by: Nation of One on June 24, 2014, 11:48:25 pm
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When you live in the shadow of insanity, the appearance of another mind that thinks and talks as yours does is something close to a blessed event ...
Do you know many people who think and talk the way you do?
Even when you search through literature from the past, do you find only a handful of thinkers who are in your orbit?
Maybe 2000 page manifestos serve a function ... for those who are in the state of mind and have the patience and focus ... and maybe short dialogs that convey a certain attitude also serve their function as well.
We'll see.
With most "message board" projects in the past, I may have been too quick to load the forums with threads and topics. This time through, I would prefer to move in slow motion.
Maybe less really is more. Our own nonsense may be more valuable than the sense of the experts and professionals. Our own insanity may make more sense to us than the sanity of a sick society.
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Quote: "Do you know many people who think and talk the way you do?"
Hahahahahaha, NOPE! I never cross paths with anyone who doesn't regard me as a complete weirdo. Oh well, I'm quite used to it now, but it will never cease to be depressing to know that most people have nothing going on inside their heads.
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It is kind of creepy, and it explains why, when I'm in a public place like a grocery store, I kind of play the buffoon ... just to talk myself through it. That Dostoevsky had so much insight, and I don't have to keep re-reading his books to "be there."
Well, I just wanted to log in to make sure that there was somewhere a few people that do think a little like me could enjoy each others' take on things. I have to venture out into Bizarroland to forage for groceries ... and I have to find a DVD drive for the Old Clunker since I have a Linux Mint 17 installation DVD ... They don't offer an option to install with CDs ... My, my, how quickly technology becomes obsolete. No floppies, no CDs.
Keep rolling with the punches!
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Well,I don't know any contemporaries who are like me but I think if I consider the past then van Gogh could be said to be in my strange orbit,mind, I'm not saying I'm as talented as he was,only that I suffer as much as he did.Like him, I keep trying to come up with the art which will break the mould,but all I get is disappointment.And what hurts the most is that I'm ridiculed & mocked all the time.
I get mocked more than Jesus,when they were taking him to the cross.Mockery all the damn time.
Maybe I'd die like van Gogh too.
PS-Hey Mr H.this is Justin.Thanks for the link.
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This is how the society makes me feel-like a dog-I quote van Gogh-
There’s a great reluctance about taking me into the house as there would be about having a large, shaggy dog in the house. He’ll come into the room with wet paws — and then, he’s so shaggy. He’ll get in everyone’s way. And he barks so loudly.
In short — it’s a dirty animal.
Very well — but the animal has a human history and, although it’s a dog, a human soul, and one with finer feelings at that, able to feel what people think about him, which an ordinary dog can’t do.
And I, admitting that I am a sort of dog.
This home is also too good for me, and Pa and Ma and the family are so unduly fine (no feelings, though)1 and — and — they are ministers — many ministers. So the dog recognizes that if they were to keep him it would be too much a question of putting up with him, of tolerating him ‘in this house’, so he’ll see about finding himself a kennel somewhere else.
The dog may actually have been Pa’s son at one time, and Pa himself really left him out in the street rather too much, where he inevitably became rougher, but since Pa himself forgot that years ago and actually never thought profoundly about what a bond between father and son meant, there’s nothing to be said. 1v:2
Then — the dog might perhaps bite — if he were to go mad — and the village constable would have to come round and shoot him dead. Very well — yes, all that, most certainly, it is true.
The dog is just sorry that he didn’t stay away, because it wasn’t as lonely on the heath as it is in this house — despite all the friendliness. The animal’s visit was a weakness that I hope people will forget, and one that he’ll avoid lapsing into again.
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Strange oribit..anyone heard of the Amityville Horroer story-a house haunted by demons?The kind of life I have makes me want to believe in the devil & the demons.
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In certain periods of my life I found it useful to consider the existence of "demons" - what psychology now calls "complexes" ... "The Spirit World" - psychology calls this "the unconscious" ... what's the difference what we call it? It is some kind of phenomenon. It's all guess work. What do we really know?
“This, then, is the ultimate, that is only, consolation: simply that someone shares some of your own feelings and has made of these a work of art which you have the insight, sensitivity, and — like it or not — peculiar set of experiences to appreciate. Amazing thing to say, the consolation of horror in art is that it actually intensifies our panic, loudens it on the sounding-board of our horror-hollowed hearts, turns terror up full blast, all the while reaching for that perfect and deafening amplitude at which we may dance to the bizarre music of our own misery.”
― Thomas Ligotti, The Nightmare Factory
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Crazy Squirrel:
I never cross paths with anyone who doesn't regard me as a complete weirdo.
I, for one, appreciate your attitude. You have a great disdain for gorts. You always knew exactly the kind of people I was referring to when I used the term gort. They sit in audiences on television and worship celebrities. They go berserk over new cars ... and some of the more deluded ones want to colonize outer space - those totally deluded gorts I call space monkeys.
8)
Weird is a good thing here, Crazy Squirrel. We are metaphysical mutants ... The way I see it, in being born we were involved in a horrible accident of cosmic proportions. Now, since gort society depends upon sugar-coating this existential fact, there really are not many "places" where we can discuss the situation honestly without being bombarded with thought-destroying demands to "cheer up" or "stop whining".
I am not suicidal, but I am not going to believe anyone's life is anything but unpleasant. It's built into our design ... Going through life feeling weird ... I propose that this is universal. I think that maybe everyone is weird, that life itself is weird.
The problem with gort society is that the gorts behave as if all is as it should be ... they are acclimated to living in Hell ... and may not even think too much about it, preferring to be deluded by the lies they chant daily. I really think it is a sign of merit to be out of sync with the mainstream. They are driving full speed over the cliff, and instead of applying the brakes, they're speeding up.
It's probably worse than we even imagine ... Schools exist to produce consumers who want to conform to mass society. When we see this world for what it is, it can be very creepy. Much like the science-fiction horror story Invasion of the Body Snatchers, it can't hurt us to talk about these feelings of not being down with what is transpiring.
The whole point of that book was that the way human beings live is not much different than the way the space pods would live. What is the difference?
The gorts don't point at us and scream, but on some level they seem to be aware of one who is "not participating" ...
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on some level they seem to be aware of one who is "not participating"
You are so right, they recognize us, sometimes its like I’m in Buchenwald & I am roaming around with a yellow star of David armband with the word"Jude" written on it.oh,no two ways about that, they recognize us alright. But the nightmare begins after they have recognized us for what we are -Metaphysical Mutants to Gorts,Jews to Nazis, Red Indians to Yankees.
Tell you what, they will not relent till they have wiped us off the face of the planet.Guranteed.And that’s okay because isn’t that what we want-to cease to exist? But the problem is,the mode of bringing about our non-existence which the gorts choose is painful in the extreme.
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Thank you for acknowledging the fact that we have been recognized as not conforming to the status quo and most likely have been targeted. It's not really a conspiracy. It's done systematically and all out in the open.
[I just type "Adorno" in the local search engine at xhentric.wordpress.com and find exactly what I am looking for.]
Horkheimer and Adorno articulate the situation I experience in everyday life in the following:
“Anyone who does not conform is condemned to an economic impotence which is prolonged in the intellectual powerlessness of the eccentric loner. Disconnected from the mainstream, he is easily convicted of inadequacy.”
From Enlightenment and Deception:
“The most intimate reactions of human beings become so entirely reified, even to themselves, that the idea of anything peculiar to them survives only in extreme abstraction: personality means hardly more than dazzling white teeth and freedom from body odor and emotions. That is the triumph of advertizing in the culture industry: the compulsive imitation by consumers of cultural commodities which, at the same time, they recognize as false.”
What keeps the runners racing around the track? Mass Mentality. Herd Morality. Mass mentality is addicted to stupidity ... systematic stupidity. Mass mentality is not interested in serious philosophical analyses of the world. A philosopher, with serious intellectual activities, would not become a popular icon as much as a rock star with a bunch of simply stated slogans. Even when a serious thinker is able to reach large numbers of other serious thinkers, the mass mentality will reduce his or her thought into simple slogans or simple one-dimensional labels: nihilist, antinatalist, pessimist, prophet of doom and gloom, Nazi sympathizer, misogynistic misanthrope, seriously disturbed individual with mental disorders ...
Mass culture cannot live without the image of an enemy. The enemy of the model citizen is the odd loner who has certain quirks and weird ideas. While the crowd is cheering on their favorite team, the creepy weirdo (enemy of mass [gort] society) is morbidly contemplating on the nature of infinity and why there is a world rather than not. While the masses are worshiping their shiny new gort-mobiles, the creepy weirdo (enemy of mass [gort] society) is arranging his or her life in such a way as to use a car as little as possible. The masses are using tablets and touch screens. The weirdo makes due with (and actually prefers) the old school dinosaur model ... which is why Bill Gates and his Merry Code-Monkeys no longer support XP and push operating systems that require high-end hardware ... to force the weirdo geeks into eternal consumption of "the new" ...
You see how its all connected, that it is not some mysterious conspiracy, but is all done systematically in the light of day, in church basements, in schools and factories and workplaces and hospitals: conform or be cast out ... subdivisions. Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone.
This image of the other, the different, as the enemy is what sustains mass [gort] culture. Drink cola and watch tv. Order a pizza. Mass [gort] culture depicts the minorities as sleeping threats who have suspicious loyalties. What - you don't have a supervisor? No significant other to keep an eye on where your head is at? You need help! You need a therapist. You need religion or something. Have you tried A.A. or a support group for people who think too much?
It is easy now for mass media (including public education and popular religion) to point at the Nazi Devil and speak of the injustice that was done to the Jews, but at the same time mass [gort] culture reproduces other imaginary enemies out of defenseless minorities whose members are seen more like time bombs waiting to explode rather than individual human beings. (Ahmed 2008).
I am starting to think that the new imaginary enemy in postmodern mass industrial society will be the "mentally ill" or the "emotionally disturbed" since this category has no class or race or nationality. Anyone can be tagged mentally ill to discredit them politically, and hence, place them outside the gort mass and at the mercy of the gort officials and gort professionals.
Welcome to the Machine ...
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Holden, your last statement deserves special attention since it is at the root of a contradiction between two coherent thinkers I admire equally: John Trudell (our contemporary) and Arthur Schopenhauer (from a couple hundred years ago).
"Tell you what, they will not relent till they have wiped us off the face of the planet.Guranteed.And that’s okay because isn’t that what we want-to cease to exist? But the problem is,the mode of bringing about our non-existence which the gorts choose is painful in the extreme."
Trudell says that the rich industrialists of the corporate state are busy 24 hours a day devising ways to break our spirit, our will to live. As you point out, for one who finds life unpleasant, there is a certain harmony to this ... And yet, we would like to think we are coming up with this idea ourselves rather than having it planted in our heads by those who have farmed us.
In the United States, with so many over-educated people finding themselves to be superfluous in a job market with so many redundant low wage jobs, when their unemployment checks run out, they face a decision: commit suicide or claim disability due to clinical depression. Gort society prefers mass suicide rather than paying people to stay home.
The most stubborn will go on the dole, but there are countless others who drink themselves to death or put themselves in harm's way to get themselves killed ... As Crazy Squirrel points out, the antinatalist message boards are flooded with people looking to be euthanized.
I'm for sticking around and having serious discussions about the real situation. If we take a little time every day to think about these things, we will be more confident in our own thinking process and less likely to be destroyed by the corporate mind ****.
"Blessings of the State. Blessings of the masses. Let us be thankful we have commerce. Buy more. Buy more now. Buy and be happy."
youtube.com/watch?v=oWJh7LqoZLk - Take your sedatives
youtube.com/watch?v=WH89ELnfPfQ - Leave Jail
While I can place videos directly into the page, but you can always open another browser and cut and paste the url address manually ... if you really want to.
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(From Hesse’s Narcissus and Goldmund)
“Are you scared? Do you notice something? Yes, the world is full of death, full of death. Death sits on every fence, stands behind every tree. Building walls and dormitories and churches won’t keep death out; death looks in through the window, laughing, knowing every one of you.”
“Go ahead, say your evening prayers, say your morning prayers, sing your psalms, gather herbs in your laboratory, collect books in your libraries. Are you fasting, my friend? He’ll lend you a hand, our old friend, the Reaper. He’ll strip you to the bones. Run, run to the fields and see that your bones stay together. They’re trying to escape, they don’t want to be with us. Our poor bones want to be free, it all wants to go to the devil. The crows are sitting in the trees.”
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Trudell says that the rich industrialists of the corporate state are busy 24 hours a day devising ways to break our spirit, our will to live. As you point out, for one who finds life unpleasant, there is a certain harmony to this ... And yet, we would like to think we are coming up with this idea ourselves rather than having it planted in our heads by those who have farmed us.
Let me get this straight, what you are saying here is that maybe its the corporate state which is sponsoring all the suicide fora which have mushroomed all over the internet of late. Could be, capitalism certainly has a penchant for human blood.
But even without the corporations & capitalism, human life by its very nature is evil,if we had socialism of the most benevolent kind,I am sure some of the human misery will get reduced, but even then I’d choose death over life.
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even without the corporations & capitalism, human life by its very nature is evil,if we had socialism of the most benevolent kind,I am sure some of the human misery will get reduced, but even then I’d choose death over life.
You understand the dilemma. I suspect that it has never been and never will be a good time to be born into the world, into any world.
This is, of course, impossible to prove, although David Benatar does go through a general explanation of why this is so. I know it is difficult for those of us who recognize the wretchedness of capitalism and consumerism to consider the possibility that there is no solution to the problem of suffering and "evil" ...
Hell, long before Benatar, Schopenhauer asks us to consider two animals, one who is engaged in eating the other. The pleasure the eater experiences must be miniscule to the pain of the one being eaten. There are degrees to suffering. Have you seen Derrick Jensen's book about animals in zoos? They look extremely angry and even demoralized. Which is worse, the terrors of the jungle or the horror of being a prisoner in a zoo?
I think socialism would at least acknowledge the inherent suffering and try to provide for the basics for as many people as possible, but no government can protect its citizens against the existential horror of existence itself. You are right. Hence, our defeatism. :'(
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Yes but I think there is a teeny weeny hope still(not for us but for the unborn)..in that we can become evangelists for a new religion called anti-natalism,try to save souls.
If we can prevent even one person from entering this world then I think it would be a big deal.Think about all the potential agony,suffering & insanity we'd be able to prevent.
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You may be happily surprised to find that this sort of conclusion does not need any evangelists, although that Inmendum you mentioned is most likely reaching far more youth than poor Schopenhauer did. Holy ****, I would have loved to have heard Schopenhauer's gripes on audio/vidoe (before he had that strong cup of black coffee he liked to drink upon awakening).
The reason I say that this conclusion, that life is not is not worth living, needs no evangelists is because it is Life itself, the thing-in-itself that will teach all not to want it. Some are slow learners, and they are misnamed "the fittest" ! ::)
Good news for those who feel they are being "**** off the planet" (The War of the Womb). Flies ****. Cockroaches multiply their kind and "dance to the music".
I am not trying to discourage you from spreading your knowledge. Just be aware of what Kurt Vonnegut Jr had said about most people in this world. Most people don't have diddly-squat. All they have is an iron will to survive.
I think that everything we have been taught by science and religion is flawed by the assumption that life is desirable.
I have experienced enough of this world to appreciate my own strange orbit. Sometimes I venture out to old stomping grounds like a stray dog on an adventure, and I witness the self-same processes. I always end up wandering off on my own to contemplate in whatever woods are left ... It is not that I hate people. It's that I see too much. Misanthropic? Not really. I have great compassion for all creatures who, through no fault of their own, find themselves in the Creation. And yet, just because I have compassion for all does not mean I want to be around the hordes. Nor do I wish to be entangled in someone's schemes.
There are a handful of individuals in my life who I care about, but, even them, I don't want to be manipulated ... I wish more people were interested in communicating, even with old fashioned letters ... but, for the most part, many people just want to portray an image of who they are, and they dare not look too deep into what we really are, which is this will-to-live. People generally don't want to expose how vulnerable they are. I find it liberating to confess my horror and confusion.
I encourage you to continue to validate your theories. You will be most happy and satisfied when you are miserable and disappointed, for this will be more proof of your theories. Please appreciate the knowledge you have gained from your honest and deep reflections on your experiences ... but THIS cannot be taught.
Here, we preach to the choir. You (Holden) and Crazy Squirrel and myself have come to these conclusions on our own. I did not learn this from reading Schopenhauer. Life teaches us this. Reading Schopenhauer is just so refreshing since most human beings are utterly full of ****.
I consider Schopenhauer to be an evangelist of pessimism, and if you feel strongly about this, may you take courage against the mob and speak your truths ... Myself, my plan is to isolate as much as possible from the human beast-people of this Island of Doctor Maruea (sp?). I mean, I have finally reached an age where I realize the geekiest activities are "as good as it gets."
So many people are out there just trying to score a fix for whatever it is that has them in their own private Hell. If I am able to, I am going to just run a debugger on simple code just to explore computer architecture for the fun of developing my understanding. This works for awhile, and then I eventually return to deeper thoughts ... when I lose interest in everything ... as you know, it's not easy. Sometimes I even swallow 100 mg of Trazadone just to turn my brain off. I do not claim to be any kind of guru or mystical teacher. I am down in it with everyone else.
[My apologies for continuously editing my posts. This is my nature.]
Trust me, others will pull you into their own private Hell more easily than you will convince them that they are in Hell. They are acclimated to living in Hell. Just by having come to this point that you are able to witness this "trap" we have been born into ... may help you to endure it ... since you KNOW we are not designed to be "happy".
All creatures have to learn this on their own ... All we can do is endure this life.
I find this mantra helpful (from Ligotti): There is nothing to do. There is nowhere to go. There is no one to know.
This is reality. Large crowds of gorts watching fireworks is a bunch of meaningless fanfare. Each is alone in this. :-\
Others in your "monkey sphere" may mock you for your interest in literature or mathematics, but this may be because misery loves company and they want to rob you of the consolation you get from this inexpensive enjoyment of your mental faculties (imagination).
Trust me, I have attempted to bond with other people, and I still engage in some conversations ... but, in the end, each is alone with this predicament. If you are able to minimize the nightmare of being, good for you ... treasure your insights. The masses are ineducable.
It's OK to panic, to feel anxiety. There are professionals who make careers on basic human misery and this universal despair. It is not abnormal to panic. The mental health industry mines for human despair like mining for gold. I think you can keep yourself from becoming overwhelmed by it. Most likely, this is the basis for "meditation" and "conscious breathing" --- I don't know ... Living is not pleasant. I'm not going to say "Don't panic" but instead "try not to be overwhelmed by the panic" ...
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Thanks for the response. I should not have used the word evangelist,thanks of reminding me how difficult it is to change anything,I can't save anyone,in the end,I may not be able to save myself even.
All I can do is-hide in the dark corner of my room & read Schopenheur & your blog,but the problem is sooner or later I need to get out of my room & once again I am forced to shoulder the tremendous weight of the whole of the existence.Panic.. that’s my most serious problem, I get overwhelmed by panic,I don’t seem to be able to help it.
Insanity in certain circumstances is body’s natural reaction. The world is way too weird.
If you can,check out this movie called Pi by Aronofsky -about a computer geek who goes insane.I am leaving on a tour ,it would last for a couple of days, so I may not be able to post anything due to the absence of internet connectivity.[/img]
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Yes, I viewed and enjoyed that strange film years ago. Well, Max ... I mean, Holden, you keep your wits about you while on tour. You are right about not being able to save anyone.
Maybe I'll get back into code-mode or even work on The Flow of Nonsense.
It is a strange orbit, after all.
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Before I relocate to where I plan on living disconnected from the Internet, I am working on my old clunker with Linux connected to the Internet. While I am installing the software I will want to use in my "Wile E Coyote Lab", I of course have access to bit torrents of films and music. The thing is, besides wanting to keep the limited amount of space clear, I have found that my tastes are very peculiar, and, fortunately, there is not much I would really want to view or listen to many times.
And yet, I figured you, Holden, would be inspired to know that you are right on point suggesting this film, for when I considered if there were any films I wanted to burn onto DVD and just watch on my computer when I am tired of reading and studying, only 4 came to mind, and of those 4, I was able to grab 3:
1. PI
2. Henry Fool
3. The Wall (Pink Floyd)
I could not find One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I'll keep my eye out for the book. The book is a little better since it mentions the smell of the **** in the psychiatric hospital, something that isn't mentioned in the film. Also, the book is quite a bit more "anti-american" in its condemnation of the degenerates in charge, i.e., Nurse Radchet and her goons.
Believe it or not, the only music I want to have handy: Black Sabbath's Mob Rules, Pink Floyd's The Wall and Animals, and the Roger Waters solo projects ... and maybe Ozzy Osbourne's Diary of a Madman ... and Queensryche's Operation Mindcrime. That's it. With Linux on an old machine, I will have all I really need. With just two discographies, one of Roger Waters 1970 - 2007 and one of Queen's drummer Roger Taylor (The Lot), I will have hours of music to listen to indefinitely. The whole point I guess is to build a wall ... using a minimal amount of inexpensive technology, some books, a digital recorder, and a stack of blank notebooks, I have no concerns about what I will do with myself. I'll just be me and try not to disturb my neighbors.
My current strategy is all about FOCUSING MY ATTENTION on what I am truly drawn to and blocking out the trash. I know the music is mostly from my teenage years, but evidently, that is still what I would choose to listen to over and over and over again ...
As for literature, I have stored a great deal on my flashdrive. There are several books on Schopenhauer that I have not yet read, which I will explore, specifically the ones by R. Raj Singh like Death, Contemplation, and Schopenhauer. I will also explore the ranting of Nick Land.
So, in this age where there is so much out there in terms of audio and video, for me, less is more ...
I do not want to have access to it all as it will distract me from what I know I am interested in focusing my attention on. I was able to acquire big fat (inexpensive) editions of most the works of Poe and Lovecraft, so I will try to force myself to read to myself aloud during those moments when I feel a need to be "entertained" ...
And, of course, Hacking: The Art of Exploitation has my utmost attention, as it has awakened a sleeping giant in me. This inner demon is my friend, my best friend. I want to stay in my own orbit and not be distracted by the mind parasites who might attempt to rob me of my inner balance.
Basically I am just acknowledging a certain "connection" between us ... to let you know your intuitions are on point. In fact, I may be keeping PI on in the background when I get to the next apartment ... while I am going through The Art of Exploitation, running gcc and gdb.
If people question me about "what I am doing with my life" I can answer them quite honestly, "I'm trying to understand our world ..."
disconnected (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d-rrFSa5M4)
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“All was strange in a fog, buildings grew vague, human beings groped and became lost, the landmarks, the compass points, by which they navigated melted into nothingness and the world was transfigured into a country of the blind. But if the sighted became blind, then the blind - and for some odd reason I have always regarded myself as one of the blind - the blind became sighted, and I remember feeling at home in the fog, happily at ease in the murk and gloom that so confused my neighbors.
I knew a man once, who'd been told never to go bare foot because of the...
... scorpion.
got out of bed in the middle of the night,
put his shoes on.
put his shoes on...
stung by a scorpion.
sleeping in one of the toe caps.
Died in agony.
hours...
And I'd see the webs in the trees.
Like clouds of muslin they were.
what, spider's webs?
Spider's webs...
Of course spider's webs.
They always makes webs?
then
look up close
I'd see they wasn't muslin at all
They were wheels.
Great big shiny wheels...
- You know what else? - what?
If you knew where to look,
you could find the spider's egg bags.
Perfect little things they were.
Tiny little silk pockets she made... to put her eggs in.
What happened to her after she layed her eggs?
You like this bit, don't you?
She just crawled away without looking back once.
And then she died?
Her work was done.
She had no more silk left.
She's all dried up and empty.
But when the madman laughs, he already laughs with the laugh of death; the lunatic, anticipating the macabre, has disarmed it.
Is it surprising that prisons resemble factories, schools, barracks, hospitals, which all resemble prisons?
Labeling a child as mentally ill is stigmatisation, not diagnosis. Giving a child a psychiatric drug is poisoning, not treatment.
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Ignatius's mother says, "Ignatius, don't you think you'd be happy if you went and took you a little rest at the Charity hospital?"
"Are you refering to the psychiatric ward by any chance?" Ignatius demanded in a rage. "Do you think that I'm insane? Do you suppose that some stupid psychiatrist could even attempt to fathom my psyche?"
"You could just rest, honey, You could write some stuff in your little copybooks."
"They would try to make me into a moron who liked television and new cars and frozen food. Psychiatry is worse than communism. I refuse to be brainwashed. I won't be a robot!"
"But, Ignatius, they help out a lot of people got problems."
"Do you think that I have a problem?" Ignatius bellowed. "The only problem that those people have anyway is that they don't like new cars and hair sprays. That's why they are put away. They make the other members of the society fearful. Every asylum in this nation is filled with poor souls who simply cannot stand lanolin, cellephane, plastic, television, and subdivisions."
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Hospital psychiatry with its emphasis on the control of inmate behaviour through high risk behaviour modification programs, biological "treatments", physical and mechanical restraints, locked doors and wards, and seclusion/isolation rooms, have always exhibited several fascist elements. I want to focus on three: fear, force and fraud. These are the guiding principles and policies used to control citizens and groups in the population whom government leaders and other authorities, including the police and so-called mental health experts, have judged to be dissident, problematic or difficult to control. Hospital psychiatry is very similar to the prison system. In the prison or correctional system psychiatrists have been used as consultants to design dangerous, unethical behaviour modification programs and to conduct high risk drug experiments on prisoners. Both the psychiatric system and the prison system systematically use fear, force and fraud for the purpose of social control and punishment - not for purposes of treatment or rehabilitation, both of which are euphemisms. It is or should be obvious that forced treatment is in fact punishment.
Virtually all treatments in psychiatric facilities are forced or administered without informed consent. They are administered against the "patient's" (the prisoner's) will or with consent obtained by threatening the "patient" with worse consequences, or with consent obtained by keeping the "patient" unaware of important information about serious risks and alternatives. Informed consent in psychiatry is a cruel sham. It doesn't exist.
(Don Weitz -- Toronto, Ontario)
Psychiatry is a fraud against the human spirit.
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They took you to the hospital..I think they wanted you to clearly understand that whatever you may do,you should never end up there,never become of the "folks". That school kid the other day who was making fun of you for talking to yourself, why could he not just mind his own business?But no,he was speaking not just for himself you see,but for all the gorts,did he have a girl with him?Maybe he wanted to pose as the tough square in front of the lass,Christ, an ape displaying his fitness for reproduction in front of a potential mate.
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My hypothesis-if the universe ,as Schopenheur insists ,is irrational, & if the act by which we are born ,copulation ,is thoughtless & sentient emerged just by chance & if our universe is a mathematical one(Our Mathematical Universe -Max Tegmark) & math is the language of nature ,then math is irrational too.More than irrational -its schizophrenic & so is every other aspect of our life & reality.Rationality ..is a myth.
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Oh, by "seniors" I meant "senior citizens" --- It was just some retired hater taking out a couple old hags. He was hating on me for enjoying my own company, so it was actually rather pathetic on his part ... I genuinely laugh at him as I fart in his general direction. 8)
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:D I would also like to develop similar attitude.
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“I think that we're all mentally ill. Those of us outside the asylums only hide it a little better - and maybe not all that much better after all.”
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anybody out there? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr-JoqFVC5E)
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On Gorts & Schopenhauer-
These days on the internet gorts lavish praise on Schopenhauer..
Gorts calling Schopenhauer a giant of philosophy?
Hold on a second,
where was the deserved respect & applauds when he was
still alive? Back then it was empty lecture halls, neglect, words & voices falling upon deaf ears, but then he dies & 150 years later it's 'oh' "Giant Of Philosophy" celebration & fools taking pride & garnering praise from quoting great works of wisdom which they don't even understand like it was their own..
freaking humans..
but never mind applauds, accolades & praise, most frightening & concerning of all is, we are currently in the 21st century, where or when the hell is the progress of these thoughts, wisdoms & insights ever going to be integrated into governments, society & within the human race??.. maybe after WW3??,
hopefully this diseased human race & their disabled "god"
will be extinct by then.
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A Strange Frontier
Wow. I've never heard this sentiment expressed so directly. It goes right to the point of why I am no longer concerned about "posting essays on the Internet" or "getting myself published" --- WHY BOTHER?
"where was the deserved respect & applauds when he was still alive? Back then it was empty lecture halls, neglect, words & voices falling upon deaf ears, but then he dies & 150 years later it's 'oh' "Giant Of Philosophy" celebration & fools taking pride & garnering praise from quoting great works of wisdom which they don't even understand like it was their own.. freaking humans.."
So true. Why bother writing on the Internet? Why bother publishing books?
I mean, really ... why bother?
strange frontier (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAuVN7ly5tQ)
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No point.Hence, I confine myself to reading Schopenhauer & doing math-& staying the hell away from vermin called humans.
Please clarify something-According to
Schopenhauer, moral freedom--the highest ethical aim--is to be
obtained only by a denial of the will to live. Far from being a
denial, suicide is an emphatic assertion of this will. For it is in
fleeing from the pleasures, not from the sufferings of life, that this
denial consists. When a man destroys his existence as an individual,
he is not by any means destroying his will to live. On the contrary,
he would like to live if he could do so with satisfaction to himself;
if he could assert his will against the power of circumstance; but
circumstance is too strong for him.
Don't you think this is a moot point,I mean once a man is dead-he is at peace.
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Most suicides reject their particular circumstances in life. Their wills are thwarted by rejection.
I guess the only pure form of denying the will to live would be starvation along with not reproducing.
Still, like you, I find this point rather tedious and technical. Cessation of Being is the final outcome.
Schopenhauer is not infallible. We all are only guessing, including Schopenhauer. I read him as some kind of Teacher and consider his views ... I witness the throng of humanity struggling to satisfy their wills ... and the VANITY! And the suffering inherent in it all, no matter what culture ... Truly mind boggling.
If there is one thing one has a right to do, that is the right to put an end to their own life ... but when there are those who depend on you, this is ethically problematic. This may explain why there have been cases where a man or woman kills their dependents before committing the act of suicide. Society paints these individuals as pathological monsters, when the reality of the real situation might be that they had superior compassion than society.
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There is a thread I was "into" back when the previous website got cyber-attacked called Bildungsroman. Rather than start another thread here, I want to attach it to this thread, "A Strange Orbit."
Definitions for concepts which will be used on this message board
Source: ask.com/wiki/Thomas_Ligotti
Philosophical fiction refers to works of fiction in which a significant proportion of the work is devoted to a discussion of the sort of questions normally addressed in discursive philosophy. These might include the function and role of society, the purpose of life, ethics or morals, the role of art in human lives, and the role of experience or reason in the development of knowledge. Philosophical fiction works would include the so-called novel of ideas, including a significant proportion of science fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, and Bildungsroman. The modus operandi seems to be to use a normal story to simply explain difficult and/or dark parts of human life.
A Bildungsroman (German: "formation novel") or coming-of-age story is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood (coming of age), and in which character change is thus extremely important.
Thomas Ligotti (born July 9, 1953 in Detroit, Michigan) is a contemporary American horror author and reclusive literary cult figure. His writings, while unique in style, have been noted as major continuations of several literary genres – most prominently Lovecraftian horror – and have overall been variously described as works of "philosophical horror", often written as philosophical novels with a "darker" undertone which is similar to gothic fiction.
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of culture. A film, book, musical artist, television series, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base.
A recluse is a person who lives in voluntary seclusion from the public and society.
Lovecraftian horror is a sub-genre of horror fiction which emphasizes the cosmic horror of the unknown (in some cases, unknowable) over gore or other elements of shock, though these may still be present. It is named after American author H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937).
The hallmark of Lovecraft's work is cosmicism: the sense that ordinary life is a thin shell over a reality which is so alien and abstract in comparison that merely contemplating it would damage the sanity of the ordinary person.
Cosmicism
From Wikipedia (Last modified on 14 October 2012)
Cosmicism is the literary philosophy developed and used by the American writer H. P. Lovecraft in his weird fiction. Lovecraft was a writer of philosophically intense horror stories that involve occult phenomena like astral possession and alien miscegenation, and the themes of his fiction over time contributed to the development of this philosophy.
Principles of cosmicism
The philosophy of cosmicism states that there is no recognizable divine presence, such as a god, in the universe, and that humans are particularly insignificant in the larger scheme of intergalactic existence, and perhaps are just a small species projecting their own mental idolatries onto the vast cosmos, ever susceptible to being wiped from existence at any moment. This also suggested that the majority of undiscerning humanity are creatures with the same significance as insects and plants in a much greater struggle between greater forces which, due to humanity's small, visionless and unimportant nature, it does not recognize.
Perhaps the most prominent theme in cosmicism is the utter insignificance of humanity. Lovecraft believed that "the human race will disappear. Other races will appear and disappear in turn. The sky will become icy and void, pierced by the feeble light of half-dead stars. Which will also disappear. Everything will disappear. And what human beings do is just as free of sense as the free motion of elementary particles. Good, evil, morality, feelings? Pure 'Victorian fictions'. Only egotism exists."
Cosmicism shares many characteristics with nihilism, though one important difference is that cosmicism tends to emphasize the inconsequentiality of humanity and its doings, rather than summarily rejecting the possible existence of some higher purpose (or purposes). For example, in Lovecraft's Cthulhu stories, it is not so much the absence of meaning that causes terror for the protagonists as it is their discovery that they have absolutely no power to effect any change in the vast, indifferent, and ultimately incomprehensible universe that surrounds them.
Lovecraft's cosmicism was a result of his complete disdain for all things religious, his feeling of humanity's existential helplessness in the face of what he called the "infinite spaces" opened up by scientific thought, and his belief that humanity was fundamentally at the mercy of the vastness and emptiness of the cosmos.
"Cosmic indifference"
Though cosmicism appears deeply pessimistic, H.P. Lovecraft thought of himself as neither a pessimist nor an optimist but rather an "indifferentist,"a theme expressed in his fiction. In Lovecraft's work, human beings are often subject to powerful beings and other cosmic forces, but these forces are not so much malevolent as they are indifferent toward humanity. This indifference is an important theme in cosmicism. Lovecraft made no bones about being a strong and antireligious atheist; he considered religion not merely false but dangerous to social and political progress.
Lovecraft thus embraced a philosophy of cosmic indifferentism. He believed in a meaningless, mechanical, and uncaring universe that human beings, with their naturally limited faculties, could never fully understand. His viewpoint made no allowance for religious beliefs which could not be supported scientifically. The incomprehensible, cosmic forces of his tales have as little regard for humanity as humans have for insects.
Though hostile to religion, Lovecraft used various "gods" in his stories, particularly the Cthulhu related tales, to expound cosmicism. However, Lovecraft never conceived of them as supernatural; they are merely extraterrestrials who understand and obey a set of natural laws, which to the limited human understanding seem magical. These beings (the Great Old Ones, Outer Gods and others) - though dangerous to humankind - are neither good nor evil, and human notions of morality have no meaning for these beings. Indeed, they exist in cosmic realms beyond human understanding. As a symbol, they represent the kind of universe that Lovecraft believed in, a universe in which humanity is an insignificant blot, fated to come and go, its appearance unnoticed and its passing unmourned.
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The spectacle of the shadow(The Will) inside of everything,the all-moving darkness-is so appalling that I am sure I would cease to exist.In some way,I have in fact ceased to exist.Without the interference of nonsensical dreaming about the soul & the self one is forced to see things under the aspect of the shadow inside them.And it is wholly appalling,more so than my words could ever tell you.
Everywhere I go I see how the pervasive shadow,is using our world.Because this shadow,this darkness has nothing of its own,no way to exist except as an activating force or energy,whereas we are only bodies,whether organic or non-organic,human or non-human,makes no difference-they are all simply bodies & nothing but bodies,with no component whatever of a mind or a self or a soul or a god.Hence the shadow ,the darkness uses our world for what it needs to thrive upon.It has nothing except its activating energy,while we are nothing except our bodies.This is why the shadow ,the darkness causes things to be what they would not be & to do what they would not do.
Because without shadow inside them,the all-moving blackness activating them,they would be only what they are-heaps of matter lacking any impulse,any urge to flourish,to succeed in this world.
http://youtu.be/vbs4KezVc_8
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I'm going to re-read the book "The Razor's Edge" by W. Somerset Maugham. (http://www.ask.com/wiki/The_Razor%27s_Edge?lang=en)
Have you ever read it? They made a film out of it. They actually used a comedian to play the lead role, and it is very much a drama. The film might actually be more enjoyable than the book the way Bill Murray carries it.
You would like it.
the film (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlbbzB2hgss)
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Thanks ,I will :)
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From the second to last page of The Razor's Edge:
"He is without ambition and he has no desire for fame. To become anything of a public figure would be deeply distasteful to him, so it may be that he is satisfied to lead his chosen life and be no more than just himself. He is too modest to set himself up as an example to others. It may be, he thinks, that a few uncertain souls drawn to him like moths to a candle will be brought in time to share his own glowing belief that ultimate satisfaction can only be found in the life of the spirit, and that by himself, following with selflessness and renunciation the path of perfection, he will serve as well as if he had wrote books or addressed multitudes."
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2013.01.23
Some notes about the author of A Confederacy of Dunces.
“He [John Kennedy Toole] committed suicide in 1969 at the age of thirty-two. It was his mother who was responsible for bringing his book to public light, pestering the hell out of Walker Percy, who was teaching at Loyola in 1976, to read it until finally that distinguished author relented. In his foreword to A Confederacy of Dunces, Percy laments the body of work lost to the world of literature with the author’s death, but rejoices 'that this gargantuan tumultuous human tragicomedy is at least made available to a world of readers.'”
Butterfly in the Typewriter was a worthwhile read. I think anyone who is interested in Toole and A Confederacy of Dunces would appreciate this biography.
David Shields barely restrained himself from a tirade against the monstrosity of New York publishing when he wrote, “One has to believe there was a deliberate effort somewhere in those ivory towers along the northeastern seaboard to keep this book from the reading public. Why? Well, the answer to that would overrun this space and wouldn’t be very pretty to boot.”
… the system of book publishing may serve the interests of a company more so than the interests of readers or the art of literature. The meeting point between art and business has never been easy. Writers such as Toole watched in the late 1960′s, as publishers grew into multimillion dollar corporations and agents became facilitators between writers and editors. And while the filtering process became more rigorous, there emerged an uneasy sense that it didn’t produce higher quality work. Writers and readers grumbled that the publishing industry, in its shift toward big business, might be rejecting works that deserved publication as a valuable cultural product, not just a sellable item created to attract the whims of the mass market.
This silencing is part of why the story of its publication held such interest to readers. It suggests that the presumed cultural role of publishers to deliver quality literature may be compromised by motives of profit and marketability. A solitary writer complaining about publishers, convinced no one appreciates his genius, has few sympathizers. Toole’s heartbreaking life story disables dismissals of those complaints, allowing many readers and writers to feel vindicated in their frustrations and suspicions of the publishing world.
…Granted, there was an undercurrent of Anti-Semitic discourse surrounding the novel at the time. It was suggested that, although not coming from Toole directly, that Gottlieb never accepted the novel on the basis of its representation of Jews, particularly Myrna Minkoff and the Levy’s , characters he felt didn’t work in the novel. While teaching at Hunter College, Toole had witnessed the intense sensitivity toward anything that might be construed as Anti-Semitic. It would not be surprising if Toole felt the Jewish characters were misinterpreted by Gottlieb. Furthermore, in the early 1960′s many of the publishing houses in New York were privately owned by Jewish families.
Thelma harbored suspicions of a Jewish plot to suppress the genius gentile voice of her son. She responded with clearly Anti-Semitic language.
also see scribblings: H-160 (2013) : The Faustus Phenomenon, Book Three (https://archive.org/download/h1602013cat/H-160_2013_cat.pdf)
(82 pages) { p58-63, 67-72: analysis of biography on J. K. Toole; }
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8)
gabriel auf Deutsch (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv4_g5pmFPQ)
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You might have to turn the volume up ...
Toole's Suicide (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNrOloZ8J78)
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While searching for something I had written related to what I used to refer to, rather sardonically, as Radical Phenomenological Psychoanalysis, I found, among other things, a link to 10 MUST-READ dystopian novels (http://www.openculture.com/2016/03/10-must-read-dystopian-novels.html). The link was off a website by Eric Ganz (of New Jersey), Psych Ward Rodeo (https://psychwardrodeo.wordpress.com/). He had "liked" chapter 8 of DEAD END, A Strong Dose of Madness (https://xhentric.wordpress.com/the-book/eight/).
Phenomenological Investigations (https://web.archive.org/web/20061012192306/http://www.gortbusters.org/?q=book/print/1988) on The Wayback Machine.
Gorticide's Blog from the Old Original Gortbusters Board (https://web.archive.org/web/20071108203038/http://www.gortbusters.org:80/?q=blog/133)
These are linked also from the Matrix (Agent Smith) thread: matrix - mind parasites (Greeting from the Mind of a Loafer) (http://whybother.freeboards.org/gortbusters/agent-smith-matrix/msg5364/#msg5364)
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Senor Raul,
I often find you distancing yourself from the "label" - intellectual. And yet, you are a thinker. Ed Abbey [nickname: Alcoholic Ed] is said to have been an anti-intellectual intellectual. That is, he was an intellectual who resented the phony pretentious and pompous chimpanzees who take positions posturing themselves with false confidence.
I would like to gently remind you of the novel by Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit_451).
Hear Ray Bradbury’s Classic Sci-Fi Story Fahrenheit 451 as a Radio Drama (https://www.openculture.com/2015/11/hear-ray-bradburys-classic-sci-fi-story-fahrenheit-451-as-a-radio-drama.html)
A strange disconnect emerges when we look at the history of Bradbury’s novel as a teaching tool (https://books.google.com/books?id=ngm2SewMKjQC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA104#v=onepage&q&f=false). Although most high school students are presented with freethinking as an ideal, and given cautionary tales of its suppression, their own educations are just as often highly circumscribed by adults who fret about the effects of various bad influences.
The drifters are all former intellectuals.
Rather than deny my intellectuality, I would say that we here are no mere intellectuals, but that we are members of The People who happen to be "former intellectuals," "former students," ---- or simply "Thought Criminals" or INTELLECTUAL OUTLAWS.
Ray Bradbury’s reputation may have been tamed over the decades. He became late in life an avuncular sci-fi master, primarily known as a writer of books for high school students. But at one time, his work—and science fiction in general—were so subversive that the FBI kept close tabs on them.
Who Was Afraid of Ray Bradbury (https://www.openculture.com/2015/08/who-was-afraid-of-ray-bradbury-science-fiction-the-fbi-it-turns-out-1959.html) & Science Fiction? The FBI, It Turns Out (1959)
_________________________________________________________
To All Members of these Experiments in INTELLECTUAL HONESTY:
If you could help me with a little research, I would appreciate your input on the significance of this literary attempt to "communicate subversive thoughts" to the current generation of UNBROKEN youth.
Myself, I feel I have manifested as a character in F-451, and I would be Schopenhauer's WORLD as WILL and Representation or Cioran's THE TROUBLE WITH BEING BORN.
I wonder if others might become specific sets of SONGS they have in their bones.
(Such as I DO THE ROCK (http://whybother.freeboards.org/what-now/to-be-or-not-to-be-a-self/msg10566/?topicseen#msg10566))
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Hentrich,
Thank you for your comments.
Intellectual is a big word and this word does not apply to me.
I say you, Holden,Silenus and others are thinkers and all the posts all of you have put in this board are helping, as you say, the unbroken youth.
You communicate subversive thoughts they may not find in their environment. This is true specially now where we are being bombarded with propaganda 24/7/365.
Drive carefully.
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Some good news:
Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 (Modern Critical Interpretations)
Contains essays by Wayne L. Johnson, Donald Watt, William F. Touponce, Susan Spencer, and others discussing the novel as it relates to cultural history.
Also, Fahrenheit 451 (Bloom's Guides) (https://www.amazon.com/Fahrenheit-451-Blooms-Guides-Bradbury-ebook/dp/B007OUYGIG/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=Ray+Bradbury%27s+Fahrenheit+451+%28Bloom%27s+Guides%29&qid=1620862231&s=books&sr=1-2) is at Library Genesis (http://libgen.rs/search.php?req=Fahrenheit+451&lg_topic=libgen&open=0&view=simple&res=25&phrase=1&column=def)
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I read that book in college.I guess I am drawn to books which depict dystopia because I live in one.
I hope the intensity of your persecution has dwindled and you are feeling better now.
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Radicalized (https://us.macmillan.com/excerpt?isbn=9781250228581) by Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow’s ‘Radicalized’ reveals our dystopian technological future in four tales (https://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-jc-fob-cory-doctorow-interview-radicalized-20190411-story.html)
library genesis (http://libgen.rs/search.php?req=Cory+Doctorow+Radicalized&lg_topic=libgen&open=0&view=simple&res=25&phrase=1&column=def) :-\
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The first of the four novellas in Radicalized (http://whybother.freeboards.org/what-now/a-strange-orbit/msg10921/#msg10921), namely, Unauthorized Bread, although packed with "techie" jailbreaking devices, which would appeal to hacker-culture and even Open Source enthusiasts, was more about the 2 Amerikas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Americas). The protagonist is an Arabic [woman] refugee entering the United States where she ends up in a subsidy apartment. The author drives home the brute facts of how "the poor" are harassed (by landlords) with 10,000 rules, subjected to inspections, and used by the corporations who grant lodgings to the poor only to receive some kind of financial gain (at the expense of the poor the corporate state claims to be "helping").
So, it is less about "hard computer science fiction," and more about being broke [$ 0.00] in Amerika.
I think the author is from Canada - not sure if French Canadian or English Canadian ...
What I got from it is an appreciation for having become familiar with programming. It is never a waste of time to learn. One never knows when such knowledge/skills/experience will come in handy. ;)
I also get how those who "sell out" to the corporate state for a career (read: gainful employment) in working against The People are actually the real "low-lifes," no matter how pretty their clothes, shiny their teeth, or fancy their cars.
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Reading the second story in this Radicalized collection. I am kind of thrilled to have found this and may even one day purchase hard copy for someone just to support the writer.
"Unauthorized Bread" – A refugee, Salima, confronts the software controlling her kitchen appliances after the companies who created those appliances suddenly cease operations.
"Model Minority" – "American Eagle", a superhero resembling Superman, attempts to take on racial violence in the American policing system. [2] (https://www.cbc.ca/books/cory-doctorow-on-radicalized-the-problem-with-superheroes-and-writing-speculative-fiction-in-a-jaded-world-1.5080939)
"Radicalized" – A man becomes embroiled in a dark web network targeting insurance companies after his wife's cancer coverage was declined by their health insurer.
"Masque of the Red Death" – A wealthy financier builds and manages a doomsday vault, designed to withstand societal collapse.
Note that the author is also editor of the blog BOING BOING dot NET (https://boingboing.net/)
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The Psychological Operations against me are galvanized into action this morning (in my strange orbit, here in Dirty Jersey - couch surfing * the homelessness tsunami).
I want to leave a quick link to a conference: Living in the End Times: Utopian and Dystopian Representations of Pandemics in Fiction, Film and Culture (https://blog.kapadokya.edu.tr/MediaUploader/Documents/Living%20in%20the%20End%20Times%20Programme%202021%20Update,%2012-01-2021.pdf)
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* footnote: Proposed Method for Estimating Local Population of Precariously Housed (https://www.nationalhomeless.org/publications/precariouslyhoused/Hobackreport.pdf)
Couch Surfing the Waves of American Poverty (https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/11/couch-surfing-the-waves-of-american-poverty)
If the couch surfer is staying in someone else’s subsidized housing unit (as is often the case, because poor people tend to shelter with people from their own social networks) that is likely to draw intense bureaucratic scrutiny.
The HUD’s numbers refer only to people who stay in an official shelter, or no shelter all. The total would be far higher if the HUD included people who fall under the Urban Dictionary’s definition of a couch surfer (https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Couch%20Surfer), which refers to anyone “who is homeless and finds various couches to sleep on and homes to survive in until they are put out.” It is both concerning and darkly amusing that an extensive, supposedly definitive government report provides less context than an anonymous quip posted to illustrate vernacular speech.
I am an eyewitness to the government’s failure to take the poverty crisis in good faith.
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Couch surfing: the dangerous undercurrents (https://www.salvationarmy.org.au/get-involved/couchproject/about/stories/couch-surfing-the-dangerous-undercurrents/)
His worst experience was three months spent paying $150 a week for a dirty mattress on a lounge-room floor, surrounded by cat and dog feces.
“You can kind of get trapped in that sort of situation, because you have nowhere else to go,” he says.
Ron believes the long waiting lists for subsidized housing – gaining private rental with no references or bond money is almost impossible – means that many [young?] people experiencing homelessness are forced into couch-surfing, and often for much longer than they had originally envisioned.
In many cases this leads to depression, anxiety, loss of identity, and conflict with those who own or officially rent the house.
“More sinister impacts, including unwanted sexual advances, sexual molestation, violence, pressure to basically act as a servant, or even ‘run’ drugs, can also be a reality,” Ron says.
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Not everyone has the wherewithal to live in a tent or sleep in a shed, and obtaining SSID and a housing subsidy is a little like hitting the lottery. But anyone can couch-surf, and it is a critical practice among those who are stuck in the clogged pipeline for federal housing subsidies.
And yet! [see above about DANGEROUS UNDERCURRENTS]
________________________________________________________________
Phil Wilson continues :
When I first met my client Rhonda, a Black woman in her 30s, at her apartment in downtown Turners Falls, she pointed to the shirtless man snoring on her living room couch and told me, “That is my gas money.”
As Rhonda explained, “Don’t anybody drive around here but me, and they all got to see the doctor, all got to eat, all got to go here and go there, and that’s on me. Do any of them give me a nickel for gas?” Rhonda received $750 a month from SSDI and another $75 apiece for her two boys, aged nine and 11. She drove her sister and her sister’s four children to appointments, as well as her aged mother who was living alone but showing signs of early dementia. Couch surfing is a way for people like Rhonda to squeeze a few dollars out of an underground economy that makes a life of poverty nominally viable. People with a housing subsidy can “sublet” a corner of their apartment to those who are even less fortunate, and Rhonda collected about $60 a week from this man. She was participating in an informal system that extends the meager generosity of the state’s so-called safety net to encompass those who are arbitrarily excluded from protection. Poverty hurts many people, and destroys others, but no one should assume that poor people passively succumb to brutal economic systems. People invent, improvise, and find ways to circumvent a bureaucratic structure that looms over life with nihilistic indifference.
However, the couch-surfing system is a very unstable one, and Rhonda soon ran into bad luck. The shirtless man on her couch, who she had met at the laundromat, apparently had a record for domestic violence. The perfect storm came down hard. A neighbor had some “beef” with Rhonda and reported the visitor to the property manager, who called Rhonda’s DSS caseworker. In such contexts, agencies and officials are like pinball flippers operated by a blindfolded player. People file complaints against one another for child neglect all the time. In most cases, these accusations result from nothing more than private animosities. The consequences for the accused, though, can be dire.